Real Estate: A Hot Sector for Women

338624761_3b524b7463_m.jpgThough the real estate market has been down in the wake of the subprime crisis and resulting credit crunch, and foreclosures across America have been way up, the news isn’t necessarily all bad. Indeed, for more and more enterprising women, real estate has presented fascinating opportunities, from fast track career advancement to the security of home-ownership as a single woman. Here, we survey some trends in the field.

Though The Glass Hammer has noted in numerous other blog postings the slow pace at which women have broken the last glass ceiling and joined the elite group of C-suite executives at America’s Fortune 500 companies, there are a few areas where women in finance have made greater strides. One area is university endowment and private foundation management, where several high profile women have bucked the trend and have demonstrated that they can successfully manage and invest billions of dollars.

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Voice of Experience: Juliet Bullick, BlackRock

Recently, The publisher of Glass Hammer spoke to Juliet Bullick, Head of Institutional Account Management in the UK at BlackRock. Juliet shared her insights about her job, flexible work arrangements, and her advice to young women in finance.

Juliet made a good point when I spoke to her about her four-day work week, a flex-work arrangement she has had in place since her son was born almost six years ago.

“Not everyone wants to take a salary adjustment and deliver a full week’s work in 4 days.” She does emphasize that the key to making this arrangement work is flexibility on her part to work whenever needed.

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Passions: Canoeing in the Wilderness

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Contributed by Jane Lucken

a582238453_471172_7502.jpgYou want a stress-relieving break and are considering a spa vacation. They are great in principle, but often end up costing a lot more than you budgeted for and, if you’re like me, tend to involve more time spent on massages and pool-side lounging than giving your body the exercise it needs. If you are truly looking to escape your everyday life in the city and get healthy without too much effort, then I recommend a canoe trip in Algonquin Park.

A friend and I flew out from London last summer and found ourselves eating homemade muffins and fair trade coffee in a solar-powered lodge in a forest in Canada. The other guests were all participating in a training to become shamans and were wolfing down what was to be their last meal for a few days. We were pleased to see Chris, our guide, loading up food barrels with spices, organic vegetables and wild blueberries.

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Breaking the Glass Ceiling -Jobs on The Glass Hammer

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This week, The Glass Hammer launched a job board (https://jobs.theglasshammer.com) filled with jobs that are specially selected by our staff. All of the jobs pay $100,000 or more. We work with evolved employers to put thought into jobs that are going to be great for our readers.

The Glass Hammer is here to help you get a better job than you have today, whether you are looking for a promotion, a lateral yet beneficial move, an on-ramp opportunity, and or a job that is entrepreneurial in spirit. Gone are the days of linear careers where you get a gold watch at the end of twenty years of service. Instead, you can chart and pursue a fulfilling career path.

As publisher of The Glass Hammer, I get to pick the jobs that I feel are noteworthy and my picks this week are interesting and varied. They include:

Commerzbank is looking for a relationship manager – leadership skills, good communication skills and 5-7 years experience of primary corporate banking relationship management. Is a small bank environment with a fast career track right for you?
https://jobs.theglasshammer.com/a/jbb/job-details/19519

Goldman Sachs is looking for a non-financial markets person to work with them on designing their new offices. An amazing opportunity for women who have chosen design as their career.
https://jobs.theglasshammer.com/a/jbb/job-details/19602

We also have some quant jobs up on the job board that are paying great salaries for all you math whiz kids out there. Have a look during your coffee break!

If you want to speak to me directly about glass-breaking opportunities, give me a call 646 688-2318 or email me on nicki@theglasshammer.com.

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Top 30 Under 30 with Cindy Ko of JPMorgan

Last week, The Glass Hammer interviewed Cindy Ko, a rising star in the prime brokerage division of JPMorgan, who happens to work in a chain of three female supervisors. We caught up with Cindy about how she got her current job and what it was like to work on a team of strong women in finance.

Cindy spent some time during university working abroad in Asia. She graduated from Syracuse University in 2001 with a B.S. degree, double majoring in Finance and Management Information Systems. She worked a few years at a previous employer before she took a break in Hong Kong and returned to New York in search of employment in 2005.

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Women of Vision Awards

The Women of Vision Awards honor women making significant contributions to technology in three categories: Innovation, Leadership and Social impact.

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Career Match II

Use the clues of your personality code to find a lifetime of gratifying work and success.

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Ask-A-Recruiter: Surviving A Lengthy Unemployment

Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

In this down market, many people were laid off simultaneously, so it is taking longer to find a job. Are there are any special tips when you have been unemployed for several months with no job in sight?

The same basic job search rules apply in an up or down market. However, in a down market, the competition is fiercer, everyone is more anxious, and therefore it can be harder to execute a proactive, thoughtful search. Furthermore, if you have been laid off and have been unemployed for several months, there are specific considerations to take into account: your skills may get stale, your motivation wanes, and unemployment benefits or severance may run out before a new job materializes. Here are some survival tips:

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Last Woman Standing: The Firing of Zoe Cruz

cruz_zoe_morgan_stanley.jpg“The real problem is that the proverbial glass ceiling is self-reinforcing. The traits that a woman must develop to duke it out on the trading floor are the same traits that will come back to haunt her as she ascends the ranks of management.”

This is the central thesis behind the extremely well researched and thought-provoking piece about the demise of Zoe Cruz, formerly the highest ranking woman on Wall Street before she was fired from her position as co-president of Morgan Stanley in November 2007, as the company’s exposure to the subprime mortgage crisis began to unfold. At the apex of her career, she was earning over $30 million in 2006, and was considered one of the most powerful women in the world and the company’s CEO heir-apparent.

The article, entitled “Only the Men Survive,” by Joe Hagan, was filled with ‘fly on the wall’ quotes about how high-powered aggressive women like Ms. Cruz are really regarded within their own companies. The quotes from insider sources revealed a startlingly frank and pervasive sexism towards women in finance.

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How to Achieve Work/Life Balance

Contributed by Karen Elizaga of www.forwardoptions.com. Karen is a life and career coach for women and girls.

639615047_44d29eceb3_m.jpgAll too often, the achiever/overachiever in us zealously books appointment after appointment and takes on one commitment after another. At work, we feel compelled to be the “go to” woman in hopes that we will make significant career strides and appear to be infallible in the face of multiple and difficult challenges. Unfortunately, our ambitions and desires to excel can take a toll on our health, emotions and personal relationships.

Admittedly a career can be important, and it may be necessary for you to earn a paycheck. However, let’s consider work in the context of the rest of our existence. It can allow us to feel important and necessary and if we consistently deliver superior work, the financial reward may be significant. But should career concerns pervade our entire existence? Definitely not.

A balanced life allows us to recharge and increases both our overall happiness and work productivity. If you are content with your existence outside the office, you can channel that positive energy to fuel an upward career trajectory.

The following are five tips for creating a life in balance. Use them and see how much more satisfied you are in all aspects of your existence – your emotional, physical and intellectual realms.
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