With the exception of my first female
manager, I have not had the opportunity to be inspired by the women I have
reported to in my career. Many have been so concerned with their own
ladder-climbing that they ignored the effort and talents of their teams.
Now before you click off my post, I
don’t share this to bash my own kind but rather to provide a wake-up call. A
genuine leader inspires, leads by example, is compassionate and flexible. She
is a coach – someone her team can count on when the chips are down or when the
elusive work-life balance is just that – elusive. She looks not to promote
herself but her team for in doing so, she will be elevated. It’s called karma.
A leader knows her capabilities and
is unafraid to admit her weaknesses. Being authentic is critical because in today’s
environment, millennials can spot a fake a mile away. Encouraging collaboration
not competition is how a team succeeds. A baseball game is not won solely by
the pitcher but by those in the outfield, behind second base and even those on
the bench cheering.
She is not created by textbooks or
TedTalks, but by experience, self-reflection and self-knowledge. One should not
be promoted into leadership solely for accomplishments but rather by the amount
of people scrambling to leave positions they love to work for someone that
inspires them. That’s the clue that this person is a leader.
“When you know better, you do better.”
Get to know yourself and your team. Lead as you would want to be led. When you
are able to let go of the leader “title” and embrace the true meaning of
leadership, then and only then can you be inspiring.
Upon graduating college, I was hired at the New York Stock
Exchange where I worked for over three years. It was a riveting, fast-paced
journey but ultimately one I didn’t feel passionate about. I had always longed
for a career in retail marketing, but quickly realized that a pivot from the
financial world wasn’t going to be easy. I interviewed with many renowned fashion
brands, but continually received feedback that my experience on Wall Street
just wouldn’t apply.
Determined not to give up, I found that the lessons learned
from my childhood horseback riding teacher would give me the confidence needed
to persevere. For much of my youth, I competitively rode horses, and my coach
Ruth had profound influence on me. She was, and still is, a remarkable woman of
true grit and gumption, and nearly a second mother to me. Ruth embodies a woman
with the utmost loyalty to herself, her beliefs and her dreams. The multiple
times I was thrown off a horse, Ruth gave me the courage and determination to
get back on right again – a metaphor that has extended into my adulthood many,
many times.
When faced with the initial rejection by the fashion
industry, it was the tenacity that Ruth imparted on me that kept me going. As
the old saying goes, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” I ultimately pursued
my MBA in marketing to better position myself, after which I was hired by my
dream retail brand and had a decade-long career with. When my daughter was born
in 2016, I immediately knew I wanted a more flexible career that allowed me to
be with her each day. Again, the self-belief that Ruth showed me gave me the
fortitude to create this new lifestyle for myself, at which point I found The
Second Shift. Today, working with Jenny, Gina and the other women of The Second
Shift, I am surrounded by the same moxie that I so admire in Ruth, and am proud
to instill this strength in my daughter as she grows.
After graduating from a recognized school with a not-so-recognized major (a B.A. in Individualized Study: The Role of the Poetic), I found that opportunities were limited and my ideas about what I wanted from ‘a career’ were even more so. I ended up continuing with the types of roles I had held while in school (administrative and operational), and felt that deviating from a past job description was way too much of a risk. I had trouble focusing on what I wanted or what I liked, and instead made all of my decisions according to what I thought I could get.
It wasn’t until I took my first position with The Second Shift that this began to change. I was hired for a traditional ‘Sara’ role in operations, but because we were a small start-up team, I was exposed to and assisted with all aspects of the business. I had always had an interest in tech, and as we worked on the second iteration of our website with some incredible female technologists (Michelle Pae, a Product Management Consultant and Heather Moore, the Co-Founder and Senior Engineer at Citizen Code), I found myself completely inspired. With the support of The Second Shift team, I went back to school to learn how to code and haven’t stopped coding since. I now work with The Second Shift in product management and web development, and with another start-up as their data visualization engineer. I am working flexibly, loving what I do, and building products and services that I am so very proud of.
This is why my #Wominspired role models are all of the women I have met and worked with at The Second Shift – women who have decided to focus on what they want for themselves and what they want to see in the workforce, rather than letting their pasts and traditional modes of working define how they operate. I feel so lucky to work with this team of talented, experienced and innovative women, and know I wouldn’t be where I am today without their encouragement, persistence and all-around awesomeness. Thank you!
