How Social Collaboration Can Benefit Your Business

How Social Collaboration Can Benefit Your Business What is social collaboration and learning? How can organisations benefit from using these? To find out Ive had a chat with James Tyer who is the Global Lead of Social Collaboration Lead at Kellogg Company. You can listen to the podcast interview on iTunes and SoundCloud (embed below) or read a summary below. Questions by yours truly, answers by James. You are a Global Lead of Social Collaboration, what does that involve? Over the course of my career, I got more and more interested in how I could help people learn from each other through connection and networks than writing formal courses for them. Of course there is always a need for the formal but I got far more interested in the social and the informal. So I was employed by Kellogg Company a year ago to make a specific piece of social technology, in this case its Microsofts Yammer, successful globally. It requires quite a change in company culture, and I was lucky enough to be hired under a group that is all about the future of IT at Kellogg. Why do companies need social collaboration and learning? Well lots of companies have pretty outdated business models. They tend to be structured very hierarchically, focus on command and control. Were going back to Frederick Taylor, and Henry Ford, and management making the decisions and everyone else doing the work who are kind of cogs in the machine that just did one thing. But as the worlds got more complex, and especially the amount of information thats available to everyone, companies are starting to realise, Well, how do we tap in to this more networked way of thinking? You can be more networked, you can be more agile, you can respond to consumer demands, industry market demands, and employees. And it tends to be that if you focus on specifically the behaviours and culture that make social collaboration, and social is in quotes, collaboration has to be social, thats the term that we use. If you put these things in place, then you tend to have a more engaged work place. Its more of a community feeling. Theres more transparency from le adership. Theres more accountability as well, and that can lead to greater innovation as ideas are shared more freely and people have more ownership of those ideas and, of course, workers can be more productive because a lot of the politics and organisational process that gets in the way of their work, slowly gets removed. How can you implement this? Well I think that first thing  that everyone has to do, is do some kind of cultural assessment. We talk about the technology. The technology firms talk about their technology, but really, and the technology firms might not like this too much, but all of it does the same thing. They do some bits better than others, but youre really dealing with the culture. So understand the culture. How are employee connections made? What is leadership like? What is the command process like? How are decisions made? All of those kind of things, and once you have a good understanding of that, you can also probably have a really good understanding of how the business actually works. And once you get that far, you can actually start finding used cases, and I find the way that you have to approach this is its one conversation at a time. Its maybe one person. It might be five people that you just have a conversation about what do they find frustrating. What are they hoping to achieve? What are their business goals? And then see if you can find a way to use some of the technology to help that. Very importantly, you have to find some leadership engagement. Whats Working Out Loud? Actually, well, a lot of what makes organisations and the culture of organisations the way they are, are the assumptions we carry about what people are doing, and what they are thinking, and what theyre working on. So Working Out Loud is a way of getting out of your head and into a place where other people can see what youre doing. Another way of calling it is narrating you work, and theres some great people that speak about it. I urge anyone listening to go look up John Stepper, Simon Terry, or Jane Bozarth, who has an awesome book called Show Your Work as well. And what they say is if you share what youre working on, whether its in a draft, or its an idea, or if its, I dont know, a photo, it could be anything, then others in your organisation will see what youre doing and you can accomplish a number of things. First is a lot more ideas. People will share their ideas, theyll give you your feedback, all of those kind of things, so, from there, you can get new products, new services and all that kind of stuff. You can avoid repeating the wheel. LinkedIn or internal employee profiles? Thats  a difficult question. Its a bit of a jump, but if Im thinking that Im working out loud, Im putting some of what Im doing internally externally into my networks and hopefully bring some value to them, so people can learn from me, just as I do from others. I think something that your LinkedIn profile, which is outward facing and internal facing, because anyone can go and see it. Why would you spend a lot of time completing an internal intranet profile, when you can have a much more active, live LinkedIn profile, or about me, or a blog site, or, doesnt have to be LinkedIn, of course. Why would you spend all this time with this internal only facing thing, when theres something much more open and transparent for everyone to see? Whats the best tech? I dont think any one technology is better than the other. Its the behaviours, like habit building, the personal knowledge management that really help. And it depends on where your industry is, it depends on where the people are. For me, I find Twitter is one of the most helpful for my learning networks. Although, you have to remind yourself when you get in to some of them that youre talking to people that probably think very similarly to you as you get in to these networks. You want to have a diverse array of opinions, if you can get them. So Facebook might be great for something, the internal social networks, Yammer, Jive. Ive forgotten all the others. There are so many now. All of them can work for you. But you have to build your own networks too. So it takes time to get in to them and to show that youre valuable to them and also, you have to meet the people where they are. What do the  next 3  years have in store? Well, the one I see happening directly because I have to use Yammer, is we seem to be going back to big enterprise suites again as Microsoft pushes Office 365 and a lot of the HR systems and other systems are a sales force and so forth, are trying to bring everything back in to the one big thing again, and its actually a shame because, I think its David Weinberger that said that we want small things kind of loosely connected with people as those connections. So you can have a number of different networks but its all about the people and as the technology gets more, the cognitive load that it places on you gets more, so itll be interesting to see what happens and whether some of the smaller companies, with specific offerings will actually get bigger traction. Analytics is going to be one. Internal social analytics, I think, are going to get bigger, and in the learning space, of course, learning analytics as well. We havent talked too much about the formal learning space, but just because of where I sit. And I think just more good examples of whats happening, and especially, I think, through mobile as well. I think thats something thats not looked at hugely, so far, even though most of us probably access all of our social stuff on our phones these days. Follow  James on Twitter  @jimbobtyer  and connect with him on LinkedIn where he also publishes articles.  Read the full version of this interview at Link Humans.

