The past few weeks have been a whirlwind here at Cancer and Careers! The team has covered a lot of ground, attending a variety of national events to discuss balancing work and cancer in 7 states, all in less than one month.
First I got the privilege of spending two Saturdays with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in San Antonio, TX and Denver, CO. Fantastic questions were asked at both, including: "What should I do if I'm filling out a job application and it asks if I have ever been terminated, and I have?" My answer: be honest but not too specific. Never lie, but you can say "yes" and then in the space provided to explain say something like, "I had a family issue and my company could no longer hold my job for me, but it is all resolved now." Another question that was posed: "How do I begin to think about a career change if all I have ever been is a teacher?" My response was to take a step back and think about all of your skills that would be applicable to various jobs. Remember that skills are wide-ranging and can include everything from conflict negotiation to public speaking.
In Denver, I was asked a great question about what made me a credible speaker on the topic of work and cancer. This reminded me that we should all always question where our information is coming from and whether the source is reliable. My answer was a combination of nearly a decade focused solely on these issues, and a Master's degree where I wrote my thesis on whether you could make an argument that cancer is a career setback or not.
After leaving the Southwest and the Rocky Mountains I headed to Orange County, CA for the BMTinfo Symposium. This was the first time we were included in this wonderful event, and reunited me with Joanna Morales, Esq., which is always a great collaboration. After the OC I had a few days of rest in LA, where Joanna and I worked on our upcoming joint presentations before traveling to Las Vegas for the always inspiring OMG! Cancer Summit for Young Adults. I believe that this was my fourth year presenting with Joanna and, as always, the attendees were lively and engaged but there wasn't enough time! This event is always a great time to reconnect with many of our awesome cancer community partners. I always leave feeling recommitted to the community!
While I was in Sin City the rest of the CAC team was on the road too. Two staffers were in DC for the Oncology Nursing Society Conference and three others were in PA for "QVC and CEW present Beauty with Benefits!" After a few days at home (where laundry was a must do) I hit the road again to present a session at the 3rd Annual LUNGevity Hope Summit in DC.
Up next: in-service training programs in Baltimore and Chicago this month and the Association of Oncology Social Workers Annual Conference in San Diego and Beauty of Caring in Dallas next month!
OMG! Cancer Summit for Young Adults 2013 in Las Vegas!