Category: Mentorship

6 May, 2013

I Don’t Want to Burn Any Bridges

I don’t know if it’s the proximity to the Golden Gate Bridge, or just a common phrase, but last week I heard not 1, not 2, but 3 people I’m mentoring tell me, “Well I don’t want to burn any bridges.” They were responding to my gentle nudge for them to speak up for what they wanted.

These three people thought that reaching out to someone they didn’t know and asking them for a favor, standing up to a boss, or asking for what they needed to advance in their career would somehow burn a bridge. My response to their remark was, “The funny thing about bridges is that they go both ways.”

What I meant by that remark was that if someone is going to shoot you down or be unresponsive then do you really want to continue the relationship with them? The problem is that too often we think that if we reach out to ask someone for a favor they will be annoyed or burdened. It’s because we’re so conditioned to getting rejected or thinking that we’re not good enough. We forget that we also have values to offer to others, which includes or talents, skills, and experience.

As smart and honestly overqualified as the people are that I mentor, their biggest problem isn’t finding a job, or even leveling up in their career. What’s really holding them back is that they don’t understand their own self-worth.

On paper, I have been under-qualified for EVERY job I have applied for.

My first job right out of college was as an R&D Engineer, the job description read something like: 5 years experience or a PhD in Electrical Engineering. Must have experience in ASIC verification.

I didn’t have 5 years experience, nor did I have a PhD, and I sure as heck didn’t know what ASIC verification was (if you’re curious: it’s an application specific integrated circuit). During my interview, I didn’t sit there and feel sorry for myself. I knew my interviewers knew that I had limited abilities and experience. But they were willing to fly me across the country, put me up in a rather nice hotel, take me out to lunch and dinner, and spend the entire day interviewing me, so I figured I must know something. During the interview, I just did the best I could, I answered every question I knew, and mentioned what I didn’t know. That was enough to get the job, and be one of the highest paid engineering graduates back in 2004, when tech was still recovering from it’s previous dot com bubble burst!

Fast forward to 2006, when I started working at Mint. Being a founding engineer meant that I had to interview both my bosses: the director of engineering and the VP of engineering. Clearly these two men had many many years of experience on me. At the time, I didn’t even know what they would do in the roles. But I just marched on up to the white board, and had them solve problems.

In each of these situations, I knew that I had limited capabilities, but it didn’t stop me from trying and reaching out to people. The biggest thing I had going for me was knowing that sometime before I had been presented with a challenge, and had figured out a way to tackle it.

And yes rejection is part of the game. They way in which someone rejects you is important. If they don’t respond at all or are overly harsh, then you’re better of not working with them or for them.

So instead of second guessing your own abilities, take the time to quiet your mind, and let your mouth do the talking. Know that you have something to offer, and if people want to reject you, give them the freedom to reject you. And know that you also have the freedom to pursue other opportunities. Don’t hold yourself back by coming up with some excuse like, “I don’t want to burn any bridges.”

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27 March, 2013

Diversity Seems Dismal

By Justin Reyes

Everyone agrees that diversity is important, and companies boast that they are actively working to hire people from diverse backgrounds in addition to promoting diversity programs. However, when CNN Money recently requested companies to provide statistics regarding their employee composition, only three were willing to release information. The lack of participation and the dismal results reported highlight that not only is diversity still an issue, but that there are many who are willing to pay lip-service to the cause, rather than actually follow through with what they are promoting.

The excuse provided by many companies is that the pool of eligible technical talent is small, and a diverse set of candidates is even smaller. In the race to out compete and stay efficient, it’s easier for most companies to poach capable candidates from competitors. Investing in best practices for the long term success of the organization, and helping educate groups that would otherwise not have known about such opportunities seems like a lot of effort to most. Clearly money and resources exist to purchase and refine talent, or is it just that diversity seems uncool?

So while companies are willing to pool money into poaching talent and shutting down products, they still seem to be oblivious to the fact that there is high company turnover in tech, and fewer people are majoring in engineering and computer science. If the trend continues then the talent wars we see today will only get worse. Reaching out to minority groups, educating, and encouraging them to pursue careers in technology seems like not only a valuable approach, but also one where the minority groups would indeed benefit. In fact there are already a number of minority groups like SHPE (society of hispanic professionals), that would be open to discussing ways of working together.

Fortunately, there are a few companies out there that care, such as Etsy. Etsy, the handmade arts and crafts e-commerce website grew their number of women engineers by 500% in one year through a concerted and ongoing effort of campaigns and an educational program. The program is aimed at introducing people who would not normally have considered careers in technology. By actively educating them, Etsy is able to train and recruit a talented pool of capable individuals.

