February is a great month for professional development.  Join us at the following free meetups for great advice on how to amp up your portfolio and hear from a panel who will share the secrets to landing your dream job.

WordPress Bloggers – February 15 – 6PM to 8PM

Elements of a Powerful Digital Portfolio, presented by Joan Margau

No matter what your line of work today, it’s essential to introduce yourself with an online digital portfolio.

There are many tools you can use to display your content online. You can put a portfolio on a shared platform. But why? Your portfolio will be one among many with too many limitations.

WordPress provides a solid, secure platform with the essential elements for a powerful digital platform. The WordPress built-in content management system lets you leverage the exact right content tools for your portfolio.

With WordPress.org you can build a self-hosted digital portfolio. This is how you establish your authority, expertise, and showcase your work.

Our Meetup discusses how to get a hold of WordPress.org so you can start building your digital portfolio as soon as possible.

 

Copywriting and Content Marketing Meetup – February 23 – 6PM to 8PM

Uncover the Secrets to Landing Your Dream Job panel discussion

Have you wondered how recruiters find candidates for their clients? Do you know what information and qualities hiring managers look for in candidates? Are you curious how job seekers land their dream job?

Join us Thursday, February 23rd for a panel discussion to get insider information about the recruiting and interview process from the point of view of a panel comprised of recruiting professional, Sue Hardek, senior content strategist and hiring manager, Jen O’Brien and freelance content strategist, Cynthia Gelper.

During the discussion, you’ll have the opportunity to ask your burning questions about the recruiting process, and how you can find and land your dream job.

This meetup is free to attend and open to all, but you must be a free community member at NextDoor Chicago. Please signup and register on their site for free community information and to learn about their financial coaching classes.

ABOUT OUR PANELIST

Sue Hardek, Principal, Sue Hardek & Associates
Sue has spent the last two decades helping organizations scale and become high performance environments, having worked with global organizations like Cap Gemini, Accenture, Avanade, PricewaterhouseCoopers, DigitasLBi, TransUnion, BP Amoco, Whittman-Hart, Crate & Barrel, Razorfish, and EnergyBBDO to name a few. Sue began her career in the Staffing and Recruiting business in the mid 90’s and led the Technology practice for a top 10 executive search firm in Chicago early in her career. From there, she started her own recruiting firm focusing on technology and digital searches with top-tier management consulting firms and Internet start-ups.
Jen O’Brien
During her 20+ year career in agency, middle market, and independent consulting, Jen O’Brien has built, managed and directed several practice groups including Content Strategy, Business Analysis, Quality Assurance, and Instructional Design. Jen’s combined experience with marketing and technology means she understands how to target content from a technical perspective, to gain the optimal customer reach with marketing strategy and tactics. She derives professional satisfaction from efficiently executing strategies while ensuring her team and clients understand how the strategies support the solutions as a whole.

Cynthia Gelper, Freelance Content Strategist
Cynthia became a content strategist and content marketer four years ago after many years as a copywriter and editor in such diverse industries as advertising, technology, finance and education. Since then, she has helped businesses and institutions achieve their goals while constantly working to demonstrate the value of content strategy to any organization. Her clients have included Emerson and Jenn-Air for Digitas, Humana Healthcare, The Chicago Tribune, the Cal State University System for Rightpoint and US Foods for Razorfish.

Cynthia learned the value of building a network long before she turned to content strategy. She has also explored other ways to build visibility in the marketplace including social media, speaking at events, volunteering for causes she supports and blogging to gain thought leadership credibility.