There
is no escaping the huge opportunity that tech-skilled positions present in
today’s hiring marketplace. These high in-demand jobs are expanding at a rate
faster than availability of talent, driving employers to develop more creative
and substantial hiring packages to compete for these sought after candidates.
Despite
the tech talent pool shortage, women continue to be under-represented at all
levels in the tech industry. Diversity and addressing “women’s issues” has
become the hot topic as many companies of all sizes have started taking action
to overcome biases and improve hiring opportunities for women. It does not immediately
fix the challenges that women face, but the good
news is that women can take charge and be proactive in their approach to gain
an edge, get hired and thrive in tech roles.
Choose a Tech Career Path
Women
need to want and choose a tech career path. With today’s modern culture and
economy dependent so much on software, the technology field represents a huge
opportunity and females with technical skills can take advantage of this. A
recent report from Cisco reveals one million job openings in 2016 for
cyber-security alone. Demand is expected to rise to 6 million globally by 2019.
However,
research by Harvey Mudd College identified three primary reasons why women did
not choose to pursue roles in the tech industry:
- Young women did not consider a career in tech to be interesting.
- They doubted their ability to be successful at it.
- They did not believe that they would be working with people with whom they would feel comfortable.
The
starting point is young women opting a tech-focused learning path. The jobs are
out there for the taking, and women are in a great position to take advantage
of getting trained to succeed in the tech scene.
Have a Job Search Strategy
Just
as with any job search, having a plan goes a long way to finding the right
company fit. For example, using online and social communities to discover or
crowd-source advice prior to submitting a resume can help women address any
preconceptions about the company’s culture, work environment, leadership, work-life
balance, harassment, equal pay, etc.
Women can also ready themselves to enter male-dominated
workplaces by setting their own tone. A critical challenge facing women is the
way they can begin to feel, act, or are expected to act, when working with men.
The key is for women to stay true to who they are and avoid comparing
themselves to male counterparts. Everyone has their own unique progress and
growth experience and women should avoid feeling that they need to take on the
traits of men to advance in tech roles.
Joining a professional women’s tech-focused networking group
is also a great way for aspiring female techies to get the insights,
connections and mentorship to launch or advance their career.
Taurean
Consulting is a 100% women-owned business and we work extra hard empowering our
female tech candidates to excel in full time and contract placements. It
doesn’t stop once they are hired; we remain active in providing opportunities
for their continued development of in-demand skills. We also consult with
hiring companies to establish how they can support and inspire the female
techforce in their workplaces.
