In this post I’m excited to share more with you about HR Chief, Villanova HRD, and Women in Tech!
April was a whirlwind in the best way. It’s taken me the first week of May to fully reflect and soak it all in! I’m grateful I had the opportunity to participate in multiple events hosted by different organizations that are doing amazing work for their communities. I’d love for you to check them out. Here we go!
I started off the month presenting two online sessions. The first was a webinar for HR Chief, an online resource for HR Professionals, including the PeoplePeople Slack channel! I presented on Employer Branding to Attract and Retain Talent. This was new material for me to present (not new subject matter though!), and I really enjoyed building the deck! If you’re interested in learning how to build the foundation of your employer brand and then how to use it to attract and retain top talent, send me a message (:
The next online session was for Villanova’s HR Department Conference: Level Up HR! Villanova has an amazing Master’s in HR program, and the department hosts this 2 day conference each year. Alumni, students, and the HR Community at large are invited to attend! It’s a combination of virtual and in person. The wonderful Bethany Adams invited me to do my signature session, Elevate and Uplift the Next Generation of HR Leaders. I cover best practices for starting your first HR role, establishing credibility, building relationships in and outside of work, networking, professional development and more! I love doing this session. Connect with Bethany and keep an eye out for next year’s conference. The speaker line up was amazing. See you there!
Next up in April was the Women in Tech event at Seneca One in Buffalo! This event was incredible. 300+ people, fireside chats, keynotes, break out workshops, networking, photo station, food, swag, the works! Be in Buffalo, Tech Buffalo and 43North did an amazing job putting on this event. If you’re interested in getting more involved with the tech community in Buffalo, I highly recommend following these organizations! I was one of six speakers who lead a breakout session. My session was on pivoting into tech: using clarity, conviction and confidence to position yourself for that next career move! I shared how to discuss transferable skills, gain new skills, handle tough questions from recruiters or hiring managers, and network into the world of tech (especially in Buffalo!). The energy in the room was amazing. Great questions were asked of me, we were vulnerable, and women spoke up to help each other out and answer each others’ questions. A really uplifting day for women and Buffalo.
Finished up the month at the SHRM Talent conference in Las Vegas! I had only been to the SHRM annual conference before, so going to Talent was such a treat. This 3,000 person conference was the perfect size to make genuine connections, have conversations with vendors/solutions providers that weren’t rushed, and get a good seat in whatever session you wanted to attend! I highly recommend checking out SHRM Talent and SHRM Inclusion if you’re looking for a conference to immerse yourself in, learn a ton and make connections and friends. One of my favorite memories from Talent was eating breakfast Tuesday morning! I had 3 other amazing HR pros at my table and it was so much fun to get to know each other better. NYC, Denver, Chicago and Buffalo all came together at one table to learn from and support each other, and would have never met otherwise. I then went on to present 2 sessions on Tuesday: Recruiting Best Practices (play the long game!) and Elevate and Uplift the Next Generation of HR Leaders. What an incredible moment for me to take that SHRM national stage for the first time. I stuttered a few more times than I would have liked to, but you learn, get better and gain confidence by DOING, not by waiting! These were my biggest rooms I’ve presented to to date, so I walked away feeling proud and ready to make some positive tweaks before taking the stage again at SHRM24 in Chicago in June!
I came out of April feeling energized, fulfilled, and with a ton more LinkedIn connections from all the new friends I’d made at these events! Remember HR, we are better together. I hope you find your community and if you need help doing so, please send me a message. See you again here on the blog soon!
Claire is Coaching 