Career Planning for LGBTQ Youth. Presentation made for the second Tucson Queer Youth Summit on 5/7/16.

1. My Queer Career
Introduction to
Career Management

2. Question: Is a job the
same as a career?
• A job is a specific position or
work for which you get paid.
Example: a registered nurse
at XYZ hospital.
• A career is a journey that
lasts your whole life. You
build skills, knowledge, and
experiences in school, work,
volunteering, and hobbies.

3. This presentation is
about thinking
about your career.
Not just finding a
job.

4. The Queer community might be
gaining more social equality but
economic inequality is growing.
This doesn’t just affect us in the
present, it will affect our futures.
The amount of social security
benefits that a worker receives
depends on his or her income during
their working years.
Queer Income
Inequality

5. •Since 2003, Arizona has prohibited
discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation in government employment
and other public offices.
•Discrimination in employment on the
basis of both sexual orientation and
gender identity is prohibited by the
following Arizona cities:
•Chandler
•Flagstaff
•Phoenix
•Scottsdale (public
employment)
•Tucson
•Tempe (public
employment)
•This means that you can still get fired in
most of Arizona for being gender-variant,
queer, LGBTQ, etc in the private sector.
The Law in Arizona

6. LGBT SUPPORTING COMPANIES
• There are many LGBT supporting
companies from Apple to
Raytheon.
• The HRC has a database of LGBT-
friendly employers
• ONE Community is a statewide
organization that promotes LGBT-
friendly companies
• Check to see if they are an Equal
Opportunity Employer
• Go to LGBTQ job fairs and events to
see which companies sponsor and
participate.
• LGBT-themed job sites like OutforWork
or Tucson LGBTQ Job Leads on
Facebook
• Word of mouth

7. What is Career management?
• Career management
is more than just
what you do to find
a job. It’s about
lifestyle design.

8. • Think about the skills that
you can get in industries
that best suit your
personality, skills, and your
life goals.
• EX. If you want to be
location independent,
learn skills/trades that
travel.
• EX. Sales is a bad career
choice if you are an
introvert that finds heavy
socializing draining.
Skill Sets

9. How can you manage your career?
• You learn to flow with
the changes that
occur in your career.
• You commit to adding
to your skill set.
• You balance career
goals with your
lifestyle design.
• You OWN your career.

10. Reminder
• You can, will, and
should change your
mind about your
career path
throughout your life.
– You may gain
interesting skills
along the way.

11. Think About It
• How do you learn?
• Do you like being
indoors or outdoors?
• How much
socializing do you
want on the job?
• What skills do you
like to do (ex.
Writing, building,
nurturing, etc)?

12. Google This Later
• Pick five people that you
think have really cool
jobs.
– These are people who
are doing what you wish
you were doing.
• Go to their LinkedIn
pages, and trace their
career paths backwards.
– Maybe they're founder
of their startup now, but
what were they doing
before that?

13. Netwerk Activity
• This activity is to practice
networking and professional
socializing.
– Split up into pairs or trios
– Professionally introduce
yourself, including pronoun,
and shake hands with
comfortable eye contact.
– Ask or answer at least 2
easy/breezy ice breakers:
• Choose your own or ask:
• What kind of career are you
interested in?
• What kind of projects are you
doing right now?
– Then find another
conversation partner.

14. How it used to be: How it is today:
1. Earn a high school diploma;
more school or job training was
not required.
2. Most people rarely needed to
use job search skills.
3. Compete for jobs only with
local job seekers.
1. More jobs call for a degree or
training past high school.
2. Everyone needs to keep his or
her job search skills sharp.
3. Job seekers compete for jobs
with people all over the world.
Employers can move to another
country. More workers can live
away from their work. They use
a computer to check in with
their employer.
Today’s Job Market

15. Relationship Between Employers and Employees
How it used to be: How it is today:
1. Employees did not plan to
change jobs or companies too
often. Employers did not trust
those who change jobs every
few years.
2. Employer = Caretaker.
Companies laid off workers
only when things were really
bad. Workers planned to be in
one full-time job long term.
3. Employees stayed with one
employer for a long time to get
good benefits. Employers paid
benefits based on how long
you worked and your wage.
1. Employees tend to change jobs
every few years. Each move
brings more skills and
opportunities.
2. Layoffs are more common.
Workers see employers as
customers. Full time employees
act as contractors. Part-time
positions are more common.
3. Employees take their
retirement plans with them
when they change jobs.
Workers are in charge of their
own retirement plans.

