Event Roundup: Take Charge of Your Career
Events, The Round-Up | May 4, 2017
This sold out event at the Spoke Club generated thoughts, ideas and comments about what it means to take charge of your career as a woman. What strategies do women use to advance, negotiate and secure roles? Senior director of Catalyst, Vandana Juneja, explored with us through data and research what women can do to negotiate and secure more senior positions.
Vandana shared the results of a longitudinal research done by Catalyst which included over 3000 male and female MBA candidates. The goal was to assess how men and women take charge of their careers. This interactive event included a self-assessment survey that evaluated whether you were a coaster, scanner, climber or hedger. Vandana distributed handouts which consisted of “10 Tips to a Better Career”, “Take 12 Approach” on how to improve your brag bites and “Negotiate Your Way to a More Challenging and Satisfying Role”.
The top strategies that men used to advance their careers were:
- Blurring the work/life balance
- Gaining access to influential people
- Seeking external opportunities
The top strategies that women used were:
- Make achievements visible
- Gaining access to influential people
Vandana debunked the “Queen Bee” myth that women don’t help one another and suggested that women should look for a mentor and a sponsor – someone to advocate for you. Research also showed that when women mentor and/or sponsor someone else, on average, they are likely to have a $25,000 higher salary than those who don’t.
“Paying it forward, pays back”.
The top three takeaways from this event for those who want to take charge of their career:
- Seek out a senior level sponsor
- Make your accomplishments known
- Negotiate your role
Thank you to our national sponsors 108 Idea Space, Secret, Ivey, The Spoke Club, TD & Crowe Soberman for supporting our mission and events. Thank you to Colette Grand Café for providing a prize for our raffle contest, and to Tealish who provided a gift for our speaker. A big thank you to all those who attended, tweeted and participated!
