By Maple Chen, Business Strategy Manager at American Eagle Outfitters
in the role.
Over the years, I’ve had other similarly formal mentor relationships, thanks to my company’s Close Knit Co-Mentorship program that matches associates across departments for a six-month series of meetings. But I have also had mentorships that grew more organically -- former managers who I kept in touch with, and leaders in other departments who could offer a different perspective. If you’re looking for a mentor but not sure where to start, I would recommend trying a mentorship program! Pennsylvania Women Work’s 3 Cups of Coffee program is, of course, a great place to start. Your current employer may also have a program you can join – according to MentorcliQ, “as of 2022, 84% of U.S. Fortune 500 companies have visible mentoring programs.” Your manager or Human Resources department should be able to help you, or if a formal program isn’t available, they may have suggestions for potential mentors in your organization to reach out to. So, you have a mentor now…what’s next? Here are some suggestions to make the most of your meetings with your mentor:
For me, I found myself taking interns under my wing and offering one-on-one meetings to share advice, and now new hires at my organization often reach out to learn more about my career path. I love talking about what I’ve learned, and when I realized that people actually found a 30-minute phone call helpful, I discovered I had become a mentor without really trying to! As you begin mentoring others, here are some things to keep in mind:
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By Abby Swalga, Director of Communications, Pennsylvania Women Work For some, social media can seem like a chore. It can sometimes feel like one more thing we have to check off our to-do list. But in the fast-paced work world, it has never been more important to be active on social media with LinkedIn. Since its inception, LinkedIn has grown significantly. The social networking platform now boasts over 900 million members, up nearly 60 million more than in 2022. It is the largest professional networking platform and provides an opportunity for job-seekers or those looking to advance their careers to learn about employment, training and career development opportunities. On top of that, it’s a space for employers to recruit talent for open positions and seasoned professionals to network and engage with one another across the country (and world). But what is my favorite thing about LinkedIn? It’s simple – it’s fun and positive. This is a platform where controversial topics are usually left aside and users lift one another up, cheer each other on, and celebrate accomplishments. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that? Now the hard part, creating your LinkedIn profile or simply maintaining it. Here’s the good news - LinkedIn is very user friendly, and you can make some simple updates to your profile to keep it current, relevant and clean. Profile and cover photo: These two things are prime real estate on your LinkedIn page. Make sure your profile picture is not a selfie or a cropped photo, but a photo of you in a more professional setting. We don’t all have the means to get a professional headshot, which is okay, but ask a friend to take a photo of you dressed professionally with a simple background. That will do just fine! As for your cover photo, choose something that fits your personality and have a little fun. Headline: Your headline is the descriptive words that appear under your profile photo on your LinkedIn page. These are important because they follow you everywhere, showing up with your name whenever someone searches you on LinkedIn. For those actively employed, you can include your job title, but also consider adding some descriptors of who you are and what you do to better maximize your chances of showing up in search results! Here’s an example: Director of Communications | Story-teller | Strategic Communicator | Social media expert | Nonprofit branding About: Your about section is an opportunity for you to tell the world a little more about yourself. I always like to say it’s a space for you to show your “professional personality.” By this, I mean it’s where you can share some of your professional accomplishments, employment background and highlights, and also a little bit about who you are personally. But keep it professional and under five lines. Activity: So here’s where people always seem to get hung up and overwhelmed. What do I share on LinkedIn? How often do I post? I’m here to tell you that you’re overthinking it! As I said, LinkedIn is a positive space where people encourage one another and lift each other up. For your activity, consider sharing an article you read that was of interest to you, or perhaps you just finished a professional development workshop or training. You can share a photo of yourself volunteering! You can even share content from a page you follow (we always love when volunteers share PA Women Work’s LinkedIn posts *wink wink*). Liking and commenting on other posts plays in your favor, as well, so you can’t do