by Elizabeth Harrin (London)
Social networking is big business: Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Twitter, Viadeo – there are plenty of sites waiting for you to upload your photos and tell all about your escapades on a Friday night. But how do you separate work life from personal life, especially when you do socialise with work colleagues as friends? It is possible, and if you don’t pay attention to what you say online, you could find it career-limiting.
by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)
According to the groundbreaking 2005 article, Off Ramps and On Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success, authored by Sylvia Ann Hewlett of the Center for Work-Life Policy, nearly four in ten highly qualified women report that they have left work voluntarily at some point in their careers. Among women who have children, that statistic rises to 43%.
“What we found most compelling [from the Sylvia Ann Hewlett data] was that 90% of the women leaving for personal reasons, such as to raise a family, intended to come back,” said Jennifer Allyn, Managing Director of Gender Retention & Advancement at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC).
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by Erin Abrams (New York City)
Over the weekend, both Democratic and Republican members of Congress worked in overdrive to try to hammer out the details of the $700 billion bailout plan for America’s beleaguered financial institutions. Late on Sunday night, lawmakers in both Houses and the White House reached a deal.
by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)
“Nothing is impossible – there is always a solution,” advised Alice Wang, Managing Director of Global Credit Markets when interviewed by The Glass Hammer. In 23 years with J.P. Morgan, Ms. Wang has seen the company and the industry change dramatically.
She started her career in investment banking after a stint as a CPA with responsibilities that included auditing banks, government entities and non-profits. “When I joined J.P. Morgan, it was still thought of as The Morgan Guaranty Trust Company–the bank–not J.P. Morgan, the investment bank that we think of today. I was offered a role as an internal consultant, which at the time felt like a good fit, as problem solving was and continues to be very appealing to me.”
by Kate St. Vincent Vogl (New York City)
Walking pneumonia would not keep Christin Walth from attending her business meeting. She was Microsoft’s representative to the Bluetooth team, and she could and would pull her weight for that lineup of seven industry leaders now that she wasn’t contagious. The conference had started two days before, and she knew at the backend she’d have to go directly to Israel to outfit those border guards, but she wasn’t about to miss this first meeting—at the Ice Hotel.
by Rebecca Staffend (New York City)
This is the philosophy of the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), an international organization working to improve the lives of women and girls in developing countries. Now in its thirtieth year, CEDPA’s Global Women in Management Program cultivates the executive skills of professional, mid-career women in developing countries who work in non-governmental, community and faith-based organizations. Alumnae reinvest the skills they learn in workshops through health services, educational programs, advocating policy reform, and demonstrating national leadership.
by Sima Matthes (New York City)
When you think cutting edge, you think Silicon Valley. Within the Valley, there’s a smaller community of internet companies, and, regrettably, these companies can hardly be called cutting–or leading–edge on gender equity.
So why the dearth of women? Quoted in a 2007 article in the Guardian UK, Jenny Slade, the communications director of the National Center for Women and Information Technology [UK] said “There were fewer women in 2006 getting computer degrees than in 1985. Women’s participation in computer-related occupations is low overall and it decreases as women climb the corporate ladder.”
That said, the following women are proof that there are some exceptionally qualified women who are blazing trails along the high tech highway:
by Erin Abrams (New York City)
This Glass Hammer financial reporter went on vacation last week, and returned to find the financial landscape in New York utterly transformed into something practically unrecognizable. Walking down Wall Street this morning, I felt like an astronaut doing a moon landing. Sure, the buildings physically looked the same, but the financial terrain seemed alien in light of the recent news on the Street.
Contributed by Ari L. Kaplan, Esq.
Just as superheroes have their arch enemies, opportunity makers have their career blockers. Individuals motivated by possibility and inspired by their peers can be stifled in their efforts, whether they are related to business or career development, by a few key characteristics that have varying degrees of influence. Purge them at the right times and success will be much easier to capture and maintain.
Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart
I accepted a job at a company where I was supposed to start next June. Now this company is being acquired and they have not said definitely what is happening to the offers they extended. How long do I wait for them to get back to me? Can I continue looking for a job or will people look askance if they find out I accepted another offer?
This is a tricky situation because normally it’s bad form to continue interviewing after you have already accepted an offer. However, there is a chance that your offer is void due to the acquisition, and the fact that the prospective employer can’t give you a definitive answer suggests that you should move on.