You are here: Home Community July 2009 Update
Friday 17th July 2009 - from Maggie Berry, Director, womenintechnology.co.ukIt's number of weeks since I sent round our last email update and I have a lot to share with you today! June was very busy with W-Tech and the event went really well - we had over 700 people there on the day and we are currently looking into if / when / how we run it again in the future so watch this space for further news! Below is collection of 'stuff' including a number of recently published books that I hope will be of interest to you - if you'd like any further information, please get in touch with the relevant contacts directly - thanks so much.
1 - Call for role models - have you returned to an IT career after taking a career break? We'd love to hear from you!2 - Call for volunteers to speak to school pupils about your IT career3 - Free signed copy of "Beyond the Boys’ Club" by Dr Suzanne Doyle-Morris4 - Employers - can you help support maternity returners?5 - The Cost Of Thinking Twice, IT focused event about the issues faced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) employees in the workplace. - hosted by UBS, Thursday 30th July 20096 - WES (Women's Engineering Society) Annual Conference, 11th and 12th September 2009, Guildford - Early Bird Discount7 - Invitation to a MaxMara private shopping evening, 23rd September 20098 - Mini-survey - did you attend secondary school outside of the UK?9 - Mini-survey - do you work with offshore IT suppliers?10 - London Girl Geek Dinners - looking for members for their organising committee11 - Free eBook - Surf your way to your next new job - your free guide to finding a great job online12 - Discover Yourself On the Yellow Brick Road – 7 Core Principles of Success
1 - Call for role models - have you returned to an IT career after taking a career break? We'd love to hear from you!We are currently looking to hear from women who work in the IT profession and who have taken a career break (longer than their statutory maternity leave) and who have managed to successfully return to the industry. It was a theme that was raised several times at W-Tech and as such we'd like to collect some experiences from amongst our network that may provide useful guidance and support to women looking to get back into the IT workforce at the moment. Please contact Maggie Berry - mberry@womenin.co.uk - if you would be interested in sharing your story. Thanks so much.
2 - Call for volunteers to speak to school pupils about your IT careerCould you spare half an hour to change a young girl's life? We are currently looking for volunteers to give a face-to-face 30-minute talk about their career to young people and encourage them into a rewarding IT career. A teacher is always present and there is no long-term commitment. This ‘light touch’ volunteering is designed for busy working people and you can sign up at our portal to receive an invitation to speak from a careers adviser in a local school, college or university in your local area. For more information and to sign up, please go to: http://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/volunteering
3 - Free signed copy of "Beyond the Boys’ Club" by Dr Suzanne Doyle-MorrisAs part of the book launch of the how-to career guide "Beyond the Boys’ Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male Dominated Field" by one of our trainers, Dr Suzanne Doyle-Morris, we have a free signed copy to give away to one lucky womenintechnology member. To enter the prize draw, please email info@womenin.co.uk by Friday 24th July 2009 including your name and contact details. To order your own copy or for more information on this book, which looks at strategies for success for professional women, which features our very own Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology, as well as senior women from Microsoft, Deloitte, PwC and University of Cambridge among others, please visit: www.beyondtheboysclub.com
4 - Employers - can you help support maternity returners?Recent research shows that working mothers want to work. 61% said they would work even if there were no financial need to do so and 95% said their ideal family was one in which both parents worked. Yet despite a strong desire to work only 3 in 10 found their return to work after maternity or adoption leave easy.The research with over 1,500 working mothers was conducted at the end of 2008 as part of the 'Mums Going Back to Work' programme. The aim of the programme is to develop new, evidence based ways to support mothers and employers manage a smooth return to work following maternity or adoption leave.Can you help?Having gained a pretty good idea of what women's experiences are they are now looking for organisations to provide an employers view point. Could your organisation help? The benefits are the opportunity to benchmark your own practices against a growing number of other organisations joining the research and to gain first sight of what good practice looks like in organisations across various sectors and sizes. Other organisations involved include SMEs and blue chips as well as several public sector organisations, membership bodies and consultancies.To find out more visit www.MumsGoingBacktoWork.com or contact Liz Morris at Liz@Mayfield-Associates.com - she is particularly interested in hearing from women and employers in IT, especially (but not exclusively) those in SMEs.