Perhaps most companies aren’t as enlightened as Etsy, because to most talent is interchangeable. However, the true value in having a diverse team is because the world is changing, people are dividing themselves into different subcultures, and want to associate themselves with brands that reflect their identity and needs. This is exemplified by the growing number of niche markets, and people’s desire for these products are also increasing. Moreover, people’s purchasing decisions are no longer limited to price, but also include social good and environmental concerns. But, it’s hard to create products and service customers without a deep understanding of all their changing needs and concerns. This problem becomes even more acute when companies are rather homogenous. Having a diverse employee composition breeds better solutions, because there is a wider set of experiences that results in diverse thoughts and solutions.

The current numbers in tech aren’t great, and masking them certainly doesn’t solve the problem. If we want to continue to build products that connect with customers, then companies need to be active about reaching out, training, and recruiting minority groups. After all, innovation isn’t about buying products to shut them down, and diversity isn’t a marketing campaign.

Justin Reyes is an regular contributor on Femgineer.com.

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15 March, 2013

Lean In for Femgineers

by Frances Advincula

Yes, I am writing a post inspired by Sheryl Sandberg’s new book Lean In. I mean, how could I not? The gender disparity is quite possibly the most obvious in the tech industry. Just last week, a software engineer friend brought up that they had no women engineers in their startup! A cause close to my heart, I could go on and on about how these companies are doing themselves a great disservice (“We Need More Women In Tech, Here’s Why”), but instead, I thought I better stick to what I know best — the musings of a 21 year-old fresh grad software engineer.

In her TED talk “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders,” which her new book expands on, Sandberg lists three main tips:

1. Sit at the table.

2. Make your partner a real partner.

3. Don’t leave before you leave.

So, I thought why not take those and apply them to the context of a femgineer’s every day life? Let’s start, shall we?

Sit at the table.
For me, battling the impostor syndrome is a regular occurrence, and as a young woman in tech, I see a lot of examples of women undervaluing themselves. I know this because I do it all the time, and I should know better. I apologize for broken builds that are not my fault, I assume a build is broken because of me, I don’t challenge opinions in meetings enough. In fact, when someone told me I was the talk of the town, I was shocked. I didn’t even remotely see myself as that, and I still don’t know what they are talking about. Most girl programmers I know feel bad when they can’t solve the problem; they must not be smart enough. But guys? Nah. It’s the code’s fault, or the framework’s fault, or someone else’s fault.

Femgineers of the world, why do we do this to ourselves?! Instead, I challenge us to be aware of the impostor syndrome and recognize it for what it is. And then let’s go on about our day, getting stuff done, thinking about what kind of software engineers we want to be, and proactively making positive choices that build-up our careers.

Choices like…

Finding a mentor. Some people differentiate between a mentor and a sponsor, but I will just define it here as someone who can guide you to be where you want to be. Someone who is doing what you want to be doing and can give you guidance and advice to get you there. It’s better by a magnitude if you can find a mentor within your company. I was lucky enough to find one within Accenture, and he has fought for me tooth and nail. Fought for me to be in a big, high profile project. Fought for me to be able to move to the location that I wanted. Fought for me to be in the front lines of UI development. In fact, he was about to hop on a plane with a few other execs, and he asked me if I had anything to say to them. Me. At the bottom of the totem pole suddenly has access to execs? So you get the point. Sheryl Sandberg had Larry Summers. I suggest we find ours.

Finding a peer confidante. Having a mentor is great, and having a peer to trudge the waters with makes for a killer combination. One of my greatest friends also works at Accenture, and she and I have lunch once a week just to talk about what we are going through. Because we are close in age, she understands what I am going through and vice versa. We also feel more comfortable telling each other dreams, failures, insecurities, and worries we might not want to share with our mentors just quite yet. In fact, take the idea to a new level by hopping on over to LeanIn.org to read about the concept of a Lean In Circle.