16. Employment Realities
How it used to be: How it is today:
• Workers had one career their whole
life. They worked for one company
long term.
• Employees could predict how and
when their pay and work duties
would increase.
• Employees would do exactly the work
an employer told them to do — and
no more.
• There were many manual labor jobs
in the production industries.
• Most people worked full time for one
employer.
• Employees who worked hard and
were loyal got good pay and job
security in return.
• Workers have many careers and jobs in their
lifetime.
• Workers create their own career paths
within one or many employers. They have
more say in their own pay raises or change
in duties.
• Job duties change more often or match
projects. Employers want workers who think
for themselves.
• More jobs are in the service or knowledge
industries. Workers need to be creative.
They need to provide good customer
service. They also need technical skills.
• Employees might work full time or part
time. They might be short-term or contract
workers. They may work for more than one
company at once.
• Employees need to work hard and take
charge of their own career goals. They get
pay and training from many employers.

17. How Do You Pursue A Career?
• Jump Into It!
– Volunteer
– Find entry level
position
– Take classes
– Entrepreneurship
– What else?

18. College or Work?
• You have options:
– Traditional University
– Community College
– Americorp
– The Workforce
• And you don’t have to
do one then the other.
– EX. Get an entry level
job in your field while
going part/full-time at
UA.

19. Take Care of Yourself
• Successful people know the
importance of taking care of
themselves.
• Self care means being prepared to
work
– Do you have transportation ready?
– Do you have child care arranged?
– Do you have health care resources?
– Do you have stable housing?
• People new to managing their
careers may need help. Don't be
afraid to ask for it. Your community
has programs to help.

20. LGBT Professional Wear
•Think of it as building
your professional brand
and developing your
style.

21. Essence of
Professional
Wear
• There has been a tried and
true masculine fashion
choice for the office for
centuries.
• There is no such office
default for feminine or
androgynous clothing and
masculinization of fashion
is the norm.
• Neutral colors and a
reserved style of
dressing has had the
longest staying power of
office wear trends.

22. Professional Style By Industry
•Finance/Banking:
•Conservative and formal
•Sales
•Should correspond with the
trendiness of your product and
customer base.
•Government
•Don’t be flashy or fancy
•Hospitality/Medical/Manufacturing
–Unisex uniforms common
•Architecture /Advertising/
Media/Publishing/ PR
–Business casual with lots of personality
•Non-Profits/Academia
–Varies by region but generally business
casual to casual

23. Career Style Brainstorming!
•Take cues from your
industry’s style
standards.
–Pick 2 industries
that you would
comfortable dressing
in their style:
•Ex. Fashionistas might be
more comfortable with
dress codes in
Architecture, Advertising,
Media, Publishing, or PR.

24. • Corporate dress codes are usually pretty standard along
binary lines so binary cis and trans people have a clear guide to their work
wardrobes.
• Non-binary transgender folks and gender-nonconforming people
sometimes have to experiment more to find where they feel
comfortable and look professional.
• Here are some quotes and examples to inspire you…

25. Before my transition, I purchased all of my "male" attire (with the exception of neck ties)
in "women's" clothing stores or in the "women's" department of a department store. It IS
entirely possible to get a really good, masculine and tailored look entirely comprised of
women's button down collared shirts, dress slacks, trouser socks and dress flats... No one
else ever noticed that the buttons buttoned on the "wrong side" or that the fly was
backward, but I did and it made me feel comfortable in at least having some sort of
feminine expression, even though I was the only person who knew anything about it.
- Gina H., Association of Transgender Professionals

26. “My personal approach to
dress at GT Inc was to stick
strictly to the “male” dress
code, making sure to stay with
traditional slacks, button down
dress shirts and ties. So what I
was wearing were acceptable
business garments but not
“female” business dress.”
First Boi In – Dressing Queer in the Corporate
World by Carolyn Wysinger
-mediadiversified.org

27. This is a great look because of:
• Quarter-Length Sleeved
Cardigan
• Complimentary Scarf
• Well-Coiffed Hair
-Picture of, Trav Mamone,
a Non-Binary Reddit User

28. • Find the intersection
where your comfort level
and your company’s dress
code intersect.
• Style Resources:
• Gigi Gorgeous (Youtube)
• ftmguide.rassaku.net
• JacobTobia.com
• Autostraddle.com
Fashion Blog
• Qwearfashion.com
Final word

29. Thank you!
• Go Forth And Look
Fabulous,
Professional, and
Queerly You!