I was put in touch with Deb Newmyer through a mutual friend and immediately realized how much her personal story and her amazing book would resonate with Second Shift members. Deb truly understands the vagaries of a working woman’s career path. She is a big shot producer who took time off to stay-at-home with her of 4 children, and then returned to Hollywood and became a renowned author. Her book Moms for Hire: 8 Steps to Kickstart Your Career is a well-researched workbook for women re-engaging in the workforce or changing career paths, which is something that she clearly know a lot about.
This is such a meticulous and comprehensive book– part step by step guide, part inspirational pep talk, part interactive boot camp. As a first time author, how did you pull this off??
I pulled it off by never giving up. Sheer determination was my truest ally. During my off-career stretches, all I ever wanted was to hop into a bookstore and find an upbeat guidebook that would show me a path back to employment. I found nothing that spoke to me or to the hidden talent pool of smart and capable moms I saw everyday as I waited in that carpool line. So I sat down, researched every self-help guru available, interviewed scores of working women, wrote and re-wrote until Moms for Hire: 8 Steps to Kickstart your Next Career became 235 pages of tips & worksheets, life slices & female cheers….all wrapped up in a pretty flexible cover.
You have re-invented yourself throughout your varied and successful careers. What’s the best advice for women looking to switch gears or focus on one aspect of a skill set?
Start by making the following two lists:
What are you most passionate about? How do you best want to spend your day?
What’s your talent? Your expertise? Your most transferrable skill?
And then hold your two lists) side-by-side like a Venn diagram. Hopefully, enough items on these two lists coincide with each other. And from there, create more lists:
Who do you know? What is your working network? Create a list of all your former colleagues, alumni, acquaintances and social media connections.
Create a habit of making a regular to-do lists. Every morning, write your daily do list, and every evening, make a ritual out of crossing off accomplished tasks
Mostly, keep at it. All of life’s best accomplishments happen in increments. Look for the best route. And when you find yourself frustrated and asking “are we there yet?”…keep going.
Your book focuses specifically on women re-entering the workforce after a career pause but many women in our membership who full time freelancers/ consultants face the same issues What lessons can be taken for all working women?
Across all generations, the truest & simplest clue to career satisfaction is also the most clichéd: hunt for a job you love and eventually occupational happiness will be yours. If you can hold on to passion for the work, rewards will follow. Not every opportunity will match up with your domestic realities, but the best way to find occupational happiness is to know what you want, what you excel at and what your family needs from you.
I really like Step 5 – be the ideal candidate and the practical advice for selling yourself and your experience. This is a really critical step don’t you think?
Honestly, there are no gimmicks to finding a job-you’ve got to dig deeply, work a few new muscles, and devote an-hour-every-day to boldly show off your most attractive self. The single most valuable tool in finding your next career is determination. Keep at it and eventually an offer will be yours.
Pay it forward is a core concept of The Second Shift – we all rise and fall together. This section really speaks to the need for women to help and encourage each other. Why did you include this section?
Okay, it’s a sad fact:
There are not enough Woman in Board Rooms — only 10.6% of Fortune 500 Companies.
There are not enough Women in Director’s Chair—only 7% of the top 250 Films.
There are not enough Women in the US Congress — 19.6% in 2016 US Senate & House
There has never been an American Woman in the White House.
In truth, there are just not enough women actively engaged in the workplace and we need to work together to fix that.
The Mommy Wars will always be a challenge.
Oh, that Mommy Fence. Nearly every day, I am shocked to witness the un-sisterly divide between working moms and stay-at-home moms. A staggering amount of mis-understanding and self-righteous territory grabbing happen on both side of the fence. Balancing it all is an awesome goal, but it is very close to impossible.
The gig economy is here. We’re living in a time in which
temporary positions are common and organizations of
all sizes are contracting with independent workers for short or long term
engagements.