Developing your voice/confidence. It will be hard at first, especially if you are naturally an introvert like I am. But as one of my favorite TED talk says, “Fake it until you become it.” Start with baby steps, like being more visible. Start replying to group emails and be active with in-house social media. Participate in events that are going on. I volunteered to help with our Software Craftsmanship group and will be helping organize one of our Code Retreats. Now a lot of people outside of our office know who I am. Also remember that the senior guys you are scared of? They love people who are passionate about the work, and passionate people are always curious. Ask questions. Stay updated on the latest technologies so that you can have an opinion. Find something you love, and commit to being an expert in it. Marissa Mayer once said that it’s easy to catch up in tech because things are always changing, or something to that effect (I can’t find the quote now. Darn.) I’m a newbie, but I am now giving training and teaching new developers how to unit test and code with a new framework we are using. Most importantly, always be are aware of your body language and how people are perceiving you. A lot of research say simple things such as sitting up straight and taking up as much space as possible (arms spread apart, resting on a chair versus hands clasped together, on your lap) tricks the brain into being more confident.

Paying it forward. Introduce a girl to engineering. Mentor an intern. Give advice to a fellow woman-in-tech. (Two of the younger kids I sort-of mentor told me they are now choosing to pursue computer science because I have inspired them. They said at first they were scared it would be “too hard”, but were encouraged by the thought that if I could do it, so could they!) Write for blogs that support women-in-tech. Doing “seemingly little things” matter. I sent Nilofer Merchant’s HBR article “Three Reasons Why Men Should Read Lean In” to one of my mangers, because I knew she would send it to the right people. She sent it to a lot of the (male-dominated) leadership and to her brother who heads an IT company and got a lot of positive feedback. Cliché as it may sound, change truly does start with ourselves.

Make your partner a real partner.
Sheryl Sandberg is fighting for a society where women and men equally share household responsibilities, a world where men staying at home raising a family is not considered the exception. That’s great! But what if we aren’t married or have a household or settling down yet? Since it won’t directly apply to us single ladies, I want to take it on a spin.

Date someone who will inspire you and make you want to do better. Date guys who don’t mind that you have to cancel because you have homework overload or had to do overtime at the office. Date guys who help you study for the GMAT. Date guys that push you out of your comfort zone, guys that challenge your decisions, guys that nudge you to take risks. Date guys that are not threatened by, but rather are attracted to, your ambition, passion, and drive.

Again, let’s go as far as saying not letting romantic drama prevalent in a young woman’s life to get in the way of a career. One of my favorite writers Jen Dziura has written articles about this. They’re hilarious, they’re genius, and they’re true.

My favorite, from “Bullish Life: Keep Your Love Life From Ruining Your Actual Life”:

”By which I mean that the probability that any particular guy will be around for forty years is extremely low. The probability that you will have to go to work for the next forty years is extremely high. So, it would be illogical to allow your romantic life to compromise your career and goals until those probabilities change in a way demonstrable other than by your intuition…”

She’s good, huh? Here’s another one: “Picking a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Hold Back Your Career or Bank Account.”

Don’t leave before you leave.
Do everything you want to do now while you don’t have that many responsibilities. Work 120 hours for that startup or put in the overtime for the high-visibility project, now, while you don’t have kids, because you can. People scold me that I don’t know what work-life balance means, but I argue that I see work-life balance over a long period of time. I am working like a horse now so I can have a stable, flexible career when I have kids. In fact, I am doing lots of hard things now because of my “future kids.” Like pursuing a masters with a fulltime job. Because I know that it will be exponentially harder to do that when I’m trying to raise a family. I know that sounds odd coming from a 21-year old, but you know what smart women do? They plan way ahead.

Don’t just not leave. Aim high, stay passionate, give back, and dive in!

Frances Advincula writes the series Frances Fridays. Frances recently graduated with a degree in Computer Science and is currently pursuing a masters at Johns Hopkins. She now works as a Software Developer for Accenture Software. A proud geek girl, she’s sure she is the only one who can’t play video games. Tweet her at @FranAdvincula.

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14 January, 2013

Internship Insights

By Jasmine Lee

As my last few hours as an official intern for Femgineer and Poornima come to an end, I look back with gratefulness to all the Femgineers who supported me and cheered me on during this past month of growth.

Thank you to Poornima for welcoming me and taking me in. I am grateful for all the new experiences you’ve exposed me to this month. I passed several milestones over the course of my internship here at Femgineer: I attended my first Femgineer Forum, worked with Poornima to improve my application for the Thiel Fellowship, learned how to use Twitter (teehee!), developed an MVP for the first startup I created with a team of UC Berkeley engineers, and achieved a vast array of other goals. From working at Femgineer over these past few weeks, I have gained a clearer understanding of the skills, self motivation, and personal qualities that I need to grow as a person and entrepreneur. Thanks Poornima for leading by example, and for inspiring me with your passion and never-ending determination.

