Programme Details
Subject to change!
Check back often as more speakers are added!
Keynote Speakers
How to Deal with Uncertainty
Caspar Berry
Caspar Berry will outline what is really meant by uncertainty, what causes it, what affects it, what to do about it and how to embrace it. Learn about how you can help your students to deal with uncertainty and to make decisions in a VUCA world. Employers will gain insight about how to maximize returns in a time of AI, automation and other technologies and how to make decisions about hiring, firing or re/up-skilling employees.
As a veteran speaker, who has delivered speeches to companies including Google, IBM, Audi, McDonalds, Microsoft and Red Bull, he will relate his unique experience in the world of professional poker to deliver challenging messages about the way we think about risk-taking and decision-making in an increasingly uncertain world.
Thriving Through Uncertainty
Kate Goodger, PhD
One thing that is certain in life is that we each must face into times of uncertainty, and this doesn’t always feel great. Interestingly, it is often our own mind that creates the biggest challenge to dealing effectively with uncertainty and we stand in our own way. Equally, the mind can create tremendous stability and energy to really embrace and grow through times of risk and uncertainty, and this is the challenge athletes face daily.
This keynote will provide an engaging and inspiring behind the scenes look at how Olympic athletes develop the skills to manage and thrive under uncertain conditions. We will use a simple and practical model of the neuroscience and mechanics of the mind to understand:
• the purpose of uncertainty.
• where the emotions and thoughts that are triggered from uncertainty come from.
• the rules of the mind that help guide us in how to train it and manage uncertainty better.
Plenary Sessions
HiringPlus: A Spotlight on Trends in Hiring
A highly anticipated part of the programme each year is a panel discussion to hear the perspectives of employers/recruiters on the trends in hiring and the developments that panelists expect to see in their sectors. Conference attendees find this interaction highly engaging and a great way to get a further insight from the recruiter/employer viewpoint. During this session, we will hear from employers as well as recent alums who will discuss hiring practices, trends, skills sought and ways they are developing future talent.
Breakout Sessions
Monday, 30 March
14:45 - 16:00
Breakout session A
- How might we turn a classroom into an interactive and engaging learning experience?
Natalya Shustova, IE University; Anastasia Gramatchikova, R.A.N. Consulting
The traditional educational role of the career centre as a knowledge-and-content-provider is not enough. It’s transforming now into the role of facilitator: the creator of a trustful collaborative learning environment, where students can open up, search, discover, experiment, co-create and grow together. In this session, we will share a recipe for engagement from 'Art of Hosting and Design Thinking': top facilitation tips and tricks for designing a better learning experience.
- Self-Awareness and Student Career Success
Sabyne Moras, SDA Bocconi; Vishal Thacker, Sōn Consulting; Adeline Chung, MBA Student class 2020
Enabling students to take ownership of their career, and direct it in a way that is meaningful to them is vital to their success. Furthermore, employers increasingly demand self-aware employees who know how they fit with the company and not in it just for the "job". But there is a challenge with enabling a large student body to understand their "superpower(s)" and apply them to their career search. In this break out session, we share with you a modular method which we have applied at SDA Bocconi, and other schools, with around 900 students.
- Train-the-Trainer: Teach ANY Student How to Network Like a Rockstar (incl. introverts & international students)
Louise Mustchin, University of Liverpool; Jaymin J Patel, Author/Speaker/Coach
Do your students sometimes find networking to be "fake" and "boring" or just plain intimidating? Jaymin is a speaker, coach, and top-selling author of "The MBA Guide to Networking Like A Rockstar". He has presented his "Rockstar Approach" over 500 times globally. After 7 years of speaking and a standing-room-only session at the Global Conference, he now is sharing a "Train the Trainer" module in Europe that will teach career coaches step-by-step how to leverage his popular and time-tested frameworks to teach networking to ANY student to help find their dream job in a global market.
- Using Peer Learning to Enhance and Scale Up Career Centre Offering
Carola Dillinger, London Business School
In this session, we will share best practices on how leveraging students’ experience and expertise can enhance career centre offerings. LBS will present various approaches to peer learning used in their MBA career curriculum, including an overview of their peer leader programme and different classroom interventions such as peer reviews. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss these and share or brainstorm ideas for their own programmes. We will also consider how this methodology can help change students’ perception of career centres as a partner rather than a service, and improve collaboration between staff and students.
Tuesday, 31 March
10:00 - 11:15
Careers and Recruitment Functions
These sessions allow conference attendees who share similar roles at their university or company to connect and discuss ideas, ask questions and share information in a session of like-minded colleagues. Challenge your ideas, thoughts and the way you work!
- Career Coaches
Facilitator: Colin Hudson, Director, Hudson Coaching
This will be a collaborative session where, in small groups, you will discuss key topics that career coaches face, and then share your group’s thoughts and ideas with the larger group.
- Careers Directors/Center Leaders (Carerer Center Leaders Only)
Facilitator: Christine Menges, Director MBA Career Center, WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management
An opportunity for directors and heads of services to connect with other career leaders to build their valuable network of peers, and share challenges, accomplishments and best practices with each other. This is a closed session for directors and heads of services.
- Employer Relations
Facilitators: Andreia Ferreira, Careers Consultant, Imperial College London
This will be a collaborative session where, in small groups, you will discuss the key topics facing employer relations professionals and then share your group’s thoughts and ideas with the larger group.
- Employers
Facilitators: TBD
This is an opportunity for employers/recruiters to network together and discuss topics you care about, inspiring each other with your ideas. This is a closed session for employers only.
