6 Tips for Women Graduates Entering the Workforce

6 Tips for Women Graduates Entering the Workforce The world needs balance and diversity in its leaders. As the CEO and cofounder of a leading financial technology company, I have some advice for young women graduates looking for or settling into their first jobs. Here are tips Ive gleaned from both my career and from watching other women in the workforce, offered in the hopes that they will help you build your career. 1. Build Your BrandFor the first 10 years of your career, think of yourself as a product you are developing and marketing. Think about building your brand and creating a strong product. Early in your career, your personal brand is going to be about the brands you have on your resume.Seek experience in companies that have well-recognized brands some of their luster will rub off on you. If you can go to work for a bigger brand and take a lesser role, do it. If you cant, make sure that you move around to get different experiences inside you r company.Your knowledge base is also part of your brand, so think of yourself as being in knowledge acquisition mode for at least the first ten years, making your product yourself more valuable. When I worked for Mentor Graphics, a large tech company, I started in the corporate finance group doing financial analysis. When I could, I moved to pricing analysis, and eventually had responsibility for pricing and packaging of the company products. Pricing was part of corporate marketing, so this allowed me to join the marketing team and then make a move into division marketing. I transitioned into as many different roles as I could, which gave me the opportunity to learn and to figure out what I wanted to do. 2. Dont Be Afraid to Change CourseComing out of college, young people put so much pressure on themselves to find a perfect job, but your first role is not an irreversible career decision. You dont have to find the perfect job out of the gate because youll have multiple shots at i t. If you find yourself in a job and its not what you thought it was, or if you dont like working in the field you majored in, do something else.When I graduated, I started my career at KPMG. I worked at fitting in for about year before I realized accounting wasnt for me. Accounting has changed a lot since then, but at the time it was mainly score-keeping measuring and reporting what had already happened in a business. This position helped me understand I wanted to be involved in making decisions that drove a business, so I decided to make a change. I applied to MBA programs. A year later, I was on my way to Harvard Business School. Your career is going to be a very long road. If you find youre going the wrong direction, its easier to make a change early than it is to change later. 3. Seek FeedbackIve watched young women propel their careers forward very quickly by consistently and proactively asking for feedback. This is something I wish Id done more. For every significant task yo ure assigned and every project youre on, ask the people you worked with for feedback on what you could have done better.Be prepared to take some knocks, but keep it in perspective. Give yourself a break, because youre still learning. Also, realize being able to give feedback constructively is a skill few have mastered, so what you get may not always be delivered in the most diplomatic way. But, if you have the courage to consistently seek feedback and more importantly, learn from it you will dramatically improve the trajectory of your career. 4. Meet New PeopleMake it a point to meet somebody new every week. Ask people out to coffee or lunch. This isnt something that comes naturally to many of us, but theres no better way to build your interpersonal skills and expand your network. Youd be surprised how much more confident and outgoing you can become just by doing this. Improving your networking skills now will pay off in the future, since much of your success depends on your abili ty to work with others and find ways to put them at ease. 5. Find Women MentorsWhile there are still not anywhere near enough women in leadership roles, there are more than there used to be. Many women are willing to help others around them learn and avoid the mistakes theyve made, so dont be afraid to ask. Everyone I know who has been asked to be a mentor has welcomed the opportunity.Whom should you ask? Perhaps you have a family member who is accomplished in her career. Maybe you had an internship in college and connected with someone there, or maybe there is a professor you admired who could make for a good mentor. Maybe your parents know someone whod be willing to step up. 6. Find a Cultural FitIts clear that while women have made great strides in business since I started out, gender bias in the workplace is far from dead. Its rare today for a companys culture to be overtly hostile to women, but a more subtly biased culture canpersist in the random comments, in certain common po ints of view, and in the different ways people are treated in the office.If you see such a culture emerging around you, think about moving on. Most cultures are deeply ingrained theyre not going to change in the short term. You dont have to silently struggle and keep working there. Life is just too short to put up with bias.Find a company where youre comfortable. There are plenty of good ones out there. Meet with the HR person at your current company on the way out. Be very clear about why you are leaving and let them know what you experienced. If enough women communicate their experience and leave because of the culture, the companymay realize it needs to change. Later in your career, when you have the opportunity to change or build a culture, build one that welcomes everyone, regardless of how they look.I hope these tips help you succeed or better yet, far exceed your goals. The world is waking up to what women leaders bring to a company, and I believe there will be more opportun ities for women in the future. Believe in yourself and persevere. Im rooting for you.Karla Friede is CEO, cofounder, and member of the board of directors atNvoicepay.