The movement to bring diversity to and encourage more women into STEM has made great progress but there is still some way to go before technology is seen as just another standard career choice for women. Many women would like to work in technology but not everyone is comfortable using technology, let alone working for a technology company which is typically full of jargon, fast-paced, and complicated by product portfolios that are mostly unrelatable to our daily lives.I know because I’ve helped lots of women to successfully make the switch.
In this two part blog, we explore what employers and candidates can do to enable more women to switch to technology careers.
Tapping into an invisible talent pool
To level the playing field to entry, there are some important steps that employers can take:
- Tech experience not required: Focus on responsibilities instead of job descriptions, which attract people from other sectors who have core skill sets needed to meet those responsibilities.
- Look inside before going outside: Actively target existing employees in your organisation who can transition from other roles; and enable them to do so with training and support.
- Consider culture: If recruiting externally, consider your culture fit – look beyond those that have done the same job, in a similar market, and find those who fit your culture. You can always train them if they fit your culture and the competencies needed for the role.
- Make it relatable: Talk about technology in a way that we can all understand.
- Inspire people: Share real life stories about your products, talk about why customers love working with you, the impact your technology has had on their company – and them personally.
Once onboarded, there are also ways you can work with your new hires to build confidence:
- Empathetic leaders: Drop the outdated ‘tick box’ approach to onboarding. Ask the right questions to help understand (rather than assume) what candidates need to break down fears and build confidence.
- Encourage self-leadership: On the job, how-to-guides and virtual help sessions are really effective and build muscle memory quickly. Feeling independent and able to self-serve is very empowering.
- Working experience, not theory: Assign individuals to project teams to deliver specific improvements within the business. Encourage use of new technologies, allow time to test and identify how they could help achieve improvements.
- Mentors: Coaching sessions should be jargon free, promote open conversations and not be task-orientated.
Check back soon for our next post with tips for candidates on how to make the leap into tech!
