International Women's Day - March 8th - A Blog post for Career Women

International Women's Day - A blog post for Career Women 

Whether you're searching for a new job, are interested in a career change or just want to reinvigorate your professional life, having guidance is essential. 

To find out the best way to achieve a work-life balance, how to make an opportunity out of a setback, and more,  these practical and inspirational words of wisdom from successful women may help the career women to a larger extent.

Before that the  few or many of the following questions , often or occasionally, might be lingering in each career women’s mind !

1   What advice would you give women who are considering a new career?
       

     What's the most important thing to remember when it comes to your personal life? 

     

     How did you overcome your biggest career hurdle?

     How do you think a woman can successfully balance her career and personal life?

     What's the key to a successful career?

     What got you through tough times at work?

     What’s the biggest career mistake you’ve made?

     How can someone achieve long-term success in his or her career?

     What’s essential for having a successful career?

     What's the best way to stay focused at work?

     How can you have a successful personal life?

     How can being a woman help in terms of a career?

  

T  What do you attribute your success?

    What's the key to reaching your goals?

    If you could change anything about your career path or life, what would it be? 

So, please start answering yourself for each one of the above and compare with the answers of few Successful Women , who shared their views based on their own experience. In today’s world of competition and individual pride , it is difficult to get a free advice . Of course we can read from the books and articles published online. Share with your close career women folks , these questions for which you seek an answer to compare with your life style  and decide to change wherever necessary to proceed in a better path to achieve your career and personal goals.

Now let us go to the answers we got from successful career women for each one in the same order.

1     What advice would you give women who are considering a new career? 

Learn as much as you can about your chosen field from every perspective. Take on jobs or responsibilities that you're not crazy about so you can learn. The more well-rounded you are in your field, the more effective you will be at work and the more attractive you will be to prospective employers. Also, as an employer and leader, I am most interested in the results people produce rather than whether they're working long hours.

- Anne Lynam Goddard

                                                                                                                                       

2     What's the most important thing to remember when it comes to your personal life?

I have the belief that difficult times pass sooner or later. I believe in focusing on a positive future outcome. On my office computer I have a quote from Albert Camus that says: “In the depth of winter, I found in me an invincible summer.”

-Sepi Asefnia

  How did you overcome your biggest career hurdle?

I once got a new boss whom I perceived had a not-so-positive impression of me that was hindering my career. So I asked him to be my mentor; he agreed and we met on a regular basis for three months. Through our discussions he got to know me much better, and when a promotional opportunity came up, he was my biggest advocate and I got the job.

-Anne Lynam Goddard

   How do you think a woman can successfully balance her career and personal life?

My best advice is, don’t forget about “me” time. Schedule a window of time for yourself, like any other appointment, if you have to. In the end, taking personal time will make you more productive at work.

-Suzi Weiss-Fischmann
 

5     What's the key to a successful career? 

Always remember that hard work is necessary to achieve your biggest dreams. Your social life will suffer at intervals, but remember your goals and know that this is part of the journey toward achieving your dreams. When I was finishing a Newsweek cover story about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, I was nine months pregnant and often thought about napping rather than returning to my computer! But I focused on the mission and I kept working.

- Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
 

6      What got you through tough times at work? 

I tell myself, "I'm not a successful woman engineer; I'm a successful engineer who is also a woman." There's a big difference. Knowing what you are working toward and keeping in mind the big picture when things get tough or complicated is essential.

- Lenise Bent

7      What’s the biggest career mistake you’ve made? 

Believing that performance mattered more than relationships with people. It’s critical in hiring to be sure that individuals are a cultural and motivational fit to the organization. It’s all about the people.

- Karen Dee
 

8     How can someone achieve long-term success in his or her career?

If anyone, male or female, is passionate about a certain field, he or she will do whatever it takes to make it a career. If you are doing it to get thanks, you are doing it for the wrong reasons. Do something because you love it, not for recognition.

- Lenise Bent

9     What’s essential for having a successful career?

If you are not a whole person––a happy and content person––then your career does not matter. Respect your personal life; take time for it and don't feel that you are detracting from your efforts at work by doing so. The more joy you have in your private life, the better your performance will be at work.

- Sepi Asefnia
 

1    What's the best way to stay focused at work?

Always compete with yourself, not the competition. If you’re constantly using other people as the yardstick to measure your success, you’re not putting your energy and passion where it belongs. You’re the only person who can determine how successful you will be.

- Jan Marini
 

1    How can you have a successful personal life?

Give it the respect you give to your business. If you want to be successful and joyful in your personal relationships, communicate, generously give recognition, inspire, motivate and love fiercely and with all your heart. When I am working, I am intensely focused and in the moment. When I am with my husband, I am just as intensely focused on him and enriching our relationship. 

- Jan Marini
 

1    How can being a woman help in terms of a career?

It’s said the pay gap is now closing for women, but there’s still a pay divide. That said, women are being hired at a faster rate than men right now. I think in the recovery economy, women have tremendous opportunity to flex their career muscle. By being the less expensive option, you can go for a job that pushes you ahead—and use the pay gap as an advantage over the “pricier” guy colleague.

- Michelle Edelman
 

1    To what do you attribute your success?

Even in my field, which is replete with creative women, it’s rare to find a woman in management. There’s no way I would be if I didn’t have tremendous support from my husband. Most women, even though qualified to rise in companies, don’t because they really can’t organize their lives to support that rise. 

- Michelle Edelman
 

1   What's the key to reaching your goals?

Keeping my final goal in mind and establishing personal timelines: What do I want to achieve and by when? Am I willing to go through the necessary steps to get it done? It helps to write them down and break them into smaller goals and achievements to lead toward a greater end.

- Laura Torrado, DDS, FAGD
 

1    If you could change anything about your career path or life, what would it be?

I would change the motto that "the client is always right." This is not true. Trying to please everybody can be a futile exercise in business and in your personal life. In the end you won't have the results you were hoping for. To compromise for the sake of compromise really leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. Define who you are and what you want to achieve and stick to it. Always be yourself.

- Laura Torrado, DDS, FAGD
 

Courtesy :  Woman’s Day  - WD’s Career Guide  Career Advice from Successful Women

Anne Lynam Goddard
President and CEO of ChildFund International, a global child development organization dedicated to helping children in poverty thrive and bring positive change to their communities

Sepi Asefnia
President of SEPI Engineering, a North Carolina–based civil engineering firm

Suzi Weiss-Fischmann
Executive VP & artistic director of OPI nail products

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations' Women and Foreign Policy program, and author of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

Lenise Bent
DreamWorks sound engineer and instructor at SAE Institute, Los Angeles, which provides education for careers in the recording and post-production industries

Karen Dee
President and CEO of Fifth Third Bank (Central Florida affiliate)

Jan Marini
President and CEO of skincare company Jan Marini Skin Research, Inc.

Michelle Edelman
President of Solana Beach, California, advertising agency NYCA.

Laura Torrado, DDS, FAGD
Dentist with her own Manhattan practice who has been donating dental reconstruction work to victims of domestic violence, hate crimes and poor healthcare for eight years