The Young Professional Woman's Competitive Edge
Early professional years offer a distinct window of opportunity for alert young professional women
Some idiot asked me if young professional women have a competitive edge over same age men when they enter the professional workforce. Having spat coffee all over my keyboard, I replied, “Do you really have to ask?”
From as early as kindergarten, girls seem to take growing up more seriously: they want to be adults and they consistently model themselves on the behaviors of adults. On the other hand, our culture encourages boys to model themselves on Marvel Comics and the portrayal of cartoon invincibility.
When the time comes to cross that final bridge into adulthood and begin a professional career, young women are also more likely to take the time to educate themselves on how best to make that crossing successfully. Meanwhile, the boys are psychologically still in Florida, whooping it up in a spring break beer commercial and playing beer pong.
Women take their professional lives more seriously from the very beginning, working harder to develop the technical skills of professional competency. Without testosterone to get in the way, they are willing to listen and learn; plus they pay much closer attention to dress, grooming and social graces. All these efforts pay off with superior written, verbal and interpersonal skills. The early professional years offer a distinct window of opportunity for alert young professional women because:
- Boys are usually slower to reach psychological maturity and recognize how the professional world works before they can become serious competitors;
- The majority of your female peers are similarly unaware of this window of opportunity.
Successful Careers Don’t Just Happen
You have an edge because you are better informed. Your awareness, coupled with an intelligent plan of attack, can give you a head start on career success.
The willingness to give more of yourself in order to get more out of your life is a key ingredient in every professional success story.
When you invest yourself in becoming the best you can be in your profession and you learn the specific secrets and strategies for professional success, the early years of your career can be full of seized opportunities.
There are three complimentary skill sets that underlie all professional success and will carry you from entry-level to the executive suite.
1. Develop Transferable Skills
Transferable skills travel with you from job to job and even cross the boundaries of career change. They include:
Transferable skills are critically important to professional success because they empower you to do your job, whatever it is, well. They increase your odds of success in any job and at any level. They are the foundation and engines of success, propelling you forward — no matter what you do or how high you want to climb.
2. Manage Your Career
In a world without job security, being able to manage the twists and turns of a 50-year work life, is critical to your long-term career success. The bad news is that no one has taught you these skills; no one even told you they existed or were important.
With proper awareness you can guide the trajectory of your professional future. Five of the most important career-management skills that support a fast start and support long-term professional success are:
- How to write a resume that works
- How to get job interviews
- How to turn job interviews into job offers
- How to start a new job on the right foot
- How to get into the inner circle…where job security and promotions live
3. Build Intelligent Professional Networks
In a career where constant change is constant, having a wide range of committed and connected professionals in your network is critical to the smooth progression of your career.
When you become connected to members of relevant professional online communities and local chapters of professional associations, you will get to know and be known by the most committed and best-connected people in your profession and geography.
The best connections of all are those most likely to become mentors, offering job leads and job offers. These are the professionals in your field who hold titles one, two and three levels above your own. A smart young professional who starts building contacts with these title holders and her similarly committed peers is building an ever-expanding social network of high-value contacts — whose seniority can help professional growth throughout an entire career.
Commit to Success
Make yours a successful and fulfilled life by leveraging one of the best windows of professional opportunity you will ever have. In the professional world, a strong start delivers a lead that is hard to catch. Grab this opportunity and run with it.
You go girl!