How I Got 3 Job Offers During the Recession

How I Got 3 Job Offers During the Recession I was in business school at a very bad time. Whereas alumni who graduated years before me had job offers, sometimes up to five of them, in hand before graduation, my class was not as lucky. In fact, we were going to graduate right at a time when companies were laying off people. It is discouraging to find out that companies who were planning to visit the campus cancels at the last minute. For the remaining companies that are hiring, some of them are hiring locally or only US citizens to save on costs. Most have also drastically reduced hiring levels. The economy was not on my side. I knew then that if I were to get a job offer by the time I graduate, I need to pound the pavement. I need to be resourceful and smart about my job search process. I did what many other people will tell you. I submitted so many resumes and covers letters I have honestly lost count. I attended company information sessions and networked my ass off. The problem is: everybody else was doing this. How do I stand out among a crowd of hungry job hunters? I wanted to share with you some guerilla-style steps I undertook for my job hunt. It all paid off. By the end of the year, I had 3 job offers in hand: Google, Microsoft, and Standard Chartered Bank. I was ecstatic. It was not easy but my job search strategy obviously worked! 1) Get real life experience: During a downturn, companies become more conservative when hiring. Because companies hire less, they also become more careful and don’t want to hire the wrong candidates. As a result, the more signs recruiters have that a candidate will succeed on a job, the better the chances of that candidate in getting the job . This is where real life experience comes into play. All of my classmates and I have solid academic credentials. However, not all of us will have relevant experience especially for those looking to change careers. I did two things that helped me in my job search. I was part of a student-run business on campus that sold MIT-branded retail items. This experience was valuable in demonstrating my entrepreneurial spirit and self-starter mindset. I can say this definitely helped make a great case for me when applying to tech companies such as Google. The second thing I did was to intern at a tech startup called AllTrails.com. Before this, I had zero tech experience. By doing business development for this startup, I gained valuable tech experience and have stories I can talk about during my tech interviews. Whatever industry you are aiming for, you can definitely follow this step. Go out and find an internship or part-work in the area you are interested in, whether it be sales, engineering, or something else. Having such experience will strengthen your application for a full-time job. 2) Make trips to Silicon Valley: I really pounded the pavement. I hustled like there was no tomorrow. Whereas some classmates would visit the Bahamas or Cancun on long weekends, I had flights scheduled to the locations I wanted to work in. Specifically, I made my way to Silicon Valley on a couple of occasions to visit companies and meet people. Here’s what I did: before arriving at my destination, I would reach out to people I knew working in my target companies. For example, I would talk to alumni from Google, Facebook, eBay, Apple, etc and schedule time for when I’m in town. I would browse each company’s job board and familiarize myself with the different teams as much as I can. Finally, I have prepared questions to ask the people I’m meeting. These are busy people with busy schedules and I don’t want them to feel that I am wasting their time. There are a few benefits to visiting the companies I wanted to work for. First, it sends a strong signal to recruiters and hiring managers that I am serious about my application. Second, my trips arm me with stories that I can share during my interview. This helps connecting with interviewers easier. Third, being there gives me a better picture of the culture and environment. If your target company is relatively close by, try to make that trip down to their office and meet people. People will appreciate the effort you put it. It is an investment but who knows, it may pay off in the end like it did to me. 3) Browse other school’s job boards: My goal was to find a job in tech. Because of the recession, many tech companies based in Silicon Valley were cutting back on trips to the East Coast. MIT is in Boston which meant that some companies are not flying to my school to meet students in person. This was bad news. It limits the companies and recruiters I get to meet. It also meant that there may be openings that I won’t know of. As this is the case, I knew I needed to be resourceful. If tech companies are hiring locally, they must be reaching out to students at Stanford and Berkeley, both based in the Bay Area. I asked around and identified friends who were students in both Stanford and Berkeley, including some in the business school programs. I asked if they can share with me the companies visiting their campuses and roles they are