If you have ever been passed up from a deserved promotion at work OR you simply don’t get the deserved recognition for your efforts, you might be able to relate to this.
A lot of women in the work place experience this and sometimes, they may not be 100% responsible for the outcome.
Here are 4 Life-Changing Ways to improve your Success at Work
Navigating the career world is a skill we have to learn as STEM women. Today, I’ve compiled 4 life-changing tips to help you navigate the career world and be successful at it.
1. Expertise
“True expertise is the most potent form of authority.” This statement was made by Victoria Bond — A professional orchestra conductor and composer, and while this may be true in the hallowed halls of classical music, it is not true in the four walls of an office. Now don’t misunderstand, expertise is important, otherwise, it won’t make it on this list. It is important you know what you do and you know it well. It is your responsibility to keep on learning to develop capacity so that you can become an opinion leader in your choice profession.
While expertise may get you into the room and give you the floor for a few minutes, it is not enough to keep you in the room.
This is where the other points in this article come in.
2. Visibility
Quoting from one of the popular books of all time; the Bible — “No one lights a candle and puts it under a bushel”. It is a paradox to light a candle and then cover it up. This, however is the case of many women in the professional world today, especially in the stem world. We beg of you, the career environment is not where you want to be seen and not heard.
You can have all the expertise in the world, but if you are not visible, it’s all vanity.
Contrary to popular belief, your work won’t speak for you, it’s inanimate (except for our friends in artificial intelligence, but even robots need to introduced). You have to speak first, then show your work. In summary, be visible.
3. Sponsorship
Mentorship is all the rave, but folks have been quite silent about Sponsorship. This may probably be because it has gotten a bad rap especially among our gender (there is a reason why it is called the old boys network). Sponsorship is quite important. We spoke about visibility, but what happens when you are not in the room, who speaks for you? You need to have “connections” at every level. You need to have your ears where decisions are made. To do this, you need a sponsor. How do you get one?
Do the work! Roll up your sleeves and network, be diplomatic. Offer value to receive value. Do what you can you to get people in your corner without compromising your values.
You may call it brown-nosing, we call it getting sponsors.
4. Personal Branding
Yes we know (major eye-roll), this is the new belle of the ball. Everyone has left networking and is now talking about personal branding. Well, it’s because you need to know! We keep saying do not judge a book by it’s cover but yet, advertising companies spend so much money on getting the right cover to grab your attention. Wake up from your slumber, we are judged constantly by our cover. It is important to get your personal branding game right; online and offline.
Put a little effort. Update your LinkedIn profile. Be conscious of what goes up about you on social media. Take good head-shots and use them as your profile pictures.
Enough of dull and poorly taken selfies. Now for the physical, dress well. You do not have to break the bank to put together a presentable look. Remember, you need to act the role you want to be and not where you are now.
We really hope these four (4) points have struck a chord with you today.
Remember, we need more women in decision making roles in STEM and it can only happen when we all do the work required to take us there.
What other important skills have we missed out that you think are key to career progression? Let’s hear your views on here.
CAWSTEM is a community of African women in STEM. We are a female-led crew, on a mission to rewrite the narrative about having few women in STEM and, especially in leadership positions. We share interesting insights, news, and resources to empower women in their STEM careers. Join our community here
