11th Annual Midwest Conference on Work & Cancer: Recap

Scott Sinclair on March 27, 2024

tags: At Work, CAC Event, Job Search, Learn New Skills, Midwest Conference on Work & Cancer, Setting Boundaries

Last week we held our 11th annual Midwest Conference on Work & Cancer. We were joined by 261 attendees (our second highest to date) who were made up of patients, survivors, healthcare/nonprofit/HR professionals, managers, coworkers, family members and friends.

The morning kicked off with Navigating Work: Effective Strategies After Diagnosis let by CAC’s assistant director of programs Nicole Jarvis and myself. We walked everyone through a lot of CAC’s core content including questions to ask yourself about work, disclosure decisions, gathering information, getting organized, making and monitoring an action plan, managing side effects, communicating effectively and more. My favorite part of presenting a session like this is knowing we are helping people who may feel overwhelmed after receiving a diagnosis and show that there are easy, tangible steps to take to help navigate working.

After a break for lunch we were joined by HR pro and experienced coach Adam Goldberg for Job Search Tools: Using AI Strategically. Adam discussed the emerging generative AI technologies that are available to use for free (OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot are the two he talked about most). My favorite part of Adam’s presentation was a live demo using Copilot to give advice on a resume. Adam uploaded his resume to a Copilot prompt and it immediately spit out both suggestions on keywords to add to his resume, and also gave suggestions on some potential job sectors he would be a good fit in based on his resume. This can be a great tool for someone looking for a career change after receiving a cancer diagnosis. We often hear from people who are looking to change careers for a variety of reasons, but are overwhelmed at the thought of starting fresh in a new industry. By asking the AI software “Based on my previous work experience in my resume, suggest other industries and roles where my skills could be transferable,” you can see how you may be already be qualified for roles or sectors that aren’t on your radar. Take a test drive and be creative in your prompts!

We finished the day welcoming counselor, speaker and educator Ali Schaffer for her session on Resetting Boundaries. Setting and resetting healthy boundaries are one of the best ways to manage your limited resources while balancing work during or after a cancer treatment. Whether it’s maintaining energy levels, preserving a realistic workload, or protecting your free time for self-care or other responsibilities outside of work and treatment, healthy boundaries can improve your day to day life. Communicating those boundaries can be uncomfortable for some though and to help, Ali offered up three tips:

Be clear.
Be direct (State your need, your position and your request).
Follow up as needed.

We always recommend writing down ideas whether they are bullet points, or a full script for how you want to communicate your boundaries. If you missed Ali’s session, we hope you can join us for our Setting Boundaries webinar on October 9th when we will once again be joined by Ali going deep on this topic.

Thank you again to all who joined us last week to make it such a special day. Everyone’s participation throughout the day really helps shape the event and adds so much value. We are already working on our National Conference which will be held virtually on Friday, March 21st. It’s going to be filled with great speakers and panelists and we can’t wait to share more information soon. Registration is now open, and make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on what to look forward to.

And finally, one last shout out to our incredible sponsors who made the Midwest Conference possible: