On November 4th I had the pleasure to lead a career strategy workshop for the Microsoft Premier Career Advisory Program (CAP) in Minneapolis, MN. Each year Technical Account Managers across the Premier business are selected for this one-year program to strengthen their career and receive coaching feedback from leaders. The Fall conference is an opportunity to define a career strategy and development plan that is then executed up to the Spring conference.
I became affiliated with the Premier CAP program in March 2014 after a speaking event in January to a Premier team in the Redmond area. After hearing my presentation they thought the Career Strategy Framework would be a great foundation for the program. I then went on to a speaking event at the Spring conference in Bellevue, WA on March 27, 2014. The CAP opportunity came about after the Microsoft Global Women’s Conference on October 23, 2013, where a Premier colleague attended one of my speaking tracks.
My experience is that the Career Strategy Framework can require a lot of deep thought so at the Fall conference I provided attendees a Microsoft OneNote notebook that included theory and questions for each step.
All attendees were required to create a career deck that is then presented to leaders for feedback at the conference. The goal of my session was to enable CAP members to refine and enrich their career strategy leading up to the Spring conference.
My aspiration for CAP members is that the framework concepts will ensure a strategic lens to both their career and life.
James Gray
I will return for the Spring conference in Dallas, Texas in March 2015 to assess progress and support CAP members on their journey.