The Career Center, in collaboration with the College of Fine Arts, will host CreativeCon on Thursday, October 17, 2019. CreativeCon helps creative students from any major discover how to apply their creativity and other skills to a variety of careers through an evening of fast-paced workshops with alumni.
Held at the Center for the Visual Arts, the program connects students with similarly skilled alumni and employers. Through conversations, activities, and career-focused workshops, Redbirds explore, reflect, and learn how to act on their creativity in their careers.
CreativeCon will include breakout sessions that provide the opportunity for students to network, hear alumni stories of success, and gain information regarding transferable skills and freelancing/gigging.
“The inspiration to host this event came after seeing a recurring problem with students being unprepared and intimidated by the first step to becoming the professional they aspire to be,” said career advisor Mark Fauble. “The main goal of this program is to help students build confidence in themselves.”
During the networking session, Redbirds gain tips and strategies on how to make connections from alumni who are working as creatives. Alumni will share advice with Redbirds on how to apply their creative identities across a broad spectrum of careers.
“Students will gain a belief in their own abilities as young professionals and discover what it is like to survive as a freelance artist in their chosen field,” said Fauble. “During this event, Redbirds will hear from successful alumni and industry professionals as they share the stories of how they navigated their careers, and will leave CreativeCon with a lot less anxiety about starting their own career search.”
During the transferable skills portion of CreativeCon, Redbirds will learn about skills that employers are seeking, including career management, intercultural fluency, critical thinking, oral and written communication, creativity, teamwork, collaboration, information technology application, leadership, and professionalism. They will also discover how to apply these skills to creative careers.
Alumni speakers at CreativeCon educate Redbirds on how to leverage creativity in arts related and non-arts related jobs following graduation. Alumni presenting during the freelancing and gigging session share how they market themselves and their work, as well as share tips on identifying freelance opportunities to include on their resumes.
Alumni creatives interested in volunteering as a guest speaker at this year’s event can contact Janet Tulley, assistant dean, College of Fine Arts at Janet.Tulley@IllinoisState.edu.
CreativeCon is another example of how the Career Center implements its mission to assists students with developing, evaluating and/or implementing career, education, and employment decisions. The program supports Educate Connect Elevate: Illinois State—The Strategic Plan for Illinois’ First Public University 2018-2023.