hiring for. I came upon a gold mine! I found names of both big companies and small startups actively recruiting in Silicon Valley. Armed with this list, I reached out and introduced myself to recruiters. Most of them welcomed my outreach. Why wouldn’t they? I was another potential candidate in their hiring process! I made their job easier for them. I was so grateful for my friends’ help. Of course, in return I shared with them names of companies hiring in the East Coast in case they were interested. There were many of them especially in the biotech, finance, and consulting industries. The takeaway here is to be resourceful. If companies are not coming to you, you should be the way to reach out to them. Final thoughts: How well the economy is doing will always affect your job prospects. It will determine how easy or difficult it is to get a job. But as you seen in my case, you should not give up. I challenge you to start now. Continue to hustle. Go above and beyond what is required. Be resourceful and creative in your job search. Your efforts will pay off in the end! Author: Sally is the founder of eggheadjob.com, a blog where she shares stories and tips on how to get a job and advance your career the smart way. She currently works at Google and is a graduate of MIT. She is also known as “Get the Job Girl” and you can follow her adventures on Twitter.

How to Answer What Is Your Greatest Weakness (Interview Question) - Career Sidekick

How to Answer What Is Your Greatest Weakness (Interview Question) - Career Sidekick How to Answer What Is Your Greatest Weakness? (Interview Question) Interview Questions and Answers / https://www.edenscott.com/blog Hiring managers love to ask questions about your greatest weakness in a job interview. Theyll expect detailed examples in your answer, and they want to hear a unique weakness.To make things even tougher, some employers are now asking for 3 weaknesses.So in this article, Im going to show you EXACTLY how to handle questions about weaknesses in the job interview with example answers.Heres what well cover:Why interviewers really ask about your weaknessesExact two-step formula for answering what is your weakness or what are 3 weaknesses in the interview to impress employersThe one answer you absolutely should NOT giveWord-for-word example answers for your greatest weaknessLets get startedWhy Interviewers Ask About Your Weaknesses in the Interview:Hiring managers ask about your biggest weakness (or top 3 weaknesses) for a few reasons.First, they want to see how you view yourselfwhether youre self-aware and able to identify a weak spot and be honest about it. And whether youre upfront/comfortable talking about a weakness in general.Believe it or not, they dont want someone to say, Im great at everything. I have no weakness. Because nobodys amazing at everything! We all have strengths and areas were not so great at.So part of the reason theyre asking is to measure your character and personality.Then, theyre also asking about greatest weaknesses to make sure their job is a good fit.If you do have a weakness thats going to hurt your performance in their company, they want to know and avoid hiring you! So Ill talk about what weaknesses not to share in the next section.Finally, hiring managers know this isnt an easy question to answer, so they also ask this to observe how you perform under pressure.Fortunately, if youre going to go into the interview room with a game-plan for this specific question, so youll feel a lot less pressure than most candidates!So now lets look at how to plan out a great answer to your greatest weakness, or top 3 we aknesses plus what NOT to do.How Not to Answer Whats Your Greatest Weakness?This is probably what youve been told to do when asked about weaknesses in the interview. Its okay, but not greatThe strategy:Turn a strength into a weakness.If youve ever looked for help answering this question in the past, you were probably told to do something like this.Example answer using this strategy:“Well, sometimes I’m too detail-oriented and thorough, so I have to remember to hit my deadlines and balance speed too.”OrI’m really passionate about this industry and the work Im doing, so sometimes I need to remind myself to relax and not get over-excited in the moment.”Interviewers are pretty tired of hearing answers like this, though.Hiring managers have heard it so many times and its lost its magic. They wont be thrilledwith interview answers like this because it doesnt really tell them anything about you, other than the fact that you read a few interview tricks before coming in.They want a real weakness; They want to learn something about you and your background.So heres how to give a much better answer when they ask you about weaknesses in an interviewProven 2-Step Method to Answer What Is Your Greatest Weakness?Now that you know what not to do when naming your weaknesses in a job interview, lets look at what you *should* do to wow the hiring manager.Step 1: Provide a real weakness, but with a few rulesWhen they ask whats your greatest weakness?, I recommend you be straight-forward and give a candid answer