On Work Life Balance, Addressing the Wage Gap, PM Interviews, Building Community, and Getting Involved in WIP
Last Thursday on April 26, something special took place here in the Bay Area. Thanks to the generosity of Zenfolio’s Vice President of Product and Design, Subha Shetty, WIP hosted a San Francisco Bay Area Volunteers Night where women were able to connect with fellow females over food and drinks, talk about work-life balance, discuss the the wage gap, practice interviewing, find mentors, and discover new ways to get further involved in the amazing community!
On Sustaining Work Life Balance
During the eventful night, Elizabeth Douglas, CEO of wikiHow, shared personal stories and advice on how to balance work and life as a mother. She offered insights for women considering children, the many rewards and difficulties in raising children while running a company, and valuable lessons she learned from raising her 2 daughters today.
Some lessons Elizabeth Douglas shared:
- Understand what really matters to you in any given moment.
- Always be efficient at work. Be productive hour, minute, and second.
- Don’t underestimate how much your employer values you.
- Build your support system: spouse, other moms, neighbors, etc.
- It will be okay, even if in the moment it feels like it won’t.
On Challenging the Wage Gap
Women in Product co-founder and Director of Product at Hired.com, Christine Lee, presented 2018 data from Hired.com about the state of wage inequality in the workplace. She highlighted the latest trends and offered valuable tips on how to address them moving forward.
Some insights Christine Lee presented:
- Women are offered less 63% of the time. On average, women are offered 4% less money than men for the same role at the same company. Sometimes companies offer women up to 45% less
- Compared to software engineers, design, and data analytics, product management has strong representation of women and the narrowest gender wage gap
- Wage gap increases with age. Mid-thirties women ask for 2% less, but receive salaries 7% lower.
This presentation offered space to connect with other women on this often under discussed topic. Women shared stories, asked questions, and learned techniques to handle tricky conversations. For me personally, it inspired me to take a more empowered approach to my salary negotiations. Ultimately, this resulted in a successful negotiation in my newest job, and I graciously credit the support of this conversation and community to making this a reality.
On Product Management Interviews
WIP Volunteer, Zoe Van Nguyen, led a successful speed interview session where senior product managers paired with interviewees for a 15 minute sessions of interviewing and feedback. Both interviewers and interviewees alike found this time rewarding — reviewing resumes, identifying strengths and areas of improvement, and discovering ways to connect individual backgrounds to values associated with product roles.
One interviewee shared that she felt much more confident after the interviews and was advised that she could practice more on product metrics when answering product questions. Another interviewee was excited when she had a chance to go through the framework of her answers with Christine Fok. With all the positive feedback, we look forward to hosting more Speed Interview events down the line.
On Mentorship Circles
WIP Peer Mentoring Circles are assigned by WIP based on survey responses and are designed to support the growth, development, and diversity of our community. Often meeting once a month, these circles are self-governing, self-funded groups of approximately 10 women with mixed backgrounds and experience organized by geographic proximity. You can sign up to join a circle on our website.
On Volunteering with WIP
There are many opportunities to volunteer with WIP, from event planning to operations to business development to content creation. We are currently looking for an Executive Director of Women in Product. This is an amazing opportunity to be the face of WIP and continue to build this robust and powerful community of women product leaders. Learn more and apply here.
We’re eager to continue the conversations we started on April 26th and share more stories of and solutions to the joys and challenges of being a woman in product. We invite male allies to join the conversation too. If you have any suggestions for future events here in the Bay Area or have any questions on how to get more involved in opportunities with WIP, please feel free to reach out or connect!
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Women in Product is a highly-engaged community of women builders and leaders. Join our community or sign up for our newsletter for monthly events, networking opportunities, and much more! Please check out WIP website for a list of upcoming events.
