Women in Technology: What should you look for in your next job?
By CEO and Founder of theglasshammer.com Nicki Gilmour
Whether you work as an engineer or a coder, a big data analyst, product manager, or a project manager in technology, you probably want to work for a great company who values both the technology itself and the women who make it happen.
For women who are looking to make a move to a new employer, you have choices that on a binary level break down into either working for a technology firm with technology as the product or working for a firm who has a different product or service but frankly has exhilarating technology making it all work behind the scenes.
The Glass Hammer held the 5th Annual Women in Technology career event sponsored by American Express, EMC, and SunGard on October 23rd, so it seems timely to ponder which companies are best for women in technology. What qualities should you be looking for in your next employer? Big names like Twitter score highly in ‘best places to work’ surveys (remember, surveys are usually filled out by an HR team) yet are then exposed for having few women in tech teams and management.
However, if you want to work in Silicon Valley, it is always good to hear what women on the West Coast who work there have to say first hand by checking out Glassdoor or other sources such as Quora.
Do you have to work in a tech firm to work in tech?
There are many firms that have amazing opportunities for women in technology outside of the technology industry, so choosing the right firm can be hard when you are applying. Company culture is something important to consider, which we talk about a lot here at The Glass Hammer. PwC recently conducted a survey that explores which behaviors the best companies engage in whether or not their business is technology, which we think can help you know where your next career move might be.
The five behaviors that were identified in high performing companies are:
1) A CEO who actively champions their digital strategy – these CEO’s perform at a higher rate than those who ignore this part of their business strategy.
2) A strong CIO-CMO relationship – just under 50% of companies surveyed stated that their digital budget was outside the IT department’s control.
3) Outside-in approach to innovation – understanding the market and what capabilities can be brought in from the outside as well as operating strong internally.
4) Significant investment in new IT platforms – can anyone say infrastructure and cyber-security?
5) View digital as an enterprise capacity – firms who create availability and access to data and digital strategy both inside the tech team and across the firm have a higher chance of leveraging higher performance.
Margaret Mitchell, Vice President for Business Intelligence and Data Governance, spoke to us about what makes American Express is a great place to work for women who want a fulfilling career in technology.
“When I saw this study, it really struck me how Amex really fulfills these criteria. Our CEO, Ken Chenault, coined the term “digital transformation” several years ago in a Town Hall and Amex has walked the talk when it comes to putting power and strength to innovation to allow teams to be agile and achieve amazing things.”
Talking about her own career at the firm, she comments that it is the constant supply of interesting problems to solve that has allowed her to really develop her skills over the years, which includes having three technical patents to her name.
Mitchell comments, “it is the breadth and complexity of the projects here (that makes it interesting)…we have every type of technology you can think of, we have mobile, big data, security – it runs the gamut. You name it, Amex has a project. You don’t always get that in a product company.”
The Marriage of Marketing and Technology
They really do seem to make the rubber meet the road at Amex with a robust women’s network and a series of “hackathons” that resulted after the CIO went to the CMO and asked for real life problems to solve. Mitchell comments, “A mobile prototype that created a game around card usage came out of one of the early hackathons and became part of the recently launched Amex EveryDay Card.”
Mitchell went on to explain how technology is key for increasing marketing’s channel reach through capabilities like registering your card via Facebook and Twitter to be eligible for an instant discount.
Structurally, Amex is set up in a way that enables the tech team to think about clients’ and end users’ needs since IT and marketing are embedded in product teams alongside colleagues from the business lines.
Breaking financial service stereotypes?
Financial services firms are often not the first thought for techie women with “bro- culture” with a lack of role models and sponsors. However, The Glass Hammer conducted research in conjunction with Accenture on Women in tech via our organizational consulting arm Evolved Employer in 2013, which suggests that financial services firms do walk the talk when it comes to supporting women.
Look for women’s networks, formal sponsor programs, and all the criteria listed for a digitally savvy firm as well as a good percentage of women at all levels to know you are entering a firm that can help you make your technology dreams come true.