to the hiring manager, theyll appreciate it IF you do it rightThat means you have to keep a few things in mind and avoid a couple of potential traps.First, dont name a weakness related to how you work with others or how you get along with management.Examples include: Trouble following instructions, trouble communicating, being prone to arguments and disagreements, etc. You better pick a different weakness to share, because no hiring manager wants to hear this type of thing.In fact, to play it even safer I recommend you pick something skill-based, not personality-based. Thatll keep you in the clear.When you pick something skill-based, you want it to be relevant to your work, but not a primary focus of the job youre applying for. If youre looking to become an accountant, dont say your weakness is working with numbers or being detail oriented.However, you could say your weakness is a certain type of tool or software,or an entire area of accounting that you havent worked particularly closely with recently. Maybe you studied it in school but havent had a chance to use it hands-on since then and youd require some time to brush up.Step 2: Talk about what youre doing to overcome this weaknessAfter giving a real weakness in your answer, you want to show how youre stopping this weakness from being an issue, or how youre making sure it doesnt affect your overall work.For example, maybe youre rapidly improving in the area.Maybe youve found a way around it with other tools/skills, etc.I put a sample answer below to show you how this might sound in the interview.The example is based on somebody in the software/programming field, but you should be able to understand this no matter what.Example Interview Answer for Whats Your Greatest Weakness?When I look at my skill set as a whole, one weakness right now would be Java Programming. It’s just not something that I’ve been asked to do since school so I understand the fundamentals but Im pretty rusty in terms of working hands-on with it. I was planning on brushing up in the next few months to broaden my skill set, though. I think it’d help me be more well-rounded and would filter down into other areas that I use more often in my work.This is a good answer as long as youre not interviewing for a job wherethey expect you to start using this skill (Java programming) every day.Never name a weakness thats a core part of the job youre interviewing for!Look at the job description and youll get a sense of this before the interview.Now, sometimes employers will ask for 3 weaknesses in a job interview, so lets look at examples of how to answer that now.What if They Ask for 3 Weaknesses in the Job Interview? (Examples)Lets say they ask you, What are your top 3 weaknesses?This is a bit tougher not only because you have to think of 3 different things while making sure its not going to scare the employer off, but you also have to keep your answer organized.So for this reason, Id recommend picking 3 closely-related topics that are weaknesses. Dont pick one personality trait, one hard-skill like Java programming, and one area like leadership or delegation. Keep them all related.So going back to the example answer above, we can adapt it a bit to include 3 weaknesses now. Heres how itd look3 Weaknesses Job Interview Example Answer:When I look at my skill set as a whole, I think three weaknesses are Java, Ruby, and CSS. Those are just not programming languages I’ve been asked to use or be involved in since school. So I understand the fundamentals, but Im pretty rusty in terms of working hands-on with them. I was planning on brushing up in the next few months to broaden my skill set, though, even if theyre not required in this role. I think it’d help me be more well-rounded and would filter down into other areas that I use more often in my work.Keep These Tips in Mind When Answering Whats Your Greatest Weakness in a Job InterviewIf you read the full article you now know why hiring managers ask, whats your greatest weakness.And you know why the typical answer most people are giving is *not* going to impress them.You also know the two-step formula to come up with a great answer that WILL stand out and make them want to offer you the job.If you missed that, make sure to go back up and get familiar with the two-step answer formula for giving a real weakness and then explaining how youve overcome it. Thats by far the BEST way to answer what is your greatest weakness? or what are your weaknesses? in the interview.If you give this type of answer instead of the typical fake weakness (a strength disguised as a weakness), youre going to build a much better connection with the hiring manager and theyll really appreciate the thoughtful, genuine answer you came up with.This is how you stand out in the interview and make yourself memorable (so you can get more job offers!)Any time you can avoid giving a cookie-cutter, common interview answer and say something unique is good.Id highly recommend going into each interview prepared to share at least one detailed example of a weakness using this two-step method.Related article: Answering What is your greatest strength?

