Tag Archives: stepping up

Business Networking, Change, guest blogger, News, Observations

The Rise Of The Female Tech Entrepreneur

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Women have always appeared in the Fortune 500 rich list here and there, but it’s only recently that their roles have become newsworthy – mainly thanks to two powerful women taking top jobs at the world’s biggest tech brands. As these companies become more powerful on a global scale, the actions of their CEOs come under scrutiny on a daily basis; if the CEO happens to be female, you can practically guarantee a news story will follow.

In this article, we’ll look at four female entrepreneurs that have climbed the ranks to positions of power.

First, there’s Sheryl Sandberg, the woman who assists CEO Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook. Sandberg is an ex-US government employee and was previously a high flyer at Google before becoming the first woman on Facebook’s board. Her official title is chief operating officer, and she appears regularly in the press.

Women in BusinessSandberg is a vocal believer in women’s ability to graduate towards senior roles in business, and her book Lean In is dedicated to discussing the topic. She extensively analyses the possible reasons for women holding back in the workplace. She also believes women should be comfortable in their own skin, particularly in a corporate environment, and is keen to promote equality at work and in the home.

Ursula Burns has served exactly three years as CEO of Xerox and has been tasked with the modernisation of the brand – no mean feat for a company that was founded more than a century ago. Her appointment is notable in the US: she was the first ever woman of colour to be in charge of an enterprise as massive as Xerox, and she is in the top 20 most powerful women on the planet.

On the company’s homepage, Burns says she values “ethical business practices”, and openly criticises organisations she believes to be sexist or discriminatory. It is estimated that she earned a cool $9.9 million last year, and her 2011 salary was comparable.

Marissa Meyer is perhaps the best-known example of a female CEO hitting the headlines. Now in charge of Yahoo!, Meyer started her working life at Google when the company was just starting out. Her speciality was A.I., and she quickly rose through the ranks to become Vice President of Search Products and User Experience.

Since 2012, Meyer has lead Yahoo! through a turbulent transition period. Rejecting extensive maternity leave, Meyer has banned employees from home working, although she herself worked from home towards the end of her pregnancy and paid to have a nursery built next to her corporate office. Despite ruffling feathers, she is determined to forge ahead with major changes.

With a background working in top jobs for The Walt Disney Company and eBay, and holding qualifications from Princeton and Harvard, Meg Whitman was well-placed to become CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Overall, Whitman is thought to be worth $1.3 billion; she spent $144 million on her campaign to become Governor of California three years ago. She lost.

Whitman has worked with some of the biggest names in the US, counting Steve Ballmer and Mitt Romney among former colleagues. At eBay, she was criticised for purchasing Skype, but that didn’t prevent HP from poaching her in 2011. Whitman is perhaps the most established high-profile CEO in the Fortune 500 list.

Sam Wright is a freelance writer working with prweekjobs.co.uk.

Careers Advice, Change, guest blogger, Motivation, Negotiation

What Are Your Options If You’re Being Mistreated By An Employer?

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Statistics show that almost half of all working people have been affected by bullying or harassment in the workplace, either by being the victim or by witnessing it happening to someone else. This statistic is far too high. If a child is being bullied at school then it’s taken very seriously by the parents and teachers involved and something is done about it. However, in the workplace people may be scared to come forward and report bullying behaviour for fear of the repercussions.

What constitutes bullying in the workplace?

  • Verbal abuse including shouting and swearing at a colleague or employee.
  • An individual being singled out for criticism or blame which is unjustified.
  • Playing practical jokes and pranks on an individual repeatedly.
  • Purposefully ignoring a particular employee’s contributions regularly.
  • Disrespectful language or actions aimed at embarrassing or humiliating an individual.

What constitutes harassment in the workplace?

  • Negative comments or actions based on an individual’s gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability or religion is classed as harassment rather than just bullying. Harassment in the workplace on any of the grounds above is governed by law in most countries so the perpetrators can be prosecuted.

What are the effects of bullying and harassment in the workplace?

  • Effects on the individual: Stress, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, low self-esteem, absenteeism, low productivity in the workplace, insomnia, high blood pressure, and digestive problems.
  • Effects on the employer: A high staff turnover and loss of revenue due to constantly having to train new staff; low morale amongst staff and therefore lack of motivation and low productivity; a difficulty in recruiting quality staff members as word spreads through the industry about the hostile working environment at the company.

As you can see, absolutely nothing good comes from bullying and harassment in the workplace. So if it’s happening to you or someone you know it’s imperative that you take action. There are several ways to tackle the problem:

  • Bullying in the workplaceTry not to react to the bullying. If you react in the heat of the moment your emotions will cloud your judgement and may lead you to say or do something which you later regret.
  • Take a step back and try to look at the situation objectively. Have you misinterpreted your colleague’s actions? Speak to friends or family to see if they feel like the actions of your colleague can be construed as bullying.
  • Keep a diary of any incidents that you deem to be bullying. If you have them down on paper you’ll be able to identify any patterns, and have a better body of evidence to present in the event of a grievance or tribunal.
  • Escalate the problem where possible. If it’s a colleague harassing you then inform your line manager and let them deal with it in the correct manner. If it’s your manager bullying you then speak to their manager or a union representative.
  • If none of the above works to resolve the situation and you end up feeling forced to resign due to ill health brought on by the stress of the situation, it’s always advisable to seek advice from an employment solicitor.