Thank you Frances for cheering me on! I enjoy reading your blog posts and hope to one day be as skilled as you are, both in coding and in writing. Thanks to Diana Espino for sharing your life stories and engineering experiences with me, and to Pascale K for giving me your advice and encouragement.

This post sounds awfully a lot like a good bye, but it really isn’t. Think of it instead as a…see you later! Thanks again to Poornima and Femgineer community for supporting me as I pursue my academic and entrepreneurial ventures. Hope to make you all proud and bring some good news soon!

Jasmine is a freshman undergrad at UC Berkeley majoring in Computer Science. She is a Hackers @ Berkeley club officer and also works as a webmaster at the UC Berkeley Boalt Law School. Jasmine is humbly inspired by the hackers and builders around her and is excited to learn more about the field. Not only does she like sharing her passion with everyone, but she wants to learn how to play the ukulele and says “Carpe diem! Seize the day. Also, I like bubble milk tea.”

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5 January, 2013

Why I Applied for the Thiel Fellowship

By Jasmine Lee

A few hours before the New Years countdown, I turned in my application for the Thiel Fellowship, a fellowship created by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel that gives 20 young entrepreneurs under 20 years old a $100,000 grant to pursue their venture. Thiel Fellows are expected to leave school for two years to fully focus on making their visions for their start up a reality. I applied to the Thiel Fellowship pitching my work for a startup I co-founded with a group of engineering students at UC Berkeley called CrowdForce, a crowd sourced head hunting service targeted towards tech companies.

My biggest fear in life, besides losing a loved one, is looking back and regretting things that I could’ve, should’ve or would’ve done, but I was just scared to follow through. By having to write essays about my ideas and goals for the Thiel Fellowship application (many thanks to Poornima for suggesting ways I could improve my essays!), I made some self-realizations about my work here at Femgineer, along with my other goals.

I am blessed to be surrounded by Femgineers like Poornima and Frances, among many others. It is because they lead by example and encourage me to pursue my technological and entrepreneurial interests that I am able to write about topics relating to women in STEM for the Thiel Application. They are women making an impact in the industry and they make me proud to intern at Femgineer.

Honestly, at times I feel like I don’t have enough expertise to execute my plan for Crowdforce. I feel like an imposter when people ask me for startup advice. I suspect many young entrepreneurs feel this way. But by working with Poornima, by carrying out my vision for CrowdForce, and by applying for the Thiel Fellowship, together they will allow me the opportunities, focus, and resources I need in order to perfect my product and to grow as a person and successful entrepreneur.

My mission is to figure out how I can apply the abilities I have and to make the most of what I’ve been blessed to receive. I do not want to miss out on opportunities and life lessons to learn from. The timing is perfect right now because I truly believe in my idea and I have technologically adept teammates and the community at Femgineer supporting me.

Wish me luck!

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30 December, 2012

Initial Inspiration

When I was 12 I wrote and delivered first oratory. Seems like a great feat for a 12 year-old right? Well the truth is that I got a lot of help from a very kind neighbor Ms. Washington. Ms. Washington was a lawyer, I really wanted to be a lawyer at 12. At the time not only was she the only lawyer I knew, but she was the only lawyer I knew who was also well spoken, kind, and above all approachable. I told her about my oratory and what was on the line, a $1000 scholarship, and she agreed to read my oratory and help me out.

I visited Ms. Washington one afternoon. She reviewed my oratory, gave me some suggestions, and even handed me a copy of an oratory that she had written that had been published, wow! I was impressed and inspired. That afternoon at Ms. Washington’s I learned how to add imagery to my oratory so that the audience could visualize what I was saying. But what I really learned from Ms. Washington I wouldn’t realize until yesterday afternoon.

Jasmine Lee is currently an intern for Femgineer. About a week ago Jasmine told me she was going to be applying to the Thiel Fellowship, and asked if I would read over her application. I of course agreed to read it.

Reading Jasmine’s application was mostly a treat for me. I learned what initially inspired her into engineering, and understood the intimate moments of her theater experience that took her from stage fright to fearless. Sure I could have just asked Jasmine over the course of her internship, but there was something rich about reading her written words.

After I read Jasmine’s application and gave her feedback, it occurred to me that I was now Ms. Washington! It was a quiet and satisfying moment. When you get older, like say 30, you forget how far you’ve come, and what led you to where you are today. Stopping to help Jasmine was like a time machine, that put it all in perspective. Thank you Jasmine for helping bring back those wonderful memories of where it all began for me, and thank you Ms. Washington for being my initial inspiration.

PS I’ll be quietly rooting for Jasmine to get the fellowship!

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