5 - The Cost Of Thinking Twice, IT focused event about the issues faced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) employees in the workplace - hosted by UBS, Thursday 30th July 2009Being yourself is something we all take for granted, but what if being yourself is something you can't do in the work environment; what if you can't fully engage with your peers and managers because you're concerned about how you might be perceived?Some people may feel that sexuality has no place at work, but whether wearing a wedding ring or putting a photo of a loved one on a desk, sexuality permeates all areas of social life including the workplace. It takes a tremendous amount of energy not to be yourself at work. For more information about this event, please go to: http://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/events/ubs-pride-emea-network-event-the-cost-of-thinking-twice-events-91971611202
6 - WES (Women's Engineering Society) Annual Conference, 11th and 12th September 2009, Guildford - Early Bird DiscountWES has an exciting line-up of engineers, technologists, thought leaders and personal development professionals at its anniversary conference. The Power of Change will showcase women engineers’ and innovators’ achievements, examine predictions for the future and provide a dynamic and engaging forum for those working as and with engineers to extend their networks and broaden their horizons. There is an Early Bird Discount available until the 1st August.For more information about this event, please go to: http://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/events/wes-annual-conference-the-power-of-change-inspiring-the-next-90-years-events-91971615837
7 - Invitation to a MaxMara private shopping evening, 23rd September 2009Nicola Murray is delighted to invite you to join her for an exclusive, pre-season shopping experience at MaxMara’s Old Bond Street store on Wednesday 23rd September 2009 from 6pm to 8pm. Be amongst the first privileged few to view the autumn/winter ‘09 collection in full array. Nicola, assisted by the MaxMara team will guide you through the collection, help with fitting and offer expert style advice as you put the collection through its paces. Places are limited. RSVP to Nicola Murray - nicola@tonicltd.com or 020 8336 1579
8 - Mini-survey - did you attend school outside of the UK?At W-Tech one of the panellists at the evening debate suggested attendees could go back to their old schools and encourage girls to take up a career in IT. This request set one of our network to thinking - how many people at W-Tech actually spent their formative years in the UK? Many of the women she spoke with throughout the day were not from this country so she would be interested in finding out how many of our network attended secondary school outside of the UK. If you did, please contact Kimikawa De Castro - kimikawa.decastro@k4innovations.com - 0788 435 2252 - 0203 239 9188 - www.k4innovations.com
9 - Mini-survey - do you work with offshore IT suppliers?Do you work with offshore IT suppliers? Would you be willing to answer a few short questions about your experiences? Ophelia Dodds is setting up a new business to improve the communication abilities of offshore suppliers of IT services and would be very grateful if you could give up 5-10 minutes of your time to answer a few questions. These will help her to ensure that her service offering is really meeting the needs of the clients in the most important areas. This will all be done by email and can therefore be at your convenience. If you are happy to do this, please contact Ophelia directly - opheliadodds@yahoo.co.uk or via her website www.opheliadodds.com.
10 - London Girl Geek Dinners - looking for members for their organising committeeGirl Geeks are looking for are passionate, driven women who love the IT industry and want to help encourage more people into the industry and make the industry a friendly and welcoming place for those currently in the industry. They are looking for people who have great ideas, connections with geeky companies and people who have spare time available on a regular basis to spend time creating events, updating the website, marketing the events and keeping an eye on the e-mail inbox. All organisers must be really good at communication as communication really has been something that is key to their success! If you are interested in joining the organisation committee please send an e-mail to londonggd@googlemail.com detailing what areas you see yourself being most useful in, and why you are passionate about helping out with this community. Please note that the events are non-profit and the organisers are unpaid volunteers. More information can be found here: http://londongirlgeekdinners.co.uk/press/want-to-organise-girl-geek-dinners-in-london/
11 - Free eBook - Surf your way to your next new job - your free guide to finding a great job onlineThere are over 2,000 registered job boards in the UK, 60% of employers advertise their jobs online, around 10 million CVs are registered in the UK and 'jobs' is consistently in the top 10 search term in Google. So, if you're one of the thousands of people who've recently been made redundant, looking for a new job can be tough in the internet age. Many job-hunters simply don't know where to start. Others, after countless unsuccessful registrations and applications, are left wondering if internet job boards are simply a black hole into which their precious CV simply disappears without trace. In her latest career guide "Surf your way to your next new job - your free guide to finding a great job online", Janet Davies, founder of the popular redundancy careers website newlifenetwork.co.uk and author of "Rebuilding your life after redundancy", draws on her extensive knowledge of the online recruitment marketplace to offer job-seekers her insider tips on how not to commit 'career cyber-cide'.The Surf your way to your next new job guide can be downloaded free of charge from the newlifenetwork.co.uk website now:http://www.newlifenetwork.co.uk/free-guide-to-job-hunting-online-surf-your-way-to-your-next-job-i601859.html
12 - Discover Yourself On the Yellow Brick Road – 7 Core Principles of SuccessWendy Dashwood Quick has just published her first book - an unusual personal development book which provides hints and tips, coaching tools and personal workshop activities in a very easy to understand, but structured way. Told through the eyes of three familiar modern heroes searching for personal and professional fulfilment, “Discover Yourself On the Yellow Brick Road – 7 Core Principles of Success” is packed with timeless wisdom, guiding principles plus a wealth of coaching tools and tips for anyone looking for a more rewarding, enjoyable and meaningful career. As we follow their progress the reader will find some answers to their own challenges through these very engaging characters.So if you are currently facing change in your career, don’t like what you are currently doing or don’t have the courage or the confidence to go for what you really want, click here: http://www.myebook.com/index.php?option=ebook&id=7008
