BUILD: How to Ask for What You Want and Need

Aspire for something better but don't know where to start? Hate the idea of networking? You're not alone! In this talk, learn how to get started with talking about what you are interested in, piping up on social media about your professional interests, and how to network effectively to maximize your time - with crowdsourced tips from fellow students and introverts.

In the beginning of this talk, Angie talks about her start as a shy introvert (who likes books more than people) and how she met people who recommended jobs she never thought of applying for, how she went for it (sometimes applying multiple times across years) and eventually got all these jobs in school - and over 20 years has built a "career" in retrospect.

Angie provides crowdsourced networking tips & tricks for building your professional profile with social media, because who doesn't instantly internet-search your name? Give people the opportunity to know what smart things you are thinking and saying!

You can find more of Angie on Girl Geek X podcasts - just search for "Girl Geek X" in your favorite podcast provider. Start with the episode on "Mentorship" and then listen to "Career Transitions" to hear how women have entered tech at any age!

Transcript

1. BUILD: HOW TO ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT AND NEED SPEAKER: ANGIE CHANG FOUNDER, GIRL GEEK X & WOMEN 2.0 CONTRIBUTOR, WOMEN IN TECH BOOK & WOMEN AT WORK
2. BACKGROUND STORY Hi I’m little Angie!
3. I prefer books to people… BACKGROUND STORY
4. BACKGROUND STORY OMG a friend (Mathletes!)
5. SO, COLLEGE… pixelartmaker.com
6. COLLEGE EXPERIENCE I book concerts
7. COLLEGE EXPERIENCE I work in computing
8. ! Join my startup! WORK LIFE EXPERIENCE
9. ! Please? WORK LIFE EXPERIENCE
10. ! I have a team! WORK LIFE EXPERIENCE !
11. ! I have a team! WORK LIFE EXPERIENCE !
12. ! I have a team! WORK LIFE EXPERIENCE !
13. ! Why does this matter? WORK LIFE EXPERIENCE !
14. ! We go farther together! WORK LIFE EXPERIENCE !
15. Work with me at … WORK LIFE EXPERIENCE SUPERB Entertainment (4 years) Residential Computing (4 years)
16. Let’s build stuff together! WORK LIFE EXPERIENCE SUPERB Entertainment (4 years) Residential Computing (4 years) Taipei Zoo Internship (summer) Freelance Work for Friends My Failed Startup (1 year)
17. Say yes - and figure it out later MORAL OF THE STORY Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample
18. Work experience gets you a JOB MORAL OF THE STORY Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample
19. Then another JOB … MORAL OF THE STORY Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample
20. MORAL OF THE STORY Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample Work Experience / Sample A career takes many years, retro
21. MORAL OF THE STORY A career takes many years, retro PEOPLE WILL BE YOUR PATHWAY TO JOBS – AND EVENTUALLY, BUILD YOUR CAREER!
22. 20-YEAR CAREER IS STRINGING TOGETHER MANY, MANY JOBS Web Designer (college) Marcom Lead (college) Web Producer (a startup) Product Manager (a startup) UI Designer (a startup) Director of Ads & Marketing (a startup) Product Manager (a startup) Editor-in-chief / founder. (my startup) VP, Partnerships (a startup) CEO & founder (my startup)
23. THE HARD THING ABOUT HARD THINGS • Fact: A job search requires grit and entrepreneurial thinking. • 99% of creativity is perspiration (trial-and-error). • Science says that you are more creative, persuasive and have more potential than you think! (source: @EntryLevelRebel) THEIR SUCCESS IS NOT YOUR FAILURE
24. LIKE DUCKS IN A POND…
25. ...PADDLING HARD UNDER THE WATER Everyone, from folks who have advanced degrees in engineering, to regular hires, feels absolutely lost for the first year (at the least) on a new job.
26. FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT Imposter syndrome is real. Work hard and know your stuff. If you need a pep talk, read the last chapter in Mindy Kaling’s book “Why Not Me?”
27. Kick imposter syndrome and say you are __________________. THE ART OF ASKING FOR WHAT YOU WANT
28. Beat imposter syndrome and say you are __________________. (NOT a student, NOT in training). I am a developer! THE ART OF ASKING FOR WHAT YOU WANT
29. Beat imposter syndrome and say you are __________________. (NOT a student, NOT in training). What you want is to develop a feedback mechanism where you learn from each conversation and refine your pitch. You will get better, it takes practice! Your ”pitch” or story gets better the more times you tell your story! I am a developer! THE ART OF ASKING FOR WHAT YOU WANT
30. READ THE BOOK “GETTING MORE” A worthwhile read from Stuart Diamond on asking for what you want in work and life – this is also known as “negotiation”. Learn how to ask for, and get, more. It’s not wizardry, understand the frameworks & practice! Read the book! Book review: “A flexible toolkit for getting your way, whether… a million- dollar deal, a botched restaurant dish, or a petulant 4-year-old.” -- Psychology Today
31. I am a developer! JOIN GROUPS - ONLINE Listen, lurk and occasionally chime in! • Good old-fashioned email mailing lists / distros • Facebook groups • LinkedIn groups • Slack groups
32. How to be visible online: • Make sure your LinkedIn is up to date with your latest projects. School projects are fine. • Pro-tip: Drop the word “school” - it’s a “project”. • Follow interesting people/companies. • Pro-tip: Like or comment on their output, it shows you care. • If you have a spare weekend, try creating an online portfolio or build a new project • Pro-tip: Blog it, put it on LinkedIn, tweet it). • The important thing is that you can be found online, even if you use a pseudonym. It can be “aspirational”! • Pro-tip: @MegTheDeveloper, Jamieisawriter.com Professional me – online! OWN YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS
