Alumni Association launches professional development series


The ASU Alumni Association is launching a professional development series this month that will connect industry experts with Sun Devils looking to excel in the work force.

“Career-related information is one of the topics our alumni request most frequently,” said Christine K. Wilkinson, president of the Alumni Association. “We created the professional development series in order to help Sun Devils gain critical job hunting and workplace skills.”

The series begins Jan. 21 with a seminar on executive search and placement, which will focus on the business executive’s search for new opportunities and the employer’s hunt for the right executive candidate. The event will bring together David Bruno, vice chairman and managing director of DHR International, which in 2009 was ranked the fifth-largest search firm in the United States, and Chris Dorris, mental toughness trainer, personal coach and author of the book “Creating Your Dream: Confidently Stepping into Your Own Brilliance.”

The event will take place at 7:30 a.m., at The Buttes, a Marriott Resort in Tempe. The cost of attendance is $25 for ASU Alumni Association members and $35 for nonmembers.

The series will continue March 1, when Bret Giles, founder of Sitewire, will give a presentation on how to use the latest social media tools to find a job. The following seminars also are in the planning stages for later in the year:

• “The Executive Job Search Jump Start with LinkedIn” on June 9.

•  “Making the Transition: In Life and in Your Job” on Sept. 13.

For more information on the professional development series, or to RSVP, visit http://alumni.asu.edu/career_network