enough of that! I typically encourage people to log in to LinkedIn once or twice a week to share a post or engage with other users’ content. That’s all - just once or twice a week. Experience: If you’re just starting out on LinkedIn, upload your resume to autofill this space and then trim it down. Most importantly, you want your Experience section to match the timeline on your resume. Less importantly, you do not need every single bullet point of every single job you have ever had, so keep it to the highlights of each position. LinkedIn has so much to offer, so don’t shy away from it because you are intimidated to get started or maintain your profile! If you have these five areas up-to-date on your profile, you are golden. PA Women Work offers a LinkedIn virtual workshop through our A Closer Look program throughout the year. If you want to learn more about the platform, be on the lookout for the next one coming in the spring! In the meantime, feel free to join me on LinkedIn and start networking today. By Kristi Lisbon, Sr. Relationship Director, RPO at Aspiran I looked up the origin of the quote “Fake it till you make it” and have found many references dating all the way back to Aristotle who is quoted saying: “if a person would act virtuous then they will become virtuous.” For centuries, we have promoted the idea that we should “fake it” if we lack the skills or qualities we need to succeed (or believe we lack them). I believe that “faking it” drives self-doubt and promotes thoughts that we are not capable or competent versus instilling confidence. Imposter Syndrome is when a person believes that their success is not earned or validated. According to a study released in 2022 by KPMG, 75% of women in executive roles experience imposter syndrome at some point in their careers. I have experienced this feeling of doubt in my career – worrying that someone is going to tap me on the shoulder and say: “We’ve figured it out. You don’t know what you’re doing.” But the truth is, I do, in fact, know what I’m doing, and so do you. We must remind ourselves that we are strong and competent and have made it this far because we have earned our seat at the table. Many of us invalidate the fact that we have worked for opportunities and we are capable. The opportunities have not been given; they have been earned. I will admit that I am still a work in progress – I believe we all are! However, I have learned to stop and cope with the negative thoughts before they become debilitating. Here are 3 tips that I use to recenter myself when the feeling of imposter syndrome creeps in: 1. Lean into your experience and knowledge. You have made it to where you are today because you’re capable and have demonstrated your value through your experience and knowledge. When you’re unsure of yourself or nervous, take a moment to reflect on experiences you’ve had that led you to this point in your career, such as projects you’ve completed, relationships you’ve built, or your education. Also, it’s okay to not know everything. Learn where you can find the resources to get the knowledge and tools that you feel you might be lacking. These are the two most critical foundations of success – using your knowledge and knowing where to get knowledge. 2. Find a cheerleader AND someone who calls you on your BS. Talk to someone you can trust, whether a mentor, colleague, boss, friend, or family member. It helps to verbalize your fears with someone with your best interest at heart, talk through why you’re having these feelings and how you can manage them. Speak to someone who will shut down these negative thoughts and support you. I want to note that this is not to encourage you or suggest we should seek validation from others to build confidence. This is simply an opportunity to share and discuss some of the struggles or challenges you might be feeling to someone there to listen, support you, and help you create solutions. 3. Stop the negative self-talk – even to make a joke. You know when you were little, and you stuck out your tongue or made a face and your mom said, “If you make that face long enough, it will stay that way.” Negative self-talk is the same. If you say or think negative things about yourself long enough, you will start to believe them. Questioning your capabilities does not make you incapable. It makes you human. As women, we have been programmed to believe that boasting or leading with pride are negative traits. We have seen our ancestors hide in the shadows and purposefully not take credit for all they have done. We must stop believing that confidence and pride are bad traits for women and that we do not deserve promotions, leadership roles or accolades. If you feel imposter syndrome sneaking up on you, take some time to step back, assess what might be causing it and find tools within yourself and your community to help push forward. It leaves many in our community with bittersweet emotions that the year we celebrate 30 years of Pennsylvania Women Work, we also send off our friend, facilitator and mentor, Nieves Stiker. She will retire after nearly 30 years of involvement with our organization.