How to Become More Confident and Assertive at Work and School

How to Become More Confident and Assertive at Work and School After discussing with a number of friends, family members, and co-workers about New Year’s resolutions, one resolution seemed to occur frequently: the goal to be more confident and assertive. To be honest, this is also one of my personal goals as a professional and as a graduate student.   I identified this as an area that I really needed to develop when I first started working in a professional setting.   While I was excited to finally have a “big girl job”, I was also scared out of my wits.   There I was, in my cubicle, back at the bottom of the totem pole.   I felt the need to say yes to every project that was put upon me and to never question authority (both in school and at work).   I work as an admission counselor, and when I was faced with angry parents and students in counseling appointments, I tended to freeze up, get tongue tied, and somehow convince myself that it was all my fault and that I was a terrible counselor.   I absolutely HATED making mistakes, even if it was something small and insignificant like forgetting to cite a source in my research proposals.   I felt the need to be the perfect employee and student because in my mind, no one likes the new girl who messes up.   As you might imagine, that initial high and excitement started to slowly wear off and morphed into a sense of insecurity. To my surprise, I wasn’t the only one experiencing this.   After expressing my worries to some of my girlfriends, they too had the same feelings as I did.   I realized that this was common among people that were in the same situation as me: fresh out of college and starting our career.   I wasn’t alone.   Although we ALL knew that we shouldn’t be so afraid, somehow those feelings kept creeping up.   I thought to myself, “There HAS to be something that can help me combat these feelings of timidity and self- doubt.” Then came my decision towards a new destination: to be more assertive and stand up for myself.   To be more confident in what I say, what I do, and to trust myself.   To not be so afraid of saying “no” when needed and to not be afraid to reach out for help and ask questions.  To not be afraid of making mistakes, because no one is perfect and every day is a learning experience for everyone.  This has become my mantra that I repeat to myself every day. After trying out different tactics and stumbling around for a little bit, I found a few ways to help me get one step closer to my goal. These are what have helped me personally, and perhaps they could help you too: Fake it ‘til you make it: In terms of confidence, if for some reason I feel self-doubt about myself, I always try to fake the confidence.   For example, when I attended my first graduate class, I was VERY intimidated of my classmates (I don’t know why. I knew I shouldn’t be intimidated because we were ALL students, after all.)   The students were all 2nd or 3rd year graduate students, a lot were doctoral candidates, they all had their laptops out, knew exactly what they were doing, and I felt like all of their eyes were picking me to pieces.   The next few classes, I decided act like I knew exactly what I was doing. I brought my laptop to class, sat up straight and tall, typed up all my notes, and threw in a head nod every once in a while to signify that I understood the material.   After several classes, I actually began to feel more confident in myself and felt more comfortable around my classmates. If you have a question, ask it! Contrary to popular belief, asking questions isn’t a sign of inferior intelligence.   I can bet that many of you who are reading this right now can relate to this situation: you are given a set of instructions or information, had a question, but didn’t want to ask it for multiple reasons (insecurity, didn’t want to be bothersome, didn’t want to be annoying,   didn’t want to risk asking a stupid question, etc.).   Then you spend hours trying to come up with an answer to satisfy your question.   I definitely experienced this situation many times throughout my life and I’ve learned that asking as many questions as I need and executing a task with confidence is better than the opposite. Talk slower.   I am a fast talker by nature.   As a result, I end up slurring my words together and sometimes I forget what I’m going to say.   I realized that this was a problem when I started recruiting people to a university and became tongue tied frequently.   I started to consciously slow down my speaking pace and enunciate each word clearly.   It has given me more time to create my thoughts, to effectively communicate exactly what I want to communicate, and to speak with more confidence.   The reaction from others when I speak slower is different, too.   People seem to trust me more and regard me as a more reliable source of information. So for all of you who can relate to this situation, remember this: Don’t be afraid to be assertive and stand up for yourself. Don’t be afraid to be confident in what you say and what you do.   Remember to trust yourself.   Don’t be afraid of saying “no” when needed and don’t be afraid to reach out for help and ask questions.   Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, because no one is perfect and every day is a learning experience for everyone.

