Looking Ahead: Navigating a Career Path as a Young Woman

Published Tuesday, November 15, 2011 8:58 PM

There is a reason why hindsight is 20/20: looking back is a heckuva lot easier than guessing what's up ahead. Smart women beginning their careers can take the guesswork out of what lies down the road by learning from the women who went before them.

Been-there, done-that insight from talented women further along the career path can help up-and-comers shorten the learning curve and avoid common pitfalls.

While no two women will ever tread exactly the same path, savvy women everywhere can glean fabulous advice from our round-up from across the web.

Facebook Advice: We've blogged in the past about the smart, succinct advice for young women from Facebook powerhouse Sheryl Sandberg. It's worth another look here; Sandberg suggests that working women must take three steps to advance in their careers:

  • Sit at the table. Take your rightful place among the players, negotiate your salary and own your power. More than 50 percent of men negotiate salaries while less than 10 percent of women do so.
  • Make sure your partner is a real partner. Women wind up shouldering a majority of the child rearing duties and house chores, even when they work. A true 50-50 split is needed.
  • Don't leave before you leave. Women often stop gunning for promotions and projects when they contemplate having a family. Sandberg says women shouldn't "lean back" but should rather keep full steam ahead and not undermine their careers even before the take a break for family.

Ten Women, Numerous Tips: Women's Day magazine interviews ten dynamic women with careers ranging from CEO of a skincare company, to foreign relations expert to dentist, for their take on the best way to achieve a work-life balance, how to make opportunities out of setbacks, and more.

Smart Cookie: The unofficial first lady of New York State, celebrity chef Sandra Lee, heads a multimillion dollar business she created from scratch. Lee dishes up smart financial advice for working women  including: know your market worth, negotiate your own contracts and ask for the salary and raises you deserve. Lee also reveals that she negotiates all her own contracts rather than using an agent.

Feedback Vs. Perfection: Author Hannah Seligson, who wrote the book "New Girl on the Job: Advice From the Trenches," uses this NYT article  to distill her advice to women starting off in the corporate word. In a nutshell, Seligman advises women to jettison perfectionist tendencies and instead court feedback to learn how to become a more valuable employee. Seligman also encourages women to view a job as a two-part process: first, do the actual work, second, talk about what you've done, preferably in bottom-line terms.

What would be your advice to your younger self if you were just starting out in the work world? What is the number one thing young women should think about as they navigate their career? Share your thoughts here and on the Pendaflex Facebook page.

 

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