33. Where do you work? ASK QUESTIONS – ONLINE Go ahead, be curious! A smart thing to do is ask questions. We learn by trial-and-error and social media is no exception. By tweeting, you will see which tweets people respond to. Now, practice thinking of a good question to ask. Then, ask it! Tweet at interesting people / companies you follow to: • Agree or disagree with something they tweeted • Comment or share a useful link • Add a new perspective or insight, politely This gets you on their radar, and fortune favors the bold.
34. What can I explain? TRY EXPLAINING - ONLINE What is something you once thought was hard, and now isn’t so bad? What are you uniquely positioned to understand / know? How did you overcome a challenge? Try drafting a writeup about it: • LinkedIn blog post (professional boost) • Medium blog post Explain the process, and illustrate thought process, because…
35. Tell it with stories, #s… HOW TO PROVE YOUR VALUE Learn how to say that you are passionate, creative, responsible, strategic – without using those exact words. Cover letters and resumes are places this happens a lot – so how do you prove your value? Here’s how: Use examples that tell stories with numbers & results. • To get across that you’re responsible, give a walk through of some of some times when you went above and beyond to ensure the tasks you were assigned were completed on time. • To show your strategic thinking skills, mention in concrete terms some of the initiatives you started and what problems your projects solved for your team or company.
36. JOIN / FOLLOW TECH COMMUNITIES ONLINE AND OFF Follow interesting topics in Meetup.com and go to networking / developer events to meet new people in your industry! • If you are shy, encourage someone to go with you! Don’t hesitate to let people know who you are and what you are looking for – a job, to learn more about the role(s) in the co., etc • Don’t ask to connect on LinkedIn - just send the invitation! • Pro-tip: get their email address and email them your resume for referral, and continue following-up until you get a yes or no.
37. KNOW YOUR WHY WITH NETWORKING Meetups often feel intimidating. Why is it important to meet people in the industry? You can easily make new friends in the industry and GET REFERRED into an internship or job – this is 100 times more valuable than a cold email or submitting applications online. Goal is to find another humans with a connection to a company, job or opportunity you are interested in. You may… • Have just met this person -- this is OK! • Connect with them on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. • Ask them to introduce you to someone who is hiring. • Send your resume over. In a few days, ask them to check-in on the status of your application if you can’t do it directly.
38. Don’t hesitate to follow-up on unanswered email every 3-5 days. • “Let me know either way if…” PRO-TIP: Use Boomerang or “Schedule send” for later in Gmail! • Schedule follow-up emaiis to be sent later (ie. 4-7 days later) • Set up to re-send if conditions aren’t met – for example, if the person hasn’t replied to the original email. • Yes, there are tools to help follow-up with your email inquiries! EMAIL ETIQUETTE
39. 9 CROWDSOURCED NETWORKING TIPS! 1. Have a goal: Is it to meet 1-3 people at an event? Is it to stay for an hour? Have a goal when walking in the door. 2. Practice curiosity: Ask people questions about what they do, their company, the engineering roles there, the tech stack… Talk to someone in line - they have nowhere to go! 3. Have a drink: Whether a sugary boost or a cup of coffee, many people suggest having some liquid courage beforehand. 4. Early bird gets the worm: If you go to an event early, there are fewer people so it's easier to talk - and it's probably quieter! 5. Stand by the food: Get the conversation started: ask how they hear about this event; ask what they do and where, etc.
40. MORE NETWORKING TIPS 6. Join a group of two: Don’t force yourself into a large group of strangers. Try joining a group of two, or find the solo person. 7. Try to look friendly: Wearing a conversation-starter t-shirt or pins/stickers. Things like a warm smile, a firm handshake and a genuine curiosity in others really helps. 8. Figure out your 1-2 line answer to “what do you do?”: Everyone always asks, so might as well prepare your lines. You can even try different (truthful) answers to see which answer piques the most interest with folks! 9. Network online and off: From mailing lists to Slack channels, from in-person events to browsing LinkedIn, send a message asking to grab a coffee with someone to chat about X.
41. TALK TO SPEAKERS AT EVENTS, FOLLOW UP VIA EMAILS Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In illustrates how a girl geek met her speaking at an event, and followed up with thoughtful emails. This girl geek became a name passed forward when Sheryl left her seat on the Starbucks board, and she got it the job! TRY THIS: • Practice asking for advice / feedback. • Share your passions / projects. • Ask for introductions. • Volunteer at large events. • Stop apologizing. • Be prepared. • Follow up. • Take the networking online (ie. Twitter) I say it better in email…
42. Please consider these three things: 1. Set yourself up online to be discoverable - professionally. 2. Work on and develop your professional voice (thru blogging, tweeting, writing code / patents / readme docs) 3. Email people your resume for a referral (don’t stop emailing until it’s in the system, they’ve checked on the status for you, etc.) You know the tricks of the trade now! Now starting asking for what you want and need. Tell me about… FINAL TAKEAWAYS!
43. THANK YOU! SPEAKER: ANGIE CHANG PRO-TIP: CHECK OUT OUR GIRL GEEK X PODCASTS AND YOUTUBE VIDEOS!