Connie M.

Connie M.

5.0

(6)

Student and Early Career Coach | UChicago & Duke Grad

Sanford School of Public Policy - Duke University Logo

Studied at Sanford School of Public Policy - Duke University

Career Camp Logo

Works at Career Camp

Available Wednesday at 3:30 AM UTC

Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.

Connie's Coaching Offerings

Custom hourly

Get help with Interview Prep, Skill Building, and .

Connie’s Career Coaching Qualifications

Coaches professionally

Experience level: Associate

10+ people coached for Career Coaching

Career coach and entrepreneur passionate about helping students and early-career professionals learn how to navigate their own path in life with purpose and defining their own success and happiness. I have worked with high school students, college students, and recent college graduates to explore careers, develop their careers, and achieve success in the job search. on career exploration, career development, and the job search. I specialize in working with clients on soft skills including networking, relationship-building, and cross-cultural communication. I have built my career in education (both K-12 and higher ed) and non-profits in the US and Taiwan, with extensive background in non-profit fundraising and external relations, alumni relations, STEM education, and college and graduate school admissions. I earned my bachelor’s degree in sociology with honors from the University of Chicago and my master’s degree in public policy from Duke University. I have also received training in Cognitive Coaching and Adaptive Schools from the Thinking Collaborative. I am a Certified Career Services Provider (CCSP) with training in Facilitating Career Development from the National Career Development Association (NCDA).

Connie can help with:

Interview Prep

Skill Building

Career Planning

Professional Networking

Resume Review

Networking Strategy

Freelancing

Salary Negotiation

Job Search Strategies

View all of Connie’s categories

About Connie

Hello, I'm Connie Ma! I am a career coach and entrepreneur passionate about helping students and early-career professionals learn how to navigate their own path in life with purpose and defining their own success and happiness. I have worked with high school students, college students, and recent college graduates to explore careers, develop their careers, and achieve success in the job search. on career exploration, career development, and the job search. I specialize in working with clients on soft skills including networking, relationship-building, and cross-cultural communication. I am the founder of Career Camp, which is a career coaching business for students and early-career professionals. I have built my career in education (both K-12 and higher ed) and non-profits in the US and Taiwan, with extensive background in non-profit fundraising and external relations, alumni relations, STEM education, and college and graduate school admissions. I was born in China, grew up and received my education in the US, and moved to Taiwan as an adult. I speak both English and Mandarin fluently, and have conversational French as well. I earned my bachelor’s degree in sociology with honors from the University of Chicago and my master’s degree in public policy from Duke University. I have also received training in Cognitive Coaching and Adaptive Schools from the Thinking Collaborative. I am a Certified Career Services Provider (CCSP) with training in Facilitating Career Development from the National Career Development Association (NCDA).

Why do I coach?

As a high school and college student, I knew there were things I liked and were interested in, but I had next to no idea how any of the subjects I liked at school or the things I liked to read about and listen to would ever translate into a real 9-to-5 job or career that actually paid me money. I was also convinced that I had absolutely nothing to offer anyone, because I had never had a full-time job before. I was just one of hundreds of college students who had a few part-time jobs and internships and really knew nothing about the real world. The spring before I graduated college, my plans for graduate school fell apart. I spent more than a few of sleepless nights applying for jobs until 6 AM. When I thought about my future, my thoughts were tinged with anxiety, frustration, and despair. What I didn't know at that time was that almost everyone in the world goes through this experience of uncertainty and change. In fact, here's a secret: most adults in the working world experience some uncertainty and doubt about their job on a day-to-day basis. The truth is that we continue to go out there, put in our time at work, learn skills and grow, and try things, not because we've figured it all out, but because we know that careers are a process, not something we achieve and then put on a shelf. As an educator, I care deeply about making sure that students and early-career professionals have access to the sort of career knowledge that I and many others had to stumble their way into and learn the hard way. As a coach, I am passionate about empowering my clients to reflect deeply on who they want to be, make decisions in their own education and career with confidence, and feel supported every step of the way. You won't always have a coach working with you, or even a professor, mentor, or friend looking out for you in the working world. How will you make career decisions? Set goals? Execute plans? Understand your own priorities? My end goal in working with you will be for you to feel confident because you know you have what it takes to figure it out on your own.

Work Experience

Career Camp Logo

Founder and Career Coach

Career Camp

June 2021 - Present

- Create and design Campfire, an online career coaching program for students, offering exclusive video modules on career knowledge, monthly one-on-one coaching sessions, and monthly live events with guest speakers, industry deep-dives, live resume reviews, and more (2025-present) - Create and teach Career Camp: The Course, a free, one-week online course which introduces high school and college students to career exploration, career development, and job search skills (2021-present) - Recruit and work with professionals as guest speakers, showcasing diverse backgrounds and paths to finding a career and job that fits individual strengths, goals, and definitions of success and happiness - Deliver one-on-one coaching sessions to students and early-career professionals seeking a career path and purpose, and help them define their own success and happiness - Work with high schools, organizations, and universities to tailor and deliver the Career Camp curriculum through customized workshops for groups of 15-30 students, enabling partners to offer English-language career development services to a wide audience Coaching, Writing and +3 skills

