“What can I do right now to take advantage of working from home in my career?”
This is a question emailed to me from an engineer looking to set herself up for career success moving forward. It’s a really good question as we roll up to the anniversary of the start of the pandemic. (Do you remember where you were when you realized the pandemic was ‘real?’ I do!)
This is the first “female recession” in US history. The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that women account for more than 50% of the 5, 318,000 jobs lost since February 2020. Women are far behind men in returning to pre-pandemic employment jobs.
In a crisis, there is also a long history of individuals who emerge from such situations well-positioned for success in the future. Those people tend to focus on the opportunities that ARE available (ahem – instead of lamenting “when are we going to return to normal?”) and focus on their long-term goals.
There are numerous business examples here: WhatsApp, Venmo, Instagram, and Uber, for example, were all founded during the Great Recession. There’s more than one engineering firm where the founder started the firm as a result of a lay-off or falling out with the owners.
The ability to see opportunity and embrace change in times of uncertainty is one of the key qualities of both leaders and individuals who are successful in their fields.
How can you position yourself in the best way possible so that you emerge into whatever the new normal is with more role and job opportunities so that you can have the fulfilling career you want in a position that is perfect for you?
That’s what I’ll share today. You’ll learn the three moves you need to make NOW to position yourself for success in both the immediate and long-term future.
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3 Moves to Fast Track Your Career
There are MANY things you can do to improve your career prospects.
However, when your goal is to making high-impact changes that will quickly allow you to have more leverage in the role you have, get a better position, or even pivot industries, these are the trends we see in successful women that you can model.
These three moves are common themes we have noted when mapping success trends in our interviews with successful professional women. When asked “What do you do that makes you successful?”, they often point to one of these three moves, made at a critical point in their own careers.
None of these are hard to implement, but be forewarned they definitely will push you out of your comfort zone!
#1. Uplevel your relationships
You’re working from home, and may feel a bit disconnected from your team. You also may be an introvert who knows she needs to network, but isn’t doing it.
The pandemic has given you a great opportunity, and women who embrace it will find they not just up level their relationships but can acquire new opportunities where they are and even find new jobs with more ease.
I have interviewed, talked to, and mapped the trends of hundreds of successful technical women, and the ONE TREND that spanned across all of the most successful is that they created KEY RELATIONSHIPS with decision makers.
They didn’t wait for the right mentors and sponsors to come to them. Instead, they cultivated those relationships.
And because we are virtual, it’s easier than ever to reach out to a higher up where you work or even cold contact someone on LinkedIn that has an interesting job for a 15-minute coffee chat.
Here’s an example of what you might say to reach out at work:
“Hey [name], I am being proactive in staying connected to others in the office during this time, and I’d love to have a 15-minute coffee chat to get to know you and understand how I may be able to help you in my role. Can you let me know when might be convenient in the next week or so?”
And here’s an example of what you might say to reach out to someone you don’t know via LinkedIn:
Reach out 1 (to connect) “Hi [name], I came across your [blog, podcast, profile, etc.] and am really inspired by your work with [technical area]. I would love to connect with you on LinkedIn.”
After they accept, here are two options for follow up:
Option 1 is for if you are curious about their career paths. This also works well for connecting with peers, managers, and bosses where you work. See a sample script below.
Option 2 is for people you want to collaborate with or just get to know across your industry. A sample script to connect with them is below:
When they accept, have a rough outline prepared so that you stay within the time limit you’ve given. Remember, time is money! Here are some questions you may want to ask:
“What are the 1 or 2 things that have really propelled you forward in your career?”
“Where you think the industry (or your firm) is going next? What emerging technologies are you excited about?”
“What advice do you have for someone who wants to follow in your shoes?”
At the close: “I really appreciate your time. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
#2. Upgrade your skills
You’ve started building relations, and with those question you just asked you are hearing more about emerging technologies in your field.
Now, do you want to hear a career shortcut? Pick one of those emerging technologies of interest and learn everything you can about it.
When you do that, you are establishing yourself as an expert in that technology, which means – because it’s emerging – you are no longer competing for jobs with people who have decades of experience in an area.
Read books, take an online course, interview those in your industry about those trends with the questions I shared in #1, and learn everything you can about that technology. Share what you’re doing with others, and you’ll find that you’ve just short-cutted your way to a better and higher-paid position doing work you love because you have a rare skillset.
Skill upgrades don’t only apply to technical skills either. If you’re eyeing a position in management or leadership, you almost always need to upgrade your public speaking, leadership, and negotiation skills. Again, up level your relationships to include people who already do those things, and invest in yourself via online courses or even a coach to hone those skills.
#3. Craft a 3 month career plan
The new normal is changing, and what is working for you career-wise right now may not be working for you 6 months from now. How do you set ANY goals when things are constantly changing? By using an immediate 90-day “sprint” method, where you establish short term goals, broken down into things you will do weekly for meet that goals.
The goal with this plan is to consider things you can do that result in building momentum towards bigger and better things FAST – think promotions, a new job, the opportunitiy to work on an exciting new emerging technology.
Again, when I talk to successful women about what “really made the difference” for them, it almost always comes done to a few categories: connections with others, unique skillsets, and visibility to the right people. That’s where you need to focus your efforts if you really want to move the needle for yourself quickly.
Use these reflection questions to decide where you want to go and set your short-term goals:
Who do you want to have established a relationship with 3 months from now?
What skills have you identified that you need to upgrade?
Are there skills in areas of emerging technologies where you have a unique opportunity to stand out, because you’re not competing against people with decades of experience in that technology?
What opportunities (these could be connections, skills, or even learning opportunities at work) do you already have that you aren’t currently taking full advantage of?
Do you see yourself in a leadership position and need to upgrade your public speaking, people or business skills?
How can you make the work you are already doing more visible to people in positions of power in your industry?
Make these moves now to set yourself up for success
You don’t have to stay stuck just because of the uncertainty of the pandemic. Try just one of these three moves NOW to position yourself for more success!
Let me know in the comments, which one are you going to do first?
Do YOU have a question you want me to answer in a future blog? Email me at stephanie@engineersrising.com!
