5 Tips on Succeeding as a Woman in Technology

Women have increased their numbers in many professions previously dominated by men, including law, business, medicine, and other STEM fields in the U.S; however, the number of women in engineering in the U.S. has not increased since the early 2000s. — Society of Women Engineers

Women make up half of the total U.S. college-educated workforce, but only 29% of the science and engineering workforce…relatively low…in engineering (15%) and computer and mathematical sciences (25%). — NSF, Science & Engineering Indicators, 2016

I’m not new to being the only female in the room. When I was at high school, I was the first girl who asked to take Woodwork instead of Home Economics (AKA cooking and household management). I had to ask permission from the headmistress for a special exemption. Unfortunately my Woodwork teacher was an elderly protective chap who wanted to do all the work for me instead of letting me use the tools myself… Later I became the first girl at my school to take technical drafting (this was pre-AutoCAD days, we used paper, pencils and rulers). In the late 1990s I went to the Vancouver Film School and took a “multimedia” course studying web design, CD-ROM design, 3D animation, and audio and video production. I was one of three women in a class of ~30 and one women dropped out in the first couple of months.

So you can see that I was used to being in an environment that was majority male at school, but as I moved into the workplace I found it’s a different experience to navigate. Why is it different? Unlike a class you can drop if you don’t like it, you need to keep your job to pay your rent. There’s also office politics and other factors that can be out of your control in the workplace. There’s plenty of articles that talk about the barriers and challenges for women in tech — they tend leave me a little depressed frankly. I’d like to talk about what you CAN control if you are a women working or applying to work at a tech company.

I’m going to assume you’ve gotten the skills side of things down. You’re studying the current programming languages for your field. If time permits you’re doing side projects and checking code into GitHub so you can establish your technical reputation. My suggestions are about the soft skills to help even out the uneven playing field you will face as a woman in technology.

1. Use your network

Getting your foot in the door is the first struggle that women disproportionately face. I have frequently gotten interviews because I had a connection at the company I was applying to (LinkedIn is your friend). For five out of the last six companies that I worked at, I had my resume directly handed to a recruiter and sometimes to the hiring manager vs applying through the general system. Of course that only gets you over the first hurdle of getting the interview — then you have to prove yourself to actually get the job. But you’ll never get the job without getting over the first interview hurdle.

What if you’re a new graduate? Your school should be providing some support. Your fellow graduates have connections. Your parents and their friends have connections. Reach out and ask for an informational interview to learn about a company or role that interests you. People like to help other people, it makes them feel good about themselves, so don’t be afraid to ask. Do be sure to make good use of their time and yours. Come prepared with a list of questions you’re interested in, and always end by asking if there are other people they recommend you speak with.

You should also go to networking events to make new connections. Meetup is a great resource for tech networking events. If you don’t yet have a job, still make sure you create a LinkedIn profile and start connecting with all the people I mentioned above. Get good at searching on LinkedIn for connections who can help you, or know someone who can help you. Get printed business cards featuring your LinkedIn profile URL and few keywords summarizing your skills/business value proposition to share at events. Just keep in mind that networking should always be a two way street — you should be thinking about how you can help this new acquaintance, as well as what they can do for you.

2. Stay Focused and Move On

Based on your gender, people may make incorrect assumptions. Don’t get stuck in your frustration when that happens. Believe in the skills and abilities that you bring to the table and present them authoritatively.

It’s a fact. You are occasionally going to get mistaken at tech networking events, conferences or corporate parties as “someone’s girlfriend” or “the booth babe.” You have no idea how mad that makes me when it happens to me. Ask my husband how mad I get… ;-)

These days I try to turn the situation around as gracefully and as quickly as I can. I reply, “Actually I am a (job title) at (company name) and have been in the industry for xx years.” Figure out what your response will be in advance so you can smoothly get beyond your shocked/frustrated/horrified state and establish your credentials right away to banish any doubt that you belong in that room. Like water slides easily off a duck’s back, let their assumptions slide off you — stay focused and move on.

3. Ask for what you want

You don’t have to meet 100% of the qualifications listed in a job ad to apply for that job. Generally, men don’t let that get in the way. As one Forbes article put it, “Men are confident about their ability at 60%, but women don’t feel confident until they’ve checked off each item on the list.” Their advice: women need to have more faith in themselves. A Harvard Business Review article did another analysis about why women tend to only apply if they meet all the job applications and concluded it wasn’t just women not believing in themselves, they also didn’t want to put themselves out there to fail. Whatever the reason is that we have been shying away from jobs that we don’t perfectly match — stop it! Get the 100% match notion out of your head right now.