Taipei American School Logo

Alumni and Community Outreach Officer

Taipei American School

May 2018 - June 2024

- Lead the Alumni Office by creating and executing annual strategic plan of action to 1) keep over 13,000 alumni including former faculty engaged with the school, 2) help alumni and former faculty all over the world connect with each other, and 3) prepare students to be engaged alumni - Organize and coordinate 25+ annual in-person and virtual events globally and at TAS and in Taipei, including class reunions, fireside chats, career workshops, alumni panels, regional dinners and happy hours, alumni guest speakers, and much more, enabling alumni of different decades to connect with each other - Design and create the monthly Alumni News and annual Alumni News magazine, from interviewing alumni and researching historical programs, to gathering alumni updates and compiling school news, in order to keep alumni and former faculty informed and engaged with TAS - Manage and maintain the TAS alumni databases (Raiser’s Edge and Finalsite) by collecting and updating alumni contact information through forms and emails, enabling alumni to stay in touch with each other - Integrate alumni into the fabric of the school, benefiting students and faculty as guest speakers, historical resources, and engaged community members, by building relationships within the school, parent, and student communities - Manage the TAS archives and bring alumni on regular tours of the school to help them connect their memories of TAS with the school in the present day - Organize and execute the Ties That Bind oral history project for the school’s 75th anniversary (2024-25) by interviewing current and former students, parents, and employees who were a part of the school between 1999 and 2024 Project Management, Archives Management and +3 skills

The University of Chicago Logo

Alumni Interviewer

The University of Chicago

November 2010 - June 2018

- Conduct hour-long in-person and Skype interviews with domestic and international prospective undergraduate applicants for the University of Chicago, in order to understand students' academic and cultural fit, and to give students information about UChicago from an alumni perspective - Represent the University at Chicago-area college fairs to high school juniors and seniors - Served as one of three Chicago-area Alumni Schools Committee (ASC) Chairs from 2012-2013 - Read, rate, and give feedback on applications each spring for the University of Chicago Public Interest Program (UCPIP), and conduct hour-long interviews for qualified candidates to be recommended for job opportunities at Chicago-area non-profits after graduation - Participated twice in annual alumni panel to discuss and share personal and professional growth and experiences in Chicago's non-profit sector

Innovation Open House Logo

Product Team Manager

Innovation Open House

April 2017 - January 2018

- Develop future priorities, strategies, and directions for growth for IOH's main product, Personal Experience Talks, by linking current market needs with IOH's core values - Work closely with each member of IOH's Product Team to understand their personal and professional potential, needs, and interests, in order to increase overall motivation and cohesion - Improve the efficiency and productivity of IOH's production process by working with the Product Team - Contribute to the well-being of the entire IOH team through evaluation and working closely with the CEO and General Manager IOH - Innovation Open House (開放個人經驗平台) is a platform for democratizing personal experience. We are a video library for over 900 talks on educational and career experiences from Taiwan, the US, and many other countries. We aim to provide knowledge and direction in order to help Taiwanese youth and other youth succeed in higher education as well as the workplace. Learn more about us at www.ioh.tw.

The Art of Applying® Logo

Admissions Consultant

The Art of Applying®

October 2016 - May 2017

- Worked with international applicants of Master of Public Policy (MPP) and other graduate programs, providing advice on how to position themselves as candidates and share their unique life stories - Provided comprehensive academic editing services for documents including statement of purpose (SOP), resumé, CV, and other supplemental essays - Authored blog posts on how to navigate graduate school and develop your career through the internship search and alumni networking - Responded to questions from prospective applicants on GradCafé's Government Affairs subforum

Education

University of Chicago Logo

University of Chicago

A.B., Sociology with Honors

Activities and societies: Chicago Swing Dance Society, Chinese Calligraphy, Compton House Council, Dean's List, Taking the Next Step Education Panel Coordinator, Illinois Senior Classical League, Neighborhood Schools Program GEAR-Up Tutor at Kenwood Academy. Studied Western Civilization abroad in Vienna, Austria. Received Jeff Metcalf Fellowship. Received Uncommon Fund Grant for the project Fortune Favors. Graduated with honors in Sociology. BA Thesis: "Ethnic Identity Formation and Tools of Intergenerational Transmission: A Case Study of the Chinese School."

Sanford School of Public Policy - Duke University Logo

Sanford School of Public Policy - Duke University

Master's Degree, Public Policy, Education and Labor Policy

Activities and societies: Sanford Women in Policy, Bridging Communities, Duke Interdisciplinary Social Innovators (DISI) Focus on education and labor policy and public finance. Training in quantitative analysis, policy and project evaluation, politics, ethics, and policy analysis. Capstone Master's Project on leveraging SNAP employment and training (E&T) funding for the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS).

Connie was also personally admitted to

  • University of Southern California Logo

    University of Southern California

  • Wellesley College Logo

    Wellesley College

  • Johns Hopkins University Logo

    Johns Hopkins University

  • Boston University Logo

    Boston University

  • University of Massachusetts at Amherst Logo

    University of Massachusetts at Amherst

6 Reviews

Overall Rating

5.0

Loading reviews...
Connie M.

Connie M.

5.0

Sign in
Free events