Career and Life Advice from Her Conference NYC 2019

This weekend I had the chance to go to Her Conference NYC. It was filled with speakers, panels, and tons of fun photo ops! For all you who are ready to take the world by storm and go after your dreams, I wanted to share what I learned at Her Conference.

Career Advice from Her Conference

Relationships = Jobs

You’ve definitely heard this before. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. There were so many stories of people having informational interviews and later down the line, those connections helped them get their next job or promotion. Do yourself a favor and network.

Put numbers on your resume

If you really want to stand out in the application pile, get some numbers on your resume. Don’t just write what you did. Write about how effective you were and what impact and influence you were able to have. A company wants a candidate that will make them more successful. Numbers show a quantitative measure of success.

Have writing samples.

This piece of advice is geared for those of us who want to be in the editorial/journalism space. But I think this advice can be broader. Get yourself some samples of your past work – writing, a portfolio, a website. Show the person that is interviewing you something tangible. Give them proof that you are good at your job.

Keep up with the industry.

Time and time again, this is repeated. How much do you know and are you willing to learn? For industries like technology and marketing/pr, things are constantly changing and you need to be up to speed with what’s happening.

Have a list of skills to grow and an action plan.

You are not going to have your dream job by the time you graduate. Let me say it again: You are not going to have your dream job by the time you graduate! That said, there are skills you can be building up and working on at any point in time to prepare for that dream job. So do it!

Always bring a solution.

As an employee, you are not supposed to bring problems to your manager’s desk. Your job is to solve them. If you need clarity or help, go into your manager’s office with a potential solution. Offer them something to work with. You never want to seem incompetent.

There were also some good lessons imposed on us by our speakers and panelists outside the realm of careers.

Life Lessons from Her Conference

Most of social media is just someone’s fake and most safe self.

Agreed! No one is posting the really depressing moments in their lives. They post the beach photos and the family vacations, not the heartbreak and the job rejections.

Politics and the dinner table aren’t separate anymore.

With the last election, many families were surprised and hurt by who voted for who, but now families have the opportunity to sit down with loved ones and really hear their views and their reasoning behind who they voted for. Having these discussions are so important. We need to be able to listen to our family members and we need to be sure that they hear our point of view.

Life is an invisible alphabet.

You are currently at letter A. Your dream self is at letter Z. But all the letters in between? They are these long chain of events that you can’t predict that go down so many different paths. Stop worrying about every single letter of the alphabet. But focus on the one right in front of you, and eventually, you’ll reach letter Z.

No’s aren’t personal.

Not every single rejection you ever had is about you. For jobs, maybe they found someone who better fit the skills they were looking for. Maybe that person you were just starting to date is going through something. When things go wrong, the problem isn’t always you.

Do a lot while you can.

In your late teens and 20’s, you can get that internship or job and still have a side hustle. In fact, I encourage you to have a side hustle. Put time into your hobbies. Explore different interests. Because that skill set may be exactly what your company wants you to bring. Also, you’re young! Do the things you want to do because you have time to figure out what the heck that is!

Stop making excuses. Take a leap of faith.

For the woman who wants to write a book or the man who has an idea for a startup, these excuses you’re making about how you’re too tired or you don’t have enough time is stopping you from becoming the person you want to be. Just start. Write the first page. Make the first business plan. Show up and get started.

It was super cool to see all the amazing women who were at Her Conference NYC, empowering and inspiring each other. Hopefully, I get to attend more events like this!

Signing off,

Gigi

What are some pieces of career or life advice that you have gained? Comment down below!