Seattle Girl Geeks Talk Careers
Posted on June 25, 2008
Filed Under Advice |
By Jennifer Boutell, Careers.Org Contributing Editor
The first Seattle Girl Geek Dinner took place last night at Microsoft’s Building 99, in Redmond Washington. The theme was “Career Building” and a panel of three successful “girl geeks” offered up their tips on getting ahead in the male-dominated world of information technology. About 120 women turned out to take part in the question/answer session, network, and get to know other women in their industry.
Randy Granovetter and Rebecca Black of Microsoft spoke alongside Dorothy Nicholls of Amazon.com, on topics ranging from how to manage stress to how to adapt to a male leadership style while maintaining your own identity.
Jabra founder and General Manager for Innovations at Microsoft’s IdeAgency Randy Granovetter confessed that at times she had to “be like Margaret Thatcher” or “be like Madonna” and reinvent herself regularly to satisfy her audience. She advised us to take risks, know our objectives, and do what it takes to achieve them.
Microsoft Antimalware Team Principal Test Manager Rebecca Black provided insight into the complicated world of team management. “Always take time to tell people when they are doing a good job,” she advised “it’s worth it.”
Senior Development Manager of Amazon’s Digital Media Group Dorothy Nicholls described her early experiences with salary negotiation: “When I first moved here, they asked me about salary and I said ‘Well, it doesn’t cost as much to live in Seattle as it does in the Bay Area, right?’” “The best advice I can give you is to always ask: What do you pay the other people in this position?”
Girl Geek Dinners began several years ago in London and now take place in cities across the globe. Seattle organizers Stevi Deter and Liz Morgan plan to hold more dinners in the near future. For more information, visit Seattlegirlgeekdinners.com.
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