Description: Career development rarely follows a straight line. In an era of uncertainty, rapid workplace change, and evolving definitions of meaningful work, clients may struggle when traditional approaches to career planning imply that they should know exactly where they are going before they begin. Coddiwompling offers a fresh alternative: moving purposefully toward an as-yet-unknown destination while staying connected to a personal “North Star” that reflects what matters most. The approach emphasizes curiosity, experimentation, iteration, and purposeful action rather than rigid adherence to a predetermined path and connects with established career development theories, including Planned Happenstance and the Chaos Theory of Careers.
This interactive webinar will introduce coddiwompling, examine its relationship to career development theory, and explore its relevance throughout career development and job searching. Participants will consider how helping clients identify their North Star can provide direction even when the destination or path is unclear. Through practical examples, reflection, discussion, and hands-on activities, participants will experience coddiwompling techniques they can adapt to their own work. We will examine ways practitioners can help clients follow curiosity, test possibilities, learn from experience, and adjust direction while staying anchored to what matters most.
You will leave with practical strategies and activities for incorporating coddiwompling into your work with diverse clients at different stages of their careers. These tools can help clients move beyond perfectionism and fear of making the “wrong” choice, build confidence and adaptability, and take meaningful action while using their North Star to guide decisions along the way.
Learning Objectives
Understand the concept of coddiwompling, its relevance in times of uncertainty, and its connections to established career development theories.
Help clients use their North Star to make coddiwompling more purposeful, productive, and engaging throughout career exploration and decision-making.
Identify practical coddiwompling activities that help clients explore possibilities, take action, and learn from the process.
Develop strategies for incorporating coddiwompling into career development and job search work with diverse clients.
Your Presenters:
Marcia Wall
Marcia coaches individuals to live their best professional lives. Her expertise lies in the areas of career services, coaching, workshop facilitation, and writing. Her coaching style is both holistic and strategic. It is also rooted in DEI principles and practices. She is a Global Career Development Facilitator and a Certified Career Services Provider through the National Career Development Association. She is also certified through Recovery Innovations International to support people with a recovery mindset. Additionally, she holds a Master of Arts degree in Rhetoric and the Teaching of Writing and is a former English instructor and K-12 teacher.
Alison Lobus
Ali believes that one of the key elements of a happy life is a satisfying career. She is an experienced Career Counselor with over 20 years of career counseling/coaching experience in higher education, industry, and the nonprofit sector. Ali enjoys working with clients from all different professions and walks of life. One of the things she loves most about what she does is when she hears from a former client, several months later about how much they enjoy their job/career. Ali finds the process of career exploration exciting and enjoys participating in that process with her clients.
Ali is originally from the east coast but considers herself a Californian now that she has been in San Diego for over 20 years. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, travelling, and hanging out with her husband and 2 dogs.
Ali holds a master’s in counseling and is a National Certified Counselor (NCC). Her background includes serving on staff at several private, not for profit universities, a public, not for profit university, and various social services agencies as a Counselor and Case Manager where she provided counseling services.
