As my partner and I plot how to earn enough income to stay afloat, we've learned to tap into our network in new ways. I asked my cousin, who's a pretty big wig at a university here in town, to give me some advice about getting new teaching gigs. I'm awfully excited about the nonprofit financial management and intro to fundraising class I teach at DU, and I wanted to figure out how to approach others in the college and university system in a way that would at least get me in the door.
In the nicest way, he said that it was pretty much a fool's errand to go chasing after new teaching gigs. The curriculum is already jampacked, my class would have to be an elective and they wouldn't be likely to add it, etc. Being the pragmatist that I am, I moved on to other things--no sense in wasting energy where the payoff will be small or nonexistent.
At a Women'sVision Foundation event last week, I ran into someone who is working on her Master's thesis at the Women's College at DU. We chatted for a few minutes, I asked a couple of pointed questions, and she recommended that I contact the Women's College to see if they might be interested in my topic areas. The next day, I figured what the heck, what would it would cost me other than a few minutes of time? I emailed the dean, and within an hour I had a response from one of their reps, who scheduled a meeting to talk with me.
The moral of this story? I need to follow my own advice--the advice I give other women: If you don't ask, you don't get.
Showing posts with label career management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career management. Show all posts
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, November 2, 2008
That's Ms. CPA to You
A colleague I worked with always made me laugh by calling me Ms. CPA, which was a play on my credentials: MS, CPA. Recently a consultant I hired to give me advice about my job search suggested that perhaps my identification with my credentials is getting in my way. Why? Because it calls to mind the image of... I'll let you fill in the blank. What do you think of when you think "Certified Public Accountant"? Exactly. And that isn't me.
I didn't go down the path of the CPA who pays her dues at the public accounting firm, which is what you're supposed to do. (This was an early clue that I was not destined to fit in anyone's mold.) It just seemed, well, mundane and boring. Plus I knew exactly one woman who had made it big in public accounting, and she paid for it with a divorce and missing her kids' childhood. Now there's a ringing endorsement.
I'm nontraditional and anti-establishment in many ways. I was never a "public accountant." So why do I keep my license up to date? Why do I readily tell new networking contacts that I'm a CPA and forget to mention other important facets of my professional life (e.g., I'm an adjunct faculty member at DU, I volunteer at three different organizations, I own three businesses)?
Because I'm an ESTJ. Because I can process data and its relationship to the big picture faster than most people. Because I love numbers and the story they tell. Because I enjoy telling that story to other people. Because CPAs follow a code of ethics I believe in.
It's hard for people to reconcile my outgoing and friendly nature with the fact that I'm a CPA, and that's why my consultant recommended that I de-emphasize my financial background during the job search. She said that people want a CEO who is, above all, charming, and I throw them off with the financial credentials. I've followed her advice, and we'll see how it pans out.
But in the end, I'll always be Ms. CPA to you.
I didn't go down the path of the CPA who pays her dues at the public accounting firm, which is what you're supposed to do. (This was an early clue that I was not destined to fit in anyone's mold.) It just seemed, well, mundane and boring. Plus I knew exactly one woman who had made it big in public accounting, and she paid for it with a divorce and missing her kids' childhood. Now there's a ringing endorsement.
I'm nontraditional and anti-establishment in many ways. I was never a "public accountant." So why do I keep my license up to date? Why do I readily tell new networking contacts that I'm a CPA and forget to mention other important facets of my professional life (e.g., I'm an adjunct faculty member at DU, I volunteer at three different organizations, I own three businesses)?
Because I'm an ESTJ. Because I can process data and its relationship to the big picture faster than most people. Because I love numbers and the story they tell. Because I enjoy telling that story to other people. Because CPAs follow a code of ethics I believe in.
It's hard for people to reconcile my outgoing and friendly nature with the fact that I'm a CPA, and that's why my consultant recommended that I de-emphasize my financial background during the job search. She said that people want a CEO who is, above all, charming, and I throw them off with the financial credentials. I've followed her advice, and we'll see how it pans out.
But in the end, I'll always be Ms. CPA to you.
Monday, October 20, 2008
From Career Ladder to Career Lattice
Last week I attended a women's leadership luncheon sponsored by Deloitte LLP at the invitation of the Women's Foundation of Colorado. Sharon Allen was the keynote speaker--she's the Chairman of the Board of Deloitte, an accounting and consulting firm (yes, they still call her the Chairman though she is a woman). She's also on the Forbes list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.
Ms. Allen spoke about how they have implemented the concept of the "career lattice" at Deloitte in order to replace the traditional "career ladder." Gone are the days of the traditional step-on-everyone-to-get-to-the-top philosophy. Gone are the days of fighting for the next promotion and the next raise. Gone are the days of having to leave if you're going to have a family.
It took me a while to wrap my head around the idea, because I was taught to believe that if you aren't forever getting more money and power, you're lazy, boring, or incompetent. And if you did take time out for family or anything else, well, you'd pretty much have to start over at the bottom. This was the price we paid for being women in a man's world.
But Sharon Allen talked about being able to "dial up" or "dial down" your career at various points in your life without having to give it all up. Flexibility and respect seem to be the cornerstones of this approach. After it sank in, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. The world is starting to understand that women can add infinitely more value when they contribute from within their own framework.
If one of the most traditional, male-dominated industries in the U.S. has seen the light, we're closer to electing a woman president than I ever thought possible.
Ms. Allen spoke about how they have implemented the concept of the "career lattice" at Deloitte in order to replace the traditional "career ladder." Gone are the days of the traditional step-on-everyone-to-get-to-the-top philosophy. Gone are the days of fighting for the next promotion and the next raise. Gone are the days of having to leave if you're going to have a family.
It took me a while to wrap my head around the idea, because I was taught to believe that if you aren't forever getting more money and power, you're lazy, boring, or incompetent. And if you did take time out for family or anything else, well, you'd pretty much have to start over at the bottom. This was the price we paid for being women in a man's world.
But Sharon Allen talked about being able to "dial up" or "dial down" your career at various points in your life without having to give it all up. Flexibility and respect seem to be the cornerstones of this approach. After it sank in, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. The world is starting to understand that women can add infinitely more value when they contribute from within their own framework.
If one of the most traditional, male-dominated industries in the U.S. has seen the light, we're closer to electing a woman president than I ever thought possible.
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