Conference Anticipation: How one intern/graduate student/job-seeker prepares.

The Maryland School Counselor Association's annual conference is scheduled for this coming Friday.  In late February, I got an email calling for graduate student volunteers.  The conference organizers wanted four graduate volunteers to monitor the presentation rooms, hand out session evaluations, etc.  As a personal rule, I try to not miss any opportunities for professional engagement so I responded and was offered one of the volunteer spots.  I am particularly excited to attend the MSCA Conference because it will be great practice for the American School Counselor Association's National Conference in July where I will be speaking about my advocacy projects and internship experience as a member of a graduate student panel.

Description of my group's presentation at the ASCA National Conference- Scheduled for July 2nd (1:30pm-2:45pm)

With all these conferences coming up, there are a few ways for people like me, graduate students/interns/counseling-position-seekers to prepare.  Here is how I plan to network and present myself professionally:

1.  "Get a haircut, Hippie!"
Okay- I can grow a beautiful mane fit for horse or a Dothraki (I've been watching a lot of "Game of Thrones" lately...), but sometimes I just have to suck it up and keep that mop cropped, short, professional and neat.

Now, my hair wasn't this long... but I just felt the need to give some historical reference of how big my hair can get.  Sophomore year of high school.

The day after my haircut, I couldn't walk down a hallway at my internship without student/teacher/administrators telling me how much better my hair looked... Point:  Dylan, keep the hair professional.

2.  What to wear?
As a counseling conference newbie, I had no idea what to wear... do I go all the way and wear my suit or do a pair of khakis and a button up suffice?  I thought I needed a little back-up here and reached out to my professor who is the former director of counseling for a very large school district in the Southwest.  Here suggestion:

"Typically you would dress up a little more if you were presenting – dress slacks and a jacket.  Most conference attire is business casual – a nice pair of slacks and shirt.  The east coast conferences tend to have higher dress standards than the west coast.  You will be pretty safe if you wear dress slacks, but you may find that some conference attendees are in jeans.  You will see a wide array of clothing choices at ASCA J "

Thanks for the help, Professor!

3.  Be a card-carrying member.

I read other counseling blogs.  Whether it is a hobby or an obsession, I love learning more about the profession and picking up tips.  Danielle Schultz over at School Counselor Blog wrote a post about business cards.  In January, I followed her advice and ordered my own set of cards.  For a grand total of about $10, I got professional cards printed, which I now carry with me everywhere.  A simple card with my name, email, education, and a link to my LinkedIn helps me quickly and easily share who I am professionally.  

The cards are useless without a desire to network, talking to other professionals is a great opportunity to extend my connections.  If I can't talk to other professionals, handing out cards is next to impossible.  There are a lot of great counselors out there doing incredible things.  I hope to meet more of these individuals who can help me push myself in the future.  

Watch out conference attendees... I've got cards, a haircut, and a professional wardrobe and I am NOT afraid to use them.