Career tips for women in business

Whether you need some help at the outset of your career, or you’ve been in a job for a long time and want to change direction or take it to the next level, we could all do with some career tips from time to time. With the right advice and a keen knowledge of your own strengths, weaknesses and priorities in life, you can achieve anything.

Take advice from the experts

There are plenty of blogs out there written by career women that are full of great advice for almost any situation. Sites like BlogHer, She Takes on the World and Women on Business all contain the wit and wisdom of women who’ve been there, done it and succeeded – as well as how to avoid the pitfalls other women have experienced at some point in their careers. Read the articles and even consider starting your own blog about your experiences!

Ask yourself what you’re best at

This doesn’t necessarily mean finding the area where you have most experience – ask yourself what you enjoy doing and know you can do well. If you’re a persuasive speaker, you may find your talents lie in sales and marketing, while if you’ve got an eye for a good design you might want to investigate website development. You’ll always find the most success when you do what you love, not what you have to do.

Invest in your skills base

If you’ve set your heart on a new career path, but fear that you don’t have the experience or skills to be taken seriously by potential employers, don’t forget that it’s never too late to go back to school! The right qualifications can go a long way towards getting you a foot in the door, so look around at a few institutions and see if a place like Middlesex University could help your career in business. Completing a course is also a great way to make new contacts and discover opportunities.

Don’t be intimidated by male-dominated professions

This one can be easier said than done, and for all the progress made in workplace equality the fact is that some sectors are heavily male-dominated and you may still encounter prejudice or suspicion just for being a woman. However, if this is the only thing that’s holding you back, you have every reason to prove them wrong – take a look at some of the success stories shared as part of International Women’s Day earlier this month.  A good thing to remember is that just because you hire a woman doesn’t mean they do a worse job. Many different agencies are starting to hire women for a variety of different roles and using a number of different tools such as human resource software, photoshop and many more.

Build and maintain professional relationships

Having successful working relationships means much more than getting on with someone in the workplace – take the time to find out more about your contacts, what motivates them outside of work and what side-projects they have going on. By giving someone this degree of attention, you not only get to know them better, but open yourself up to new opportunities that you might not have discovered if you had kept them at arms’ length.