How companies can work better to support women in the workforce

How companies can work better to support women in the workforce This article was written in collaboration with  EY. Find out more about roles and opportunities available at EY by  heading to the Opportunities tab of the Debut app. It’s no secret that women have been rocking the metaphorical boat the last few years. Their voices can be heard from the hills of Hollywood to the streets of London, challenging outdated ideals and pushing for equality. But there’s one place in particular that is changing rapidly: our everyday working environments. Global organisations such as EY are at the forefront of offering new ways to establish females as key figures within various industries. To understand a bit more, we bagged an exclusive interview with four ladies from across the company to get their opinions on the subject. So come and take a look at what Jade Garner â€" Associate, Assurance Lynn Wilson â€" Assistant Director, Assurance, Karimah Campbell â€" eDiscovery Manager, Fraud Investigation Dispute Services, and Tishina Tapfuamaneyi â€" Analyst, Transaction Advisory Services have to say on this matter. Offer opportunities  before  day one Companies have an opportunity to market themselves to new female talent before they even join the company, so it’s vital that they consider what opportunities are on offer to provide expansion and growth to potential female candidates. Lynn states that what attracted her to EY in the first place was the company’s “ethics and support for personal development”, including their personal coaching and training programmes, allowing for workers to develop their own life skills, as well as work-specific ones. Jade echoes this sentiment, highlighting how her own personal coach has “been an excellent source of support for whenever I am struggling or have any questions.” So it’s not just candidates who have to stand out â€" it’s vital that a business demonstrates they are forward thinking and pushing for change even before someone joins the company. Promote female networks In a lot of cases, it’s quite hard to find a comfortable time to bring up issues in the workplace regarding inequality of any kind â€" but gender-related disparity is particularly relevant in the current climate. This is why it’s so important for companies to shout about any support they provide to women both inside and outside the business. Female networking events and groups provide a space for open and honest discussions to take place. Plus, it doesn’t matter what role you have in a company â€" anyone from any team is welcome to contribute their opinion. EY boasts several networks that focus on their female employees, including the EY Women’s Network, Women in Technology, the Women’s Leadership Network and more. These networks also have an active online presence. Women. Fast Forward  geared towards accelerating the achievement of gender parity, by motivating friends and colleagues about gender inclusivity. Currently, they are running the campaign #PressForProgress, which was created for International Women’s Day. For this, EY hosted a panel discussion, posted a blog post from EY Global Chairman CEO Mark A. Weinberger and distributed a short film on their website. The hashtag also encourages viewers to take up their own action for the campaign. Jade is a member of the EY Women’s Network, and describes the scheme as “an excellent platform to both talk and hear about issues that women face in the workplace.” These networks also have more to offer than just a support group, as Jade continues to explain: “Events are held regularly and there are often talks from successful women in finance as well as other industries about the hurdles that they have had to overcome and how they have become so successful.” Allow for flexibility The women of today have a number of other factors in their life that they need to fit in around their career. Traditional 9-5 rigid hours can be stifling, which is why employees excel more if they are able to balance all the commitments in their lives and work when they are at their most productive. Tishina claims that one of the biggest challenges for many is “balancing work life and family”, but flexible working at EY allows for this problem to be eradicated. Equally, this style of work can be useful to those with hobbies or side-hustles, as they will be able to enjoy what they want, when they want. Flexibility also applies to management style, by embracing new ways of support and addressing issues. If this challenges old ways of thinking, then this may be the best way of improving a business, as Karimah states. “The more we are questioned, the more we will understand the need to be heard.” Following the gender pay gap news stories, many leading financial companies have set milestones and deadlines in different lines of their businesses, holding line managers accountable to meet these targets. EY are also leading on this front, hosting a countdown to gender parity on their Women. Fast Forward page. Embrace and celebrate achievements Whilst it’s always great to be striving for growth, morale is one of the biggest motivators in any working environment. One of the best ways of keeping this high is by celebrating when a job is well done. It’s easy to overlook a project once it’s done and dusted, but those within a business shouldn’t forget to acknowledge the hard work that went into it. Karimah shared that her proudest achievement stemmed from talking on a panel for EY, explaining “after the panel I was approached by two women, both stating that I had inspired them. Knowing that I am helping someone be the best they can be really makes me happy and motivates me.” This demonstrates how businesses can coordinate opportunities that facilitate the chance to celebrate achievements. Whether this is through blog posts that shine a spotlight on an individual’s success, or providing official recognition through award ceremonies. Prepare other women transitioning into  work   Whilst of course it’s great to be helping those working today, companies should also focus on the female workforce of tomorrow, those who will be graduating in the next few years and may well become future female leaders. Our interviewee’s advice? Stay true to who you are, have confidence in your abilities and accept every new challenge that comes your way. Or as Tishina puts it: “Don’t try and be someone you are not. Every person has a unique individual personality. Your ideas and your opinions matter â€" your idea could be the idea that dramatically improves the performance of your team.” Well said. Download Debut and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for more careers insights.