001lg.jpgThe first time you are made redundant is the worst. Sort of like losing your virginity, your expectations of the event bear very little relation to the experience. When it does happen, the reality can be both comic and tragic at the same time. But it is nearly always hard to cope with when it happens. However competent and successful you may be, you are now no longer wanted, and that hurts, especially if you’ve put your heart and soul into your work.

Unfortunately, recent financial market woes mean that more financial professionals are going to be dealing with layoffs in the near future, as discussed in this Times Online article.

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The Working Mothers Committee is proud to host the Spring Luncheon at the Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) branch of the New York Public Library.

Contributed by Pamela Capalad

Women are a driving force in the workplace and equal opportunity employment is no longer simply lip service, as smart CEOs realize the power of recruiting and retaining female employees656924000_ed810cc6b3_m.jpg. Companies are not only targeting women and women of color in their hiring practices; many recognize the importance of catering to women’s unique needs to ensure their productivity and well-being. Many companies are implementing formal mentoring and education programs, networking and support systems, and progressive flex-time, maternity leave and on-ramp programs to accommodate this trend.

The companies who made the Glass Hammer’s Top 10 List are industry leaders who actively implement programs that create a balance between increasing diversity in the workplace, juggling family and professional life, and consciously creating programs that contribute to a measurable advancement of women in leadership positions.

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Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

The following question came up at a recent workshop that I led about career management during a down market:

“My company is downsizing in waves. People are telling me to grab a buyout if I can because future severance packages will probably be less generous. Should I try to hang on or leave as soon as possible?”

There is no one answer to this question. You might welcome a downsizing an opportunity to start fresh somewhere else. On the other hand, many jobseekers are flooding the market at the same time, so looking for a job now may be extra challenging. Early buyout offers may be better than future ones if you think the company might run out of money or be unable to turn this situation around. On the other hand, staying put could give you a chance to prove yourself in a difficult, turnaround situation and be one of the few who survived and thrived.

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Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

When looking for a new job, timing is everything. For a hiring company, matching candidates to jobs is as much about finding the right candidate as it is finding her at the right time (i.e., when there is an appropriate job available). If there is a great candidate but no job, there is no match. Maybe the hiring manager/ recruiter will remember that great candidate when a job comes up, but maybe not. Maybe the recruiter will ask if she’s still available, but maybe she’ll just assume she’s not.

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The best piece of advice I ever received on developing my own career came from one of my law school professors, Lani Guinier. In my third year of law school, I took her capstone course on Practicing Public Interest Law. However, by that point, it had become apparent to me that, due in part to financial constraints created by my student loans, I might not in fact be practicing public interest law upon graduation. Despite my goal of becoming a lawyer to further my commitment to social justice and serve the public good, it looked pretty likely that I would end up accepting a job offer an a law firm (a great firm that had many partners who were committed to pro bono work, to be sure, but it wasn’t exactly Legal Aid).

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111515924_cd0b07f0c2_m.jpgA few years ago, I attended a luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City to honor women in communications and the author Samantha Power introduced one of the honorees. Someone asked me who she was. I told her that Ms. Power was a professor at Harvard and an author who had won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for her first book, “A Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide.” I also told her that while a book about genocide didn’t sound like an easy read, Ms. Power’s writing made it a fascinating topic. I urged all eight women at my lunch table to buy her book.

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How to make your reputation come before as well as after you. Whether you want to be a leading light in your field or understatedly reputable, this workshop will focus on how to build a reputation for all the right reasons, improve referrals and position yourself for positive PR.

Join us on Wednesday, March 19th to hear Kavita Ramdas, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Fund for Women.

Contributed by Pamela Capalad

2335411051_6ba1727f50_m.jpgSituation: Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, caught with a hooker.

Immediate Consequences: Scandal. Ruined political career. Resignation. Endless op-ed columns written in an effort to explain the psychology that motivated Spitzer.

Collateral Consequences: Headlines one week later read “‘Client 9’ call-girl now online music star.” Known as “Kristen” on the wiretaps, Ashley Alexandra Dupré already has two hit internet singles and her MySpace page was viewed 2 million times in under 24 hours and 6 million times to date. Hustler and Penthouse have offered her magazine spreads. A 20-photo pictorial of her, scantily clad, has already run in the New York Post.

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