As we look back on our organization's three decades, Nieves is at the center of many memories, stories and milestones. Earlier this month, we met in a studio with some of the members of our community to capture the impact of our last 30 years. Nieves joined us, along with some of her past program participants. Standing in the spotlight surrounded by a brilliant white backdrop, Nieves stood arm in arm with two of her former students. As the cameras rolled to capture their scene, one of the women, with tears in her eyes said, “Nieves, you changed my life.” This sentiment; this connection; this transformation is just one of the thousands Nieves has created during her time with our organization. In 1995, Nieves began her involvement with New Choices and Pennsylvania Women Work. An immigrant from Chile, Nieves brought a unique perspective and an incredible understanding to her work with our organization. While many parts of New Choices have remained the same at its core, the needs of women in the 1990s – when Nieves began her involvement – were significantly different than those today. “We prepared students for non-traditional careers for women – I had a construction class, and we even taught how to change a tire and faucet to help women going through a divorce fend for themselves,” Nieves said. “We had a strong focus on computers and literacy.” New Choices continued to adapt and change over the years, and Nieves adapted and changed right with it to continue to meet the needs of local job-seeking women. Eventually, Nieves became the director of the New Choices program, where she strongly advocated for her students and built partnerships. Though she enjoyed her role as director, Nieves missed her personal connection to the participants and ultimately decided to return to teaching the curriculum she felt so connected to. For more than ten years now, Nieves has continued to change lives through her facilitation. In addition to New Choices, Nieves taught PA Women Work’s GROW curriculum, a trauma-informed program that supports women preparing to leave the criminal justice system as well as women navigating substance sobriety. She has also facilitated our Communicating for Success program using curriculum from DDI. “In the GROW program, the students I have are going through a lot. There is a lot of resistance at first.” Nieves went on to explain that watching her students grow, transform and work toward personal successes as they continue through the program gives her a deep sense of gratification in her work and mission. In every class she facilitates, Nieves brings a special way of seeing past all the distractions and barriers people put in place to shield themselves, and connects with each participant on a deeply human level to help them realize their potential. “Failure is an opportunity to learn; you did what you did with what you had at the time,” Nieves tells her students. “The important thing is understanding what you learned about yourself, what you’re going to do about it, and then you forgive yourself.” Over her 28 years with PA Women Work, we estimate that Nieves has reached more than 7,000 job-seekers on their path to a more meaningful career and prosperous life. During this time, Nieves has been many things to many people. She was an instructor, friend, mentor, ally, coworker, supporter, director, and volunteer. But most of all, she was an inspiration. “I have hundreds of cards and notes from students saying ‘you changed my life’,” said Nieves humbly. “I didn’t change their life; I was simply walking with them when they changed their life.” Thank you, Nieves, for many years of service to Pennsylvania Women Work and to the people of this region. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement! By Ana Kay Yaghoubian, Director, Building for Success, United Way of Southwestern PA Growing and sustaining networks of women is empowering and one of the best ways to overcome some of the disadvantages women have traditionally faced in the workplace. Building a network often depends on attending networking events or reaching out to people we’ve never met face to face. Networking in any of these situations can be intimidating, especially for more introverted folks. Fortunately, there are many ways to build your network, including options that don’t involve having to wear a nametag! When I came to Pittsburgh from the Washington D.C. area, I met so many amazing women who made networking easy. While it didn’t happen right away, eventually I found folks I connected with and felt more settled. As I grew my network, I was impressed with the things women in Pittsburgh did to support each other, especially when it came to sustaining a network over time, which can be the most challenging part. Being involved with the PA Women Work community has helped me find another excellent resource of women who want to support each other in Pittsburgh. Being a great ally to other women in your network is important. Whether your network is big or small, be a great ally and supporter to the women in your circle. Even a small amount of time and effort can have many benefits for you and others that can last for years to come. But what does being a great ally to one another mean? Below are a few things you can do to grow and sustain your network of women:
While there are many social networks to choose from, if you don’t have a social media profile yet, LinkedIn is a pretty good bet for finding many of the people you see professionally. Spending a few minutes on this channel daily or weekly can keep you in the loop on opportunities to support and grow your network. I find an easy way to reach out to new people is connecting on LinkedIn shortly after an in-person or virtual meeting, showing appreciation for their participation, or just saying it was nice to see them.
Signing up is simple! (Link to sign-up page). You’ll be paired with a mentor/mentee and spend three sessions together…so PA Women Work does the work to connect you with someone in your field who is capable of helping you achieve your goals. I’ve met some fantastic women this way and learned so much in the process!
While you may have some things in common, you can always learn from someone else's experiences. This type of mentoring is excellent for sharing challenges and brainstorming solutions. Those in the same professional arena might know of resources you don’t; someone in a different industry might have a totally different perspective or an out-of-the-box solution.
All these suggestions add up to women supporting each other to reach their goals. There’s no one right way to do it, but there are steps we can all take to grow and strengthen our network while accomplishing our own career goals and advocating for others. I’ve made some great friends that started as people I met while networking, which feels like icing on the cake! Pittsburgh has a great ecosystem of strong, talented, and accomplished women, and don’t forget, you’re one of them! |
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