In fact, a recent study showed 51% of executives expect to hire more
freelancers in the next 3-5 years. Businesses that are set up to
work well with contingent labor have a definite advantage—they can hire quickly,
onboard easily and effectively match skills to demand to drive productivity. In
short—they are agile! The most successful tech companies in the industry, including
Apple, Google, and Facebook, are set up to work with the professional gig
economy—are you?
At The Second Shift we help
high-growth start-ups, Fortune 500s, and many companies in between hire and
deploy expert talent from our network of vetted professionals. As a marketplace
that not only provides freelance talent, but
also utilizes resources from our pool to power our own growing business, we
have a particularly in-depth understanding of what it takes to maximize agile
talent. In our experience, the following five factors can make or break your success
in the gig economy:
Your Hiring
Process: There are few very specific details that should be
addressed before your organization even thinks about hiring freelance talent. These
details include:
A Vendor Agreement –make sure that your
business is set up to work properly with independent contractors and vendor
approval is given to platforms such as The Second Shift. Establishing the right
foundation ahead of time will tremendously speed up your hiring process.
A Management Plan – an understanding of who
will post the job, who will participate in the interview process, who will make
the final hiring decision and who will extend the offer is key to landing the most
in demand resources.
An Onboarding Process – A plan for introducing
your freelancer to your company and your processes (including the process they
need to follow to get paid) is key to avoiding confusion and ramping up productivity.
Your Statement of Work (SOW): The benefit of hiring an expert freelancer
is that you are hiring a true professional. Once you’ve clearly communicated
the task, they should instinctively know the best way to get it done. Establishing
a detailed SOW that outlines expected deliverables, deadlines and performance
metrics is key to laying groundwork for success. The Second Shift automatically
prompts our experts to fill an SOW out once they are hired and clients must
approve before work can begin.
Your Plan
to Manage Politics: Managing internal politics with existing
employees can be tricky when new talent is brought in. Explaining up front that
a consultant is being brought in to augment their skills and support a
particular demand, such as coverage during a parental leave or much needed
expertise for a new business pitch will enable you to proactively address any potential
hard feelings and ensure positive participation.
Your Communication
Approach: Establishing your preferred method for open
and consistent communication with your team and expert before you begin any
work together is key. Does your team already use a tool like Slack or Trello?
If so, be sure to get your freelancer up to speed on your preferred method of
communication during the onboarding process. If not, have an open discussion
regarding what communication methods have worked best for them in the past and
agree on the best way forward.
Your
Feedback Loop: Once a project is done, freelancers want to
know how they’ve done. If you’ve had a positive experience, let them know by
taking the time to formally review them. You’ve successfully on boarded this
person, trained her on your culture, and created a win together, so why not to
maintain a friendly relationship and the ability to take advantage of hiring
her again in the future?
The gig economy is in full swing. It may be tempting to
rush in, but taking the time to examine any inefficiencies in your current
hiring and retention processes is key to being sure you hire the best talent for your needs. Share
your experience working with agile talent by leaving a comment below. Follow
our blog for out next post covering tips for engaging
freelancers from a Second Shift member who frequently works for both our
clients and us.
One of the many ways that tech innovation is impacting the global work force is the introduction of “agile” talent acquisition and management. This model enables project-based hiring in coordinated, rapid-change business environments to increase overall productivity and efficiency. When companies hire and manage talent in a fluid environment, teams deliver better work, faster.
Having proven successful in the software development world, the agile approach today is spreading across a broad range of industries and functions, and companies both large and small, are moving away from traditional employment models. In the Global Human Capital Trends 2016 survey, which included more than 7,000 responses from firms in 130 countries, 51% of executives indicated they expected to hire more freelancers in the next three to five years. And by some estimates, the number of employees who are independent contractors, consultants, freelancers, Second Shifters—whatever you want to call them—now equals 20-40% of the workforce, and is expected to continue to grow in the coming years.
An agile talent management strategy incorporates the speed and coordination of fluid methodologies for any type of workforce need. For example, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) came to The Second Shift to hire a market research expert to augment their existing team and help guide a new business pitch. The Second Shift expert they hired for the project was able to work remotely with their team on a comprehensive market analysis based on decades of specific industry experience. Companies that think outside of the traditional employment model gain a competitive edge because the agile approach enables them to:
• Staff up and down with experts as needed • Hire the best talent from anywhere in the world • Institutionalize fresh perspectives and voices • Reduce overhead costs and risks associated with full-time hires
The Second Shift is uniquely positioned to work with businesses to expand their flexible talent pool and create a nimble and innovative workforce. Acquiring talent via our platform provides access to a strictly vetted network of active professional women with a minimum of 10 years expertise in all aspects of marketing and/or finance.
