Program--First Impressions: Interviewing & Resumes

11:00 am - 1:00pm
2 hours
Total hours to date: 37

Today, I attended a program planned by the Adult Services Coordinator, Cassie, as part of a series of programs this year called "Live Well in 2012." The program was called "First Impressions: Interviewing & Resumes." I planned to attend this program to serve two purposes:

1. I am interested in the topic since I plan to re-enter the workforce after a ten year absence and need to brush up on my resume and interviewing skills.
2. I thought it would be a great opportunity to attend a program and view it through the lens of both a participant and an intern, learning about what it takes to put on a great program.

I must say that this program was excellent on many levels. The presentation was given by Heidi Ragan, who had formerly served at ASU as Director of Career Services at the Walker College of Business. She was recruited by a company in Hickory and now serves as a Recruiter for Training and Development in a growing company. She has experience in career education and can speak from an employer's perspective regarding the hiring process because that is the role she now fills. As a presenter, she was poised, knowledgable, experienced, and well-prepared. She adapted her presentation to the needs of the audience, took questions as needed, and covered the topics thoroughly, giving tools and resources along the way. She had a power-point presentation which she used as a visual and a guide for the presentation and she also gave out handouts and supplied participants with paper and pen for taking notes. The program was very interactive, with participants feeling comfortable in sharing and asking appropriate questions. The room was comfortable and everything was ready when participants entered the room. Participants were greeted and welcomed with a friendly smile and introduction by both Cassie and the presenter. All-in-all, I was so impressed with the quality of the program. One factor which served as the weak point was the attendance. There were only five adults in attendance, so it was not a large group. After the program, I helped clean up and set the room back to its normal arrangement, and Cassie and I discussed a couple suggestions for what might be done to increase attendance if this class were to be offered again. For this class, she had pre-registered students and had called each person who had pre-registered to remind them of the program, which was smart. It was such a good program, so it would be nice to get the word out. Still, I understand that in programming, there is only so much you can do to plan and promote the program. Attendance is still in the hands of the public.