This document provides advice for women to sustain long careers. It recommends investing in ongoing learning and skills development, prioritizing health, delivering strong work performance, building goodwill, nurturing networks, developing key career skills, leveraging technology, managing finances well, and using social media to build a strong personal brand. Taking these actions can help women overcome challenges and have fulfilling, successful careers.

1. BY Nischala Murthy Kaushik
22 Feb 2016

2. @BEYOND WORK
Mom
Blogger with byline in Economic Times and
Huffington post
Twitterati
Advisor / Mentor
Teacher
Student of life
@WORK
Strategist
Marketer
Digital Artisan
Content Crafter
Thought Leadership
Blog @ https://nischalamurthy.wordpress.com/ ; Follow on Twitter @nimu9

3. ASPIRATION
AMBITION
BUSINESS
ACUMEN
CONFIDENCE
CONNECTIONS
All above come at a SIGNIFICANT price in terms of CAREER GROWTH and
COMPENSATION

4. BY MAKING CAPITAL INVESTMENTS IN…

5. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) Know what you know; Know what you are
good in
2) Invest in upgrading knowledge – Set
personal learning targets (every 6 months
or 1 year); Through official channels or
MOOC – Best if you can do a certificate
course
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
• Knowledge is Power
• In technology industry, Knowledge is what
gets you a job, keep your job, perform in
your work and how much you can earn
• In the long run, the knowledge which truly
makes a difference is specialist knowledge
(depth), applied knowledge (experience) or
multi-disciplinary knowledge (combination
of two / three knowledge areas)

6. KNOW enough that you
don’t look like a fool
KNOW enough to be an
expert
KNOW enough that they
don’t fool you
Don’t KNOW! And its OK

7. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) Invest in your health
2) Make exercise a part of your life; If
nothing a walk after lunch and take the
stairs
3) Get your medical tests regularly
4) Home cooked food is best
5) Take vitamin and mineral supplements
(after consultation with doctor)
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
• Health is Wealth
• Quality of your health will determine the
length of your career
• Physical heath, emotional heath and
intellectual health all play a part in one’s
overall good-health

8. EmotionalPhysical
Mental / Intellectual Social

9. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) Be clear on what are the expectations of
the role ; Talk to your manager and other
key stakeholders
2) Be dedicated and work smart – Find hacks
for everything
3) If you don’t know, ask
4) Expand your portfolio every 2-3 years ;
horizontally or vertically
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
• Inputs and Efforts are important; but
Output and Outcomes are what are
measured and rewarded
• Delivering what is expected out of you is a
“hygiene parameter” – Reflects your
knowledge, skills and commitment
• This is strongly linked to your personal
brand and people’s perception of you

10. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) Earn good-will when the going is good –
With time, with your work performance
and with your attitude.
2) Good-will can be earned in many ways –
By going the extra mile when a team
needs it, or stepping up when there is a
crisis, or making a difference when it truly
matters..
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
• Almost all women who had long careers
will vouch that if there was one thing that
helped them navigate through the lows /
fluid-phases of their careers, it was purely
good-will of the employers, managers and
teams they were a part of.
• As a case in point, marriage and
motherhood are important milestones in
the career journey of any women at work.
Both almost always make her vulnerable,
and compel her to make tough career
choices. In such situations, good-will is a
great enabler to help women keep their
careers afloat.

11. FamilyWorkplace
Neighbourhood Friends

12. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) It is important to take the time and effort
to invest, nurture and build professional
and personal networks and relationships
beyond your immediate line of work. Call
your school friends on their birthday, meet
extended family, etc.
2) Use power of social media – Join Facebook
groups (or create them), Join WhatsApp
group or create them..
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
• After a point in anyone’s career
‘professional networks’ play a key role in
providing career opportunities, growth
possibilities and new paradigms of work
• In the context of women, personal
networks and support systems also go a
long way in providing the elusive work life
resonance.

13. PersonalProfessional
Social Media Influential / Power

14. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) In the context of women at work, the
following skills are key to survive and
thrive – Career Planning, Business
Communication (Oral / Written), (Salary)
Negotiation, Creative Thinking, Political
Savviness, Complex problem solving and
Decision Making.
2) It is important for women to understand
lacunas in your current skill matrix and to
consciously find ways to build and enhance
these skills over time.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
• A long term career is about having the
right skills to take and make the next step
in the career ladder.
• There are some skills that you are born
with. But in the long run, self-acquired and
personality development skills make all the
difference..

15. Key for career growth
tomorrow
Key for your career today
Evergreen – anytime ,
anywhere
Key for survival in life

16. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) Knowing and embracing technology and
mobile apps for making everyday life
simpler, faster and efficient is critical for
long term career sustenance and growth.
2) Be it grocery shopping, meal planning,
bill-payouts, child safety, education or
whatever your need is, ensure you invest
in finding the technology solution relevant
to your context and circumstance. And use
it. The power of technology is in the
application.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
• There is a technology solution for almost
everything that needs to be done on a daily
basis. There is a mobile app for just about
everything you’d want to do. You just need
to search for it, install it and make it work
in your context.
• Saves time, saves brain-power ; helps you
spend time on what is IMPORTANT
• Let technology power mundane and
operational tasks

17. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) Spend some time to understand money ;
Read or enroll for a course
2) Hire professional services ; Algorithms
work too!
3) Earn, Save wisely, Spend frugally and
invest in line with your priorities and risk
appetite
4) Take some risks ; Make some big bets
5) Review your portfolio regularly
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
• Money makes the world go round
• True long term financial freedom comes
from making sensible financial
investments
• Makes you independent and secure ; and
give you freedom and flexibility to
negotiate your choices (especially in
marriage or doing something of your own)

18. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) One effective medium which women can
use effectively is the power of social media
and (real / virtual) communities to make
your views, voice and work sparkle.
2) Join, Contribute initiatives at work and
beyond
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
• Personal branding is really about you and
your work shining through among the
crowd.
• Be clear on what you’d like your personal
brand to stand for, and to find compelling
ways to make your work and brand stand-
out..
• Key to this is to own up your work, speak
up when it matters and ‘stand out’ where it
counts – so you can positively influence and
manage others perceptions of you.

19. In the professional
world – industry beyond
work
At the workplace (team
and beyond)
In the world (at large) –
Social media
Personal networks
(friends , family)