• >
• Web Exclusive

Skills You Need to Build Your Career

These are the skills you won’t see in a job description, but that are essential to getting ahead.

Web Exclusive

For young women, it can seem like getting somewhere in their career can take decades too long, especially in a competitive city like Austin, where jobs are plentiful, but more qualified applicants move here every day. So what can you do to stand out in the crowd? The 2015 Texas Conference for Women offered an insightful breakout session geared toward helping young women figure it out.

Led by Aliza Licht, the author of Leave Your Mark and the former DKNY PR Girl, this panel helped to answer several questions that plague the thoughts of young, career-minded women. 

The panel:
Tara Trower Doolittle, senior editor, Austin American-Statesman
Lori Knowlton, chief people officer, HomeAway
Cindy Seffair, director of change management, United Airlines
Kelly Showalter, general manager, Shell Technology Center Houston

The discussion:

1. What are some important mistakes young women can avoid?

            According to Doolitle, oftentimes, young women don’t understand the importance of networking. She sees more women networking, but without a plan. And most importantly, once you meet people, you need to follow up, and do it right way. Keep the conversation going and the ideas flowing.

2. The difference between what men pursue in their careers and what women pursue.

Knowlton had some interesting insight on this. While we all know men are typically more willing to take risks in their careers, she pointed out the implications of this. Men are more willing to interview for positions they’re interested in, even if they’re not particularly qualified for the job.  Women, on the other hand, tend to interview for jobs they’re over-qualified for.

            “If you can do 90 percent of your job, you’re wasting your time,” Showalter says.   

            One of the things all these women have in common is they weren’t afraid to learn new things, but instead were driven by the need to do so. That’s what kept the steam in their upward mobility.

3. Seffair, who has been with United Airlines for 17 years, was asked how she was able to leverage longevity in her company. 

These days, it seems women bounce from company to company instead of moving up in the ranks of just one. She emphasizes the importance of having knowledge of not just the company, but all of its departments. It’s also important to have relationships built with people in those departments. One thing that made her stand out as an employee is that she would always ask herself, “Am I meeting the needs of the people I’m serving?” This open communication will not only get your name out there, but will also help to answer that question.

4. Working for Shell, Showalter has always found herself surrounded by men. So how does she navigate in a male-dominated space? 

First and foremost with men, and in all business, you have to have a thick skin and you simply “can’t wear your feelings on your shoulders,” she says. This includes refraining from whining and complaining.

5. Speaking of whining and complaining, many women ask, “How do you deal with a co-worker who has a personal problem with you?”  

First, ask yourself, are you whining about something? Are you complaining something? If so, you’re not part of the solution, but rather adding to the stress of the problem. Are you being too sensitive? Knowlton reminds us that sometimes things can feel like they’re personal when they’re really not. But when there is a conflict in the workplace, speak up. Doolittle notes that sometimes misunderstandings and conflicts arise when people aren’t speaking the same language. And by that, she means sometimes people can misinterpret each other. She gives the example of a former manager who told her she was a bad listener. What she thought he was asking her to do was to be quiet and listen instead of talk. Finally, after months of making herself quieter, with the same feedback over and over again, she asked him to clarify what he meant. He wanted her to interact, prove that she was listening by asking questions. They were saying the same thing, but they understood it in two different ways. So clarify and make sure you understand what you’re hearing.

6. What about negotiating salary? 

Seffair likes to say, “Be a star where you are.” And by this, she means do outstanding working where you are. Too often, when people want a raise, they’re so focused on getting it (or not getting it) that their performance in their current job decreases.

Licht points out something so obvious that it’s often overlooked, simply because of entitlement.

“You don’t get a promotion for doing your job. That’s called a salary,” she says.

If you want a promotion, do more than your job. She suggests keeping a folder that has documentation of every time you went above and beyond for your company, and showing it at the time of review. 

Aliza Licht photo by Gerado Somoza, courtesy of facebook.com/texasconferenceforwomen. Photo of Leave Your Mark cover coutesy of facebook.com/profile.php?id=730290589&fref=ts.

---