An example:

A friend of mine was recently a victim of bullying and harassment in the workplace. She has a disability, and one of her colleagues took it upon themselves to highlight this and use it to discriminate against her and humiliate her on several occasions. Her self-esteem and confidence were really knocked by this and she didn’t feel she got the relevant support from her line manager. Eventually the situation forced her to resign due to stress and anxiety. Upon doing so she contacted a local employment solicitor in Loughborough, her home town, and sought advice on pursuing a claim against her employer. In the end her employer was made to pay compensation to her, which gave her back her confidence and enabled her to find a new job which she’s very happy in.

The moral of the story is: If you feel you’re being mistreated it’s down to you to do something about it! Don’t stand back and let the bullies win, keep a log of all of the incidents, don’t rise to the bullies, and seek advice from an employment solicitor. Remember there are acts and laws in place to protect us in our place of work, so use them to your advantage and stand up to the bullies!

guest blogger, Interviews, Planning

5 Tips to Help You Stand Out In An Interview

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After all the hard work you put into making your CV stand out and impressing an employer with your application form, it’s the best feeling in the world when they want to meet you in person for an interview. But now is not the time to relax, this is where the hard work really starts. Now it’s time to really sell yourself and stand out from the other 10 or 15 people they may be interviewing! Here are a few tips to help you do that:

  • First impressions count – It takes between 5 and 30 seconds for a person to make their judgement about you, and once they’ve made their assumptions it’s very hard to change their mind! So it’s really important to create the right first impression in an interview. Obviously the way you dress will be one of the first things they notice about you so keep it smart and well-groomed, and avoid too much jewellery or excessive perfume/aftershave. If you’re not used to wearing smart clothes wear them in the house a couple of times to get used to them and ensure you feel confident and comfortable. Carry yourself confidently, head up, shoulders back and offer a firm, confident hand-shake!
  • Speak slowly and clearly – It’s perfectly natural to be nervous in an interview but there are ways you can ease your nerves and appear more confident. Speak slowly and clearly, there may be one interviewer asking the questions and another one recording your answers so think before you speak and don’t talk too fast! If English isn’t your first language you may want to consider taking a course to improve your conversational skills. Most cities in the UK have a language school. Taking English Courses in Manchester, London, and Birmingham etc is useful as larger cities provide more opportunities to practice your conversational skills.
  • Being preparedResearch the company – Every company worth working for will have a website, so use it! Look for key information such as the roots of the company, any future visions they have, their ethics and morals etc. If there’s not enough on the website then it’s a good idea to give them a call or visit their premises to ask a few questions. It’s good practice to structure your research as a SWOT report: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Look at what the company does well already, areas they could potentially improve on, what’s happening in the industry that could provide good opportunities, and any external threats from competitors or the economy.
  • Preparation is key – There are certain interview questions that always get asked, such as “Why do you feel you’re right for the position?” and “Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?” So prepare some answers to several commonly asked questions and you’ll feel more confident when these questions arise. Try to think of several situational stories/anecdotes that demonstrate your skills, for example if you’re asked about a time when you gave great customer service, be specific, talk about specific situations and customers. Make sure you know what the job description and person specification are for the role and answer questions accordingly to demonstrate how you meet the employer’s needs.
  • Ending on a good note – Make sure you’ve prepared 2 or 3 questions to ask the interviewer at the end of the interview. Try asking them things like “What does your training plan offer?” or “How much scope is there for personal development?” Questions like this show that you’re interested in the company and a long-term future with them. It’s also good practice to thank the interviewer for their time, perhaps followed up by an email the following day. Little touches like this may make you stand out more than other candidates.
Job Applications, Job Hunting, LinkedIn, project management jobs, project management recruitment

Part time Project Management jobs

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More and more project professionals find themselves in a position where they need to work part time – this may be due to home commitments such as caring for dependents or even other interests such as writing books / working for charities etc. It may seem that employers will not be interested in part time employees as projects can be very time consuming, however there are a great deal of organisations out there who would benefit from experienced project professionals working on a part time basis due to budgetary constraints.balancing home and work

These types of roles are rarely advertised as the hiring managers have not yet thought about taking on additional support in this capacity but it does make sense. Therefore it is important to really think about how you can add value to a project or business and make contact with heads of projects etc. A first port of call would be your existing contacts base – update your CV and drop them a line explaining your desire to work on a part time basis and don’t forget to add in the benefits of a cheaper resource with a great skill-set. Once you have made contact with previous employers, colleagues, and contacts then you are on their radar – hopefully they will keep their ear to the ground and suggest you for additional resource with their contacts too. Then you should look to research organisations who have project management functions to see what is new with them – the best starting point would be to look at their news articles to see if they have anything new in the pipeline which could potentially yield new roles, such as new products / mergers / overhauling legacy systems etc. Before making contact – look to see if any of your contacts have any connection to the organisation, LinkedIn is perfect for this. If you find they do – ask for an introduction to HR or ideally heads of projects. The next part is really important: write a speculative covering letter which includes detail about their changes then talk through your relevant experience and exposure to this, do not be afraid to blow your own trumpet – but simply stating you are brilliant isn’t the way to do it, talk about your actual accomplishments which are relevant to the project and how you add value. Then talk through your desire for a part time position and spell out how this can be a cost effective resource for the project. Some flexibility to your working hours is always a bonus, so if you can be flexible – tell them so!

There is a fair bit of work required on your side with this approach to finding a new role but with competition high for the few part time roles advertised, it is this proactive behaviour which will yield results.