Think creatively when you see a job ad. Do you like the company? Do you meet more than half the requirements? I remember applying internally at a company for a role and being terrified because the title had “director” in it and I had never been a director. I won that role and over time excelled in leading a team of ~12 — with some mentoring support from past colleagues. Don’t let your doubts and fears stop you from asking for what you want, put yourself out there and take risks. It’s the best way to grow.

4. Don’t be afraid to negotiate

Everything in life is negotiable. You don’t get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate.

“Women may not realize that many companies set aside money with the expectation that employees will ask for better compensation packages… Yet only 30% of women bother to negotiate at all, while 46% of men negotiate,” according to Katie Donovan, founder of Equal Pay Negotiations. Apparently these figures add up to almost $2 million in lost revenue over a lifetime for the average woman seeking to climb the leadership ladder. That’s a lot of money to potentially lose!

At the last six companies I worked at I negotiated on the initial job offer. I got more salary, more vacation, more shares or some combination at five of those six companies. The sixth company didn’t budge so I took the job and knew I hadn’t left any money on the table. Simple. Do some basic preparation like research your market value through tools like Glassdoor and other online salary calculators. There are lots of great articles about negotiating salary so please go read those for more detailed pointers. I reread information about salary negotiation to freshen up my skills every time I am close to getting a job offer.

5. Choose the right company

I’ve worked at very “bro” companies where my voice was often discounted, where I had to put up with atrocious sexual innuendos in senior management meetings, and where promotions seemed more readily available to men over women. The good news is that I’ve also worked at great, supportive companies where I was encouraged to push myself and grow, to apply for a promotion that was a stretch, and where it was comfortable to be myself.

Let me tell you — everything gets easier if you choose the right company. Caveat — there is no “perfect” company. But some are much better than others! Things to look out for:

• Good people (AKA company culture). Company culture is a squishy thing to define, but here are a few thoughts. When you are interviewing, do you feel comfortable with the people you are talking to? I know there is always some level of tension and nervousness in interviewing, but are they people you respect and would like to get to know further? Replay the interview in your head later — were they respectful? Did they listen to you or talk over you? What does your gut tell you about the work environment? I recently interviewed with a company and an older male asked me about my scrum certification and said, “So would you be our scrum mistress?” I’ve never ever heard gender applied to the title of scrum master before. Needless to say I did not take the job.

• Flexibility in work hours and openness to remote working. It’s a stereotype that’s changing over time but generally women are far more often the caregivers for sick children, aging parents etc. I recently had a serious family emergency and was able to work remotely for a week while also spending time in the hospital with my family member. A company with a healthy remote working culture will give you the opportunity to fulfill your work obligations while also taking care of those you love. (Thank you Imgur!)
• Role models and mentors. If you are early/mid career, are there any senior women at the company for inspiration and occasional advice? Are there non-white people at senior levels, showing the company’s commitment to diversity? Sadly this is a tougher ask in many tech companies as the stats are still so bad, but at a minimum look for signs that that a company is courting diverse candidates (see flexibility and company culture). I have greatly benefited at companies that had female leaders who supported me and helped me grow.
• If the company is larger, do they have a professional women’s group? Do they offer reimbursement for training so you can continue to grow your skills? If their engineering team is majority male, do they still make the effort to make sure you interview with a woman even if she’s not an engineer so you don’t feel like you’ll be alone? Remember, sometimes someone has to be the first female engineer for there to be a second, third, etc — just look for the fact that you’ll be given support. Someone has to trail-blaze!

Speaking of choosing the right company, Imgur is hiring (you saw that coming, right?). It’s a great company for women — we offer a flexible working environment, we pay for training relevant to your role and much more. And although we are not a huge company, we’re even starting a professional women’s group (a Lean In Circle). Take a look at our current opportunities here and feel free to contact me directly if you’re interested — we’d love to hire more diverse candidates.

Amber Morey-Wu is the Technical Program Manager at Imgur. Previously she was the Director of Product Operations at Wikia, the Director of Developer Services at DeNA, worked on new IP projects at LucasArts, and lead the FIFA QA team at Electronic Arts.