14:00 - 15:15
Breakout session B
- How to Launch Group-based Collaborative Workshops: A Case Study of a Career Coaching and Psychological Services Joint-Partnership
Gene Cleckley, INSEAD Business School
The session will illustrate how INSEAD's CDC and Psychological Services department help MBA students cope with anxiety, social stress and internal conflict during the school's intense six-week on-campus recruitment period. The presentation will consider, in particular: the virtues and challenges of collaborating and engaging with university departments with intersecting concerns. Participants will also learn about the different methodologies used during the programme's launch and we will explore the application of resilience principles to student groups in certain real conditions. Lastly, we will highlight different methods of using the group setting to mobilize students to help themselves and others.
- Strategic Networking and Information Retrieval; In the Age of Big Data and AI
Davina Noonan, Warwick Business School
The ever-changing trends in today's labour market along with the increase in information and AI mean a continuous need to upskill to manoeuvre this landscape for success. This seminar introduces the fundamentals of Boolean coding which is used in conjunction with conditional statements in programming, search engines, algorithms, and formulas. The strategic way of organising your thoughts and structuring your queries introduces an important skillset. It enables the effective development of a proactive approach to searching for information and also allows for direct access to key decision makers in a given company, sector, function and location. To further explore and practice the application of this technique whilst allowing for correction to errors in the codes and instructions, the session will be hands-on and interactive. Those who intend to join are encouraged to suggest a topic on which they currently require more specific in-depth knowledge.
- Turning Soft Skills Hard: The Case For Leadership Coaching In Development Of Multi-Cultural MBA Teams
Yasmin Ansari, Aston Business School; Aimee Postle, Aston Business School
Aston MBA has a strong focus on multi-cultural team working. In this session, we will cover a novel coaching approach, designed to enable international students. Our compulsory ‘Edge’ module provides students with essential skills they need in their career, such as negotiation, leadership, resilience, presentation skills, teamwork, CVs/LinkedIn, and personal branding. The session will also discuss a project where students were tasked to create a solution to improve market performance of a product, and how they worked with their coach to hone their presentation skills, ensure effective team cohesion and manage conflict. Employers will gain insight in how international students are taught to be future-ready with such soft skills needed to succeed in a global market.
- Using Peer Learning to Enhance and Scale Up Career Centre Offering
Carola Dillinger, London Business School
In this session, we will share best practices on how leveraging students’ experience and expertise can enhance career centre offerings. LBS will present various approaches to peer learning used in their MBA career curriculum, including an overview of their peer leader programme and different classroom interventions such as peer reviews. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss these and share or brainstorm ideas for their own programmes. We will also consider how this methodology can help change students’ perception of career centres as a partner rather than a service, and improve collaboration between staff and students.
Employer Round Table (employers only)
Employers: bring your burning topics to the table to share and gain insights from others—for example: What programs do you have in place to attract talent to your organization? How do you work with schools to effectively recruit students and ensure cultural fit? What does your Masters in Business recruiting landscape look like? This session is exclusively for employers only (no career services or vendors, please).
Standards 101
Derek Walker, Standards Consultant, MBA CSEA
This session will provide a basic overview of the MBA CSEA Standards for Reporting Employment Data, as well as the key features of the Standards for Full-Time MBA, Part-Time
MBA and Specialty Masters programs. It is aimed at delegates who are new to employment data reporting who are looking to develop a broad understanding of the Standards and their implementation.
Wednesday, 1 April
12:00 - 13:15
Breakout session C
- Coaching Women to Greater Empowerment
Jen Murphy, Ohio University - College of Business
Women perceive many barriers as they contemplate their career paths. Yet, as Sheryl Sandberg likes to point out, “Being confident and believing in your own self-worth is necessary to achieving your potential.” Drawing from four case studies in the U.S. and U.K, this session will explore female graduate students' self-confidence challenges. Based on these insights, the session will highlight how a shift in career coaching can empower and contribute to a woman’s positive self-efficacy, storytelling, and narrative. Lessons learned will be shared that challenge barriers and assumptions female students face; especially navigating their career journey and embracing their narrative. Employers will learn how to empower their female employees by applying these coaching methods to increase their self-confidence.
- How to Launch Group-based Collaborative Workshops: A Case Study of a Career Coaching and Psychological Services Joint-Partnership
Gene Cleckley, INSEAD Business School
The session will illustrate how INSEAD's CDC and Psychological Services department help MBA students cope with anxiety, social stress and internal conflict during the school's intense six-week on-campus recruitment period. The presentation will consider, in particular: the virtues and challenges of collaborating and engaging with university departments with intersecting concerns. Participants will also learn about the different methodologies used during the programme's launch and we will explore the application of resilience principles to student groups in certain real conditions. Lastly, we will highlight different methods of using the group setting to mobilize students to help themselves and others.
- Strategic Networking and Information Retrieval; In the Age of Big Data and AI
Davina Noonan, Warwick Business School
The ever-changing trends in today's labour market along with the increase in information and AI means a continuous need to upskill in order to best support students to manoeuvre this landscape for success. Data and information are increasing, thus the issue is not a lack of information, but rather, information overload. This session introduces the fundamentals of Boolean coding which is used in conjunction with conditional statements in programming, search engines, algorithms, and formulas. This session is applicable to those who wish to enhance the provision of their careers support whilst simultaneously aligning to the overall vision and strategy of providing an enriching student experience.