What you will learn

  • Describe what networking is and how it can help you reach your professional goals.
  • Identify your goals for networking.
  • Introduce yourself in English, keep a conversation going, and leave the conversation.
  • Write professional emails to make new contacts and follow up with people in your network.
  • Identify your network and your unique characteristics and skills.
  • Use LinkedIn and business cards to make and maintain connections with your network.
  • Use informational interviews to expand your network.

Courses in this program

1
Conducting an Informational Interview

Course Details
This is the capstone networking course. Put all the skills that you have learned into practice. You’ll introduce yourself, write effective email, highlight your best qualities, and conduct an informational interview with a person of your choice.

2
Preparing to Network in English

Course Details
Learn the basics of networking while you grow your social network and professional connections. Practice speaking to improve your English language skills for increased success in job hunting.

3
Using Email for Networking in English

Course Details
Improve your writing skills. Write effective emails including great subject lines, greetings, and closings. You’ll be more confident as you communicate for business, send messages, expand your network, and search for jobs in English.

4
Attending a Networking Event

Course Details
Improve your ability to meet new people. Learn to give an “elevator pitch” (speech) to introduce yourself to new people and to highlight your key qualities. Make connections with people and use your skills to attend a networking event.

Meet your instructors

Daphne Mackey

Daphne Mackey is an ESL teacher and the author of sixteen ESL textbooks. Daphne received her M.Ed. and MBA at Boston University, where she taught in the Center for English Language Programs (CELOP) for nine years. For the past thirty years, she has been working in the English Language Programs at the University of Washington. She has also taught in the MBA program at Pacific Lutheran University and done training in multicultural/global team management at northwest companies. In her free time, Daphne enjoys sailing and hiking with her family.

Joel Ozretich

Joel Ozretich has over 15 years of experience teaching English in both in the US and abroad in South Korea and Japan. Since 2006, he has been teaching at the University of Washington where he specializes in teaching Business English courses such as Marketing for International Professionals, Writing for Business, and Business Communications. Prior to teaching, he worked as a reporter at the Puget Sound Business Journal in Seattle. He holds a Master’s in Teaching ESOL and Bachelor’s undergraduate degrees in Broadcast Journalism and International Studies from the University of Washington.

Richard Moore

Richard Moore is a lecturer in the International and English Language Programs at the University of Washington in Seattle. He has been a teacher for over 20 years. He is originally from England just outside of London, and has taught English in the U.K., Australia, and Korea. Richard decided to become a teacher of English because he loves languages, traveling and working with different groups of people from around the world.

Program endorsements

In today’s global arena, the ability to collaborate effectively with others is an essential competency for professionals. Mastering the listening and communication skills involved requires an investment in learning and practice. The benefits include building a rich personal network to support your personal and professional objectives, leveraging the resources and talent of teams, and establishing understanding and trust that translates into productive working relationships. Our mission at Fluency Group is empowering people and organizations to communicate, collaborate and perform on the global stage to achieve their goals, and we’re happy to support this valuable program by the University of Washington which supports this endeavor.

Heidi Schumann , CEO, Fluency Group

In today’s global arena, the ability to collaborate effectively with others is an essential competency for professionals. Mastering the listening and communication skills involved requires an investment in learning and practice. The benefits include building a rich personal network to support your personal and professional objectives, leveraging the resources and talent of teams, and establishing understanding and trust that translates into productive working relationships. Our mission at Fluency Group is empowering people and organizations to communicate, collaborate and perform on the global stage to achieve their goals, and we’re happy to support this valuable program by the University of Washington which supports this endeavor.

Heidi Schumann , CEO, Fluency Group

Program overview

Are you an IT professional new to project management or a manager who wants to develop more robust project management skills? Perhaps you are looking to forge a career as a full-time project manager (PM). This program will introduce you to the fundamentals of project management, specifically as they apply to the field of information technology (IT).

This program will help you select project management techniques and strategies that best fit your IT project or organization. You’ll also explore how project management offices are organized and how they develop a project portfolio. Throughout the program, you’ll come to understand some of the challenges of the field, including management of diverse teams and projects that are potentially based anywhere in the world. By the end, you’ll determine your own competencies as an IT project manager and will have developed core skills required for this role.

 

What will you learn

  • Why IT organizations use project management to deliver business value and how organizational culture can influence the role of the PM and individual projects;
  • How to describe and distinguish among the major project management methodologies and project lifecycles as applied to IT and to identify strategies for managing distributed teams;
  • The purpose of a Project Management Office (PMO), high-level strategies to set up, maintain, and close a PMO, and how it can work within your organization;
  • Techniques to intake, prioritize, and select projects and programs so that they align with an organization’s overall business strategy; and
  • Which personal and performance competencies are necessary for project management in IT, and strategies for developing those skills.

