The IT Girls Coach

How to Manage Your Boss
A BNET Crash Course
by Geoffrey James

From BNET - Article published late 2007

It’s nice to imagine that the success of your career rests upon your basic competence at doing your job, but that’s only half the picture. Raises, promotions, and other perks depend directly on how well you can manage your boss. If he or she doesn’t warm up to you—or worse, doesn’t remember that you exist—you’ll never land the plum assignments you need to get ahead. In addition to performing well, you have to make sure the boss knows about all the things you’re doing right, while also building personal rapport so that he or she will keep your best interests in mind.

Read full article here.

More than half of the women in science, engineering and IT leave the field at mid­career. Here’s the reason.
By Kathleen Melymuka

From Computerworld - June 16, 2008  (with permission)

What if half the men in science, engineering and technology roles dropped out at midcareer? That would surely be perceived as a national crisis. Yet more than half the women in those fields leave — most of them during their mid- to late 30s.

In this month’s Harvard Business Review, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Carolyn Buck Luce and Lisa J. Servon describe the Athena Factor, their research project examining the career trajectories of such women. Hewlett, founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy in New York, told Kathleen Melymuka about what they learned.

Read full article on Computer World

…and animals are not stupid.

 My family also has a story a little like this.

For those who know me, I know this always surprises you - but I spent the first 12 years of my life growing up on a farm in New Zealand.

One day my mother was down in one of the large fields (paddock for those of you who live in the southern hemisphere) picking blackberries. Her pail/bucket was almost full when she sensed something.

She looked up and to her horror one of my father’s largest bulls was charging straight at her.

She was so frightened she was rooted to the spot.

Just as she thought she was going to be trampled the bull stopped short and stuck its head in her bucket.

To this day we are not sure who was more surprised my mother, or the huge bull with blackberry juice all over his nose.

It transpired that this bull has once been hand reared as one of the family pets after losing his mother and he was expecting a bucket of warm frothy milk!

If you have a great animal story I would love to hear it.

What if you could change one woman’s life in a war-torn region of the world?

What if you knew her name?

What if you could communicate with each other?

Can you even begin to imagine how this experience could change your life too?

I know it can, my sisters name is Martine, she lives in Rwanda and just being able to communicate with her changes the way I view my world. But don’t take my word for it - take a couple of minutes to watch this video.

Women for Women International’s Sponsorship program creates a unique experience by building a one-to-one relationship between you and a woman who lives thousands of miles away.

By sponsoring a woman you not only provide her with the financial assistance she needs to get back on her feet but also the hope and emotional support that are the keys to rebuilding her life after war.

A copy of a letter I recieved this week. I am on the Heifer mailing list:

As Heifer International project participants in Sichuan Province continue to recover from the May 12 earthquake, Heifer is planning for the area’s long-term rehabilitation. Through gifts of livestock and agricultural training, Heifer will help communities regain what they have lost.

Heifer has a long history in China and is committed to helping project participants restore their livelihoods.

New stories of hope are already blossoming. One of the most inspiring comes from Anhui Province, far from the quake, where Heifer project participants acted as donors in assisting affected families in Sichuan.

Though farming families from the Anhui Province had little to give — income per capita is $220 (US) a year — they recognized the power of Passing on the Gift to others in need. And the sacrifices were inspirational. Fifty families have collected $300 to help victims of the devastating quake.

Zhu Yuntao, a member of one of the project families, said, “All the time we talk about helping each other. Heifer helped us and now it’s our duty to help those who are suffering from the earthquake.”

Won’t you join the efforts of these giving farmers and help provide opportunity to those who have lost so much?

Donate now.

Yours in Peace,

Ashley Michael
Heifer International
P.S. Please forward this message to anyone who may be interested.

As part of its action plan for 2007, PricewaterhouseCoopers Gender Advisory Council embarked upon a programme which could be described as “Learning from Leaders”, in which interviews with 79 of PwC’s female leaders in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, South Africa, the UK and the USA were conducted across a two month period. The findings from the research are contained within this report, together with a summary of current analysis and thinking on the topic from a variety of global academics and educational institutions.

The publication sheds light on the various obstacles faced by women as they rise within the ranks of professional services organisations and provides recommendations for companies wishing to build gender diversity in order to increase the bottom line, while still promoting the advancement of women in the workplace.

Read the findings of the research and download The Leaking Pipline report on the PWC website

The ICF 2008 European Coaching Conference is only days away - have your registered yet?

The ICF ECC2008 Geneva Organizing Team members, our hosts in Geneva in June, are working joyfully and attentively to make sure that every detail is considered and that we will experience a roster of exciting and innovative speakers and workshops while networking with old and new coaching friends and colleagues.

They have designed an enticing programme with the theme “Connecting Worlds” to inspire, educate and connect on many occasions through formal and informal networking.

Find full program here

I’m going, I hope I see you there.

Krissy
The IT Girls Career Coach

Young Women are Choosing Careers Over Love, according to a study published recently in the scientific journal “Gender Issues.” However, International Career Coach Christine Jackson says unless these women change the way they approach their work, they may never become leaders in their chosen fields.

Walchwil, Switzerland (Bluehost/PRWEB ) June 3, 2008 — Christine Jackson, an International Coach Federation (ICF) certified Career Coach, helps women define strategic career and personal development plans. She has just launched her new website, The IT Girls Coach for women in IT and communications professions. Jackson offers tips, articles, coaching programs, online networking communities and one-to-one telephone coaching for those wishing to fast track their career development. She hopes to help women overcome their lack of career success…

Read full press release here.

From Forbes.com - Business Basics (with permission)

How To Job Hunt The Right Way
By Tara Weiss, 05.20.08

Job seekers take note: Instead of blindly sending out résumés to every help-wanted ad in your field,
target companies and positions that are the right match and tailor your cover letters accordingly.

Read full article on the forbes.com website

Go Global, Network With Other Business Professionals Online

XING (pronounced “crossing” ) makes your professional network an active part of your life. Far more than a directory of business contacts, XING enables its members to discover professional people, opportunities and privileges through its unique discovery capability and advanced contact management tools. Its novel approach to professional services has resulted in OPEN Business Club AG being named one of the world’s hottest Web 2.0 startups by Business 2.0/CNN Money and one of Europe’s “Top 100” by Red Herring.

Founded in August 2003, OPEN Business Club AG’s global network manages tens of millions of member-to-member connections across 16 languages and all industries, with “real world” events held around the world. OPEN Business Club AG currently employs an international team of 67 people from 13 nations, with its headquarters based in Hamburg (Germany), and offices in Beijing (China) and in Zurich (Switzerland).

XING. Powering Relationships. On Xing You can:
• Find decision makers and experts fast
• Open doors to thousands of companies
• See your contacts’ contacts
• Market yourself in a professional context
• Open up new sales channel
• Find old student friends and former colleagues
• Let other people find you
• Manage and expand your network

XING is committed to powering relationships based on trust for all professional people. Based on the theory that “No two people are more than six degrees apart”, XING enables members to grow their trusted network by making their contacts’ contacts visible to them. As an active and productive community, we constantly strive to create real value for the world’s professionals, as an everyday online and live resource – across all countries, languages and industries.

XING crosses barriers – for a sustainable world.