When you work with the Second Shift to hire agile you:
• Enhance Profitability: Hiring on-demand talent helps achieve more in a shorter time frame, and increased productivity = more money!
• Gain flexibility: You’ll find our members from the East coast to the West and anywhere in between, and available for all types of flexible work. Whether you are looking for an in-office resource to cover a 3-month parental leave or a remote employee to conduct a one-week market study—we’ve got you covered.
• Increase your speed to market: Once you post a project, you will immediately begin to receive pitches from qualified resources. From there, the unique structure of our marketplace allows for seamless closed communication to manage project scope, pricing and final payment.
• Tap into top innovators: The Second Shift matches vetted talent with your specific business challenges, and each member of our network has 10+ years of experience in their field working for top global brands and Fortune 500 Companies. When you need a rock star, we have one for you. Post a project now!
Today’s most innovative companies including, About.com, Microsoft and XO Group partner with The Second Shift to identify and engage on-demand experts to fill critical project-based roles—and you should too! Share your thoughts on adopting an agile talent management strategy by leaving a comment below. Watch for out next post covering tips to ensure success with agile talent.
I think I’ve come a long way in my marketing journey,
beginning as a lowly Coordinator over thirteen years ago, in an agency near
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If it had not been for a Senior Account Executive
that took me under her wing when I was fresh out of undergrad, bursting with
excitement and totally green, I might not have had the experience or confidence
to start my own marketing firm, Two Cents Consulting, LLC, in 2016.
Let me take you down memory lane and describe how my mentor,
Christine Coleman, helped put me on a professional career pathway. She taught
me how to navigate the complex world of account management, teaching me
diplomacy and that you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. She was a
confident and organized boss, which inspired me to set more lofty goals for my
own career. I was also impressed that Christine had a post-graduate MBA degree,
so I put that on my bucket list as well.
Looking back, Christine was probably about my age now when
we first starting working together. It’s amazing to reflect on the impact this
professional has had on my career, even though we haven’t worked together in
over a decade. I remember her picking up the bill for lunches and saying, “just
pay it forward some day;” something I’ll never forget.
I try to “pay it forward” every day and inspire young, marketing
professionals to reach their goals; I’ll plan to keep this tradition going –
one of strong, smart women helping each other succeed!
For more information about Two Cents Consulting, LLC, my
marketing journey or just to chat, contact Keara M. Piekanski at kearapiekanski@gmail.com
I must admit that I’ve been out of the dating game for a long time. However, I do surf the internet and I’ve heard of the term “ghosting.”
It’s not a new concept but it’s a relatively new term in the dating world. It means that the person you’ve been dating or talking to has cut off all communications with you – no calls, texts, emails, Facebook messages, Twitter updates – you get the point. The emergence of dating apps and the ability to meet someone virtually without ever actually meeting them IRL, have given birth to this phenomenon.
As other aspects of our culture develop virtually they to start to include ghosting as a regular practice. Perhaps nothing is as similar to dating as searching for employment.
Twenty or thirty years ago a person joined a company and that was where they stayed for the majority if not the entirety of their career. However, millennials have completely overhauled that notion. In today’s job market a person has an average of four jobs by the time they’re 32. That means that throughout a person’s career they’ll have applied to hundreds, if not thousands of jobs.
I left my full-time job in advertising after giving birth to my twins in January 2015. They were three months premature. Due to their prematurity, and my near positivity that these would be my only children, my husband and I decided I should stay home to raise them. Eight months later I had an opportunity to go back to work on a freelance basis and that put me back in the job-hunting market.
I decided to apply to join The Second Shift to open up job opportunities after having seen first-hand how companies that take the time to post a job then go silent, sometimes for weeks, sometimes indefinitely. It can be maddening!
