For women in technology, a little mentoring goes a long way

By Judi Wannamaker

If you’re like me, you are usually reading the clever little sayings on the side of your Starbucks disposable cup through blurry eyes whilst trying to plan the busy day ahead of you. One stood out for me a couple years ago. The cup said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Yikes, I thought to myself. As if I don’t do enough things already that are sure to send me to hell!

As the proverbial “they” say, a woman has to work twice as hard to prove herself in a lot of the workplaces she finds herself, and to achieve the same financial rewards as a man. And then, when babies enter the picture, it becomes that much harder to compete in the workplace for those highly coveted power positions, which men handily secure with a cigar in one hand and a single malt scotch in the other. Ladies fight as hard as we can to climb the corporate ladder, sometimes at all costs, forsaking the poor other gals who happen to be in our path of career destruction.

But there is a silver lining to the dark cloud. The brighter picture is that there are several organizations that exist purely to offer a community based on the principles of support and empowerment. One such organization, which I have the pleasure of contributing to as a national board member, is the Wired Woman Society. This Canadian organization’s mission is to create an open, nurturing, integrity-based environment that encourages women to explore opportunities in technology, science, and new media, and to build successful careers that will allow them to become a driving force in these growing sectors, and contribute to our great nation’s