Self-reflection
How to be authentic in a world that expects us to be all the same?
Today marks the beginning of another edition of the Grace Hopper Celebration, the world’s largest conference for women in technology, in Florida. In 2017, I attended as a scholar; in 2018, I received the Pass It On award; in 2019, I was a Dell recruiter and speaker; and in recent years, I was a mentor and virtual attendee. Since 2018, I have reviewed scholarship applications and mentored women preparing to attend the conference.
This year was no different. I mentored 43 women in 2 weeks! And the question I received the most was: “How do I stand out to recruiters?” After listening to them, learning more about their stories and reading their resumes, the answers varied, but they were based on the same premise: “What will make you stand out is your story and what you think is your weakness is, precisely, your superpower.”
I notice that we, especially women, have difficulty telling our stories. We are afraid to share (what we believe to be) our vulnerabilities.
We are afraid of not being understood because English is not our first language, or because we have a 2-year gap in our resume because we left the job market to care for our children or parents, or because we don’t have a formal degree in Computer Science. We forget about all…