Program Class List

1
Strategic Applications of IT Project & Program Management

Course Details
In this course you will learn project management standards and frameworks that increase efficiency and deliver tangible business benefits.

2
Portfolio Management, Governance, & the PMO

Course Details
Learn how a Project Management Office (PMO) works, discover techniques to monitor and control projects and find out how to keep your project portfolio healthy.

3
Leadership and Management for PM Practitioners in IT

Course Details
Learn how to develop effective project management and leadership skills that are essential for successfully guiding diverse or distributed teams and projects.

Meet Your Instructors

Debra Hildebrand

Instructor of Project Management at University of Washington
Debra Hildebrand has over 15 years’ experience in project management consulting and training for private firms and public agencies (federal, state and local level). Her specialties include strategic planning and implementation, organizational redesign and restructure, project management, and quality assurance oversight. Certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute, Debra is an instructor at the University of Washington, Stanford University, and City University of Seattle. She has an MBA from the Columbia Business School and is the principal of Hildebrand Solutions, a project management training and consultation firm.

Luke Panezich

Instructor of Project Management at University of Washington
Luke Panezich is a senior-level PPM practitioner and an active PMP, PMI-ACP and CSM. He’s implemented predictive, iterative and adaptive frameworks, helping organizations realize business benefits by turning strategies into IT products and services. As a project management coach and practitioner, he has led and managed teams through all stages of the project management and systems development life cycles. Certificated as a trainer and curriculum designer in Agile and other project management methodologies, Luke is an instructor for the University of Washington and serves on the board for PMI’s Puget Sound chapter. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army and has a Master's of Engineering Management from St. Martin's University.

Program overview

Are you interested in working in cybersecurity but unsure if it’s the right career choice for you?

This professional certificate program will introduce you to the field of cybersecurity, as you learn about its landscape, numerous sectors and various roles, competencies and career pathways.

You will learn about the role of the Chief Information Security Office (CISO) as you study the policies, procedures, practices and technologies put in place to mitigate organizational and systems vulnerabilities to cyberattack.

You will also learn about the type of skills needed from a cybersecurity professional, outside of technical proficiency. And lastly, you will be given the opportunity to complete a self-assessment to determine which career path in cybersecurity is right for you.

The goal of this program is to help you better understand cybersecurity and the opportunities within this field as they apply to you. The program is intended for learners who wish to identify their specific optimal niche and create a plan for entry into this exciting field.

What you will learn

  • Describe the vast array of roles and sectors within the Cybersecurity industry;
  • Explain the relationship between management and technology in cybersecurity protection;
  • Identify appropriate types of security controls to the actions of different and evolving threat actors;
  • Apply terminology and basic concepts of cybersecurity;
  • Assess own knowledge, skill, and abilities toward identifying a career path in cybersecurity.

Program Class List

1
Introduction to Cybersecurity

Course Details
An introduction to cybersecurity, ideal for learners who are curious about the world of Internet security and who want to be literate in the field.

2
Cybersecurity: The CISO's View

Course Details
Learn about cybersecurity operations and the role played by the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in the industry.

3
Building a Cybersecurity Toolkit

Course Details
Develop a set of skills and characteristics that expand beyond technical proficiency to become a successful cybersecurity professional.

4
Finding Your Cybersecurity Career Path

Course Details
Learn about different career pathways in cybersecurity and complete a self-assessment project to better understand the right path for you.

Meet Your Instructors

Barbara Endicott-Popovsky

Director, Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity at University of Washington
Barbara Endicott-Popovsky is the director of the Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity. She also teaches cybersecurity in several University of Washington programs. Endicott-Popovsky is a member of several national committees shaping cybersecurity education. She earned her doctoral degree from the Center for Secure and Dependable Systems in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Idaho.

David Aucsmith

Senior Principal Research Scientist, Applied Physics Lab at University of Washington
David Aucsmith is a Senior Principal Research Scientist - Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington. He has worked in a variety of security technology areas including secure computer systems, secure communications systems, security architecture, random number generation, cryptography and cryptographic systems, steganography and network intrusion detection. Aucsmith is a former officer in the U.S. Navy and has written extensively on cybercrime, cyber espionage and cyber warfare. He has been a representative to numerous international, government and academic organizations including the National Academy advisory board on Survivability and Lethality Analysis and the Directorate Advisory Council for the National Security Directorate of Pacific Northwest National Labs. He is co-chairman of the FBI's Information Technology Study Group, a member of the President's Task Force on National Defense and Computer Technology and a member of the Department of Defense's Global Information Grid Senior Industry Review Group. Aucsmith was also U.S. industry representative to the G8 Committee on Organized, Transnational, and Technological Crime where he participated directly in the G8 summits in Paris, Berlin and Tokyo.