“This year presents a major career re-examination point for millions of people. Unfortunately, most of those people will spend less rigor analyzing their career options than they will buying a new refrigerator,” said Darden School of Business Professor Jim Clawson, who teaches leadership, managing change and career management at Darden. 
Clawson, along with Herb Crowder, a 27-year New York banking veteran and former director of Darden Alumni Career Services, will present the 16th Career Transitions Workshop from August 17-19, 2009 on the Darden Grounds. Darden Alumni Career Services will offer the workshop in cooperation with the University of Virginia Alumni Association’s Alumni Career Services Center and the McIntire School of Commerce.
“We help people simplify their career decisions through a time-proven process,” said Clawson. “Finding the right career is like trying on gloves. It has to fit. If you can’t find a good fit, you’ll be competing against people who have. You can’t fake performance.”
The 16th Career Transitions Workshop is geared toward a wide range of professionals who are willing to spend 72 hours to learn about themselves: What makes them tick? What are their habits and the major themes in their life?
“Through data, rigorous analysis and logic, we help people see their patterns of behavior. We don’t hand people a fish; we teach people how to fish. We teach them how to find a job that will play to their strengths,” said Clawson.
All University of Virginia alumni and their spouses or partner with more than 10 years of work experience, as well as alumni from member schools of the MBA Alliance Group, are invited to attend the workshop, which has been expanded and revised to accommodate a wide variety of employment issues. Sessions will cover how to translate life themes into career objectives, strategies for the current turbulent job market, interviewing, and creating a game plan to achieve your objectives.
While there is a fee to participate in the workshop, Darden alumni who are unemployed at the time of the workshop are eligible to receive a 15 percent discount.
“Many people think that success means money, power, fame, health and a happy family,” said Clawson. “My friend Doug Newburg suggests a new definition of success that I think is right: ‘Success means that when it’s over, you want to do it again.’”
“The right job won’t feel like work. It will feel like an expression of life,” he said.
For more information about the Career Transitions Workshop, including recent testimonials and the registration form, please visit http://www.darden.virginia.edu/acs/careertransitions, or contact Darden’s Alumni Career Services office at (434) 924-4876 or alumnicareerservices@darden.virginia.edu.
Founded in 1955, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business improves society by developing principled leaders in the world of practical affairs.
For additional information, contact communication@darden.virginia.edu.