Although rejection can feel like a lonely space, when I came across the Fast Company article entitled, “How To Avoid Being Professionally Ghosted,” I was encouraged to find out that I wasn’t the only one. Again, like in dating, not moving forward with a candidate is not a new phenomenon, but as the article demonstrates it has become much more prevalent since most employment communication is virtual.
Understandably it’s hard to be the bad guy and hiring managers have to be the bad guy a lot. They have to tell hundreds of people that they’re not qualified or not a good fit for the job. That’s probably why most large companies send a reply email as soon as you apply on their website stating that they’ve received your application and will contact you if your skills and experience match what they’re looking for. This absolves them of the obligation to reply to every candidate that doesn’t make it through to the interview stage.
However, shouldn’t a hiring manager let you know you’re not getting the job after conducting one, two or three rounds of interviews with you? Maybe I’m old fashioned, but doesn’t a girl who’s gone on one, two or three dates with a guy – who seemed really into her – deserve to be told they’re no longer dating?
In honor of The Second Shift’s #WomInspired campaign, I thought I would share my own
story of empowerment and the very special professional role model I had that
led me to a happier place as a woman, a mother, and a professional. The importance
of women lifting each other up and serving as positive role models and mentors
to those around us cannot be overstated. I was fortunate enough to work
alongside Tracy Seng in my nearly five years at Los
Angeles Magazine – someone who inspired my career, and has always supported
those around her to follow their own path.
Over three
years ago, I was just like any new mom struggling to fit all the pieces
together. My boss at the time, even though she hated being called
“boss” (so I endearingly called her “girl boss” or
“boss friend”), was leading a very talented and diverse marketing
team at Los Angeles Magazine. Tracy was one of those bosses whose door was
literally always open, and who never once made you feel like your personal life
and well-being was any less important than the professional role you played on
her team. She was also the first to share her own struggles balancing life and
work, which only made her all the more human and easier to talk to when push
came to shove. I can still remember the first time I went to her, desperate to
figure out how I was going to manage a full-time job and the overwhelming new
feeling of being away from my baby. Even though she never had kids of her own,
her compassion and empathy never made you feel like she didn’t relate or know
how hard of a life-change you were going through. She always made a point to
bring out the positive sides of any situation – saying how fortunate we were to
work on an amazing team and actually enjoy the work we did. It was true, and
more importantly she understood the need for flexibility in my schedule which
was not something any of us anticipate before having children. But what was
even more admirable about her role as a mentor, was that she also never
discounted the individual passions that each of her team members held. For me,
it was my blog. Instead of being threatened by the time it could take away from
my work, I’ll never forget when she told me to never let go of what I’m
passionate about. On a personal level, it meant the world to me to not have to
feel like I had to hide what I also loved doing: writing and styling. On a
professional level, looking back on it now, it’s probably the single most
important thing a boss can do to support her team. It not only ensures your
people stay happy, but it also enhances the work that they do because you’re
fostering employees who are more enriched and diverse.
A few months after I moved to NYC in my mid-20’s my grandmother, who I was extremely close to, was diagnosed with cancer. I made the difficult decision to quit my professional day job and work as a waitress in order to have the flexibility needed to travel and spend as much time as possible with her before she died.
Months later, when I finally started looking for a full-time job, I found myself hitting the wall in the hiring process. I had found my dream company, but after interviewing multiple times, I was told I was overqualified for the job I desperately wanted to land. On my fourth and final interview, I met with a woman named Sara who unbeknownst to me was the decision maker. There was something about her that was no-nonsense yet warm and disarming. Before the interview was over, I decided to be honest about my circumstances as I knew I had nothing to lose. I shared with Sara what had been happening in my personal life and how badly I not only needed but wanted the job regardless of whether I was overqualified on paper. I assured her I would mop the floors if needed to be successful in the role and that I would not let her down.
That day, Sara decided to take a chance on me and my life has been forever changed. Over the course of the last thirteen years, she has been my mentor and become one of my closest friends. I have followed her to two other companies where she held me to the highest standards all while coaching me to have confidence in myself and become a thoughtful leader. Through Sara, I have learned that having empathy is not a weakness and that helping to lift up other women is a requirement…given all I have achieved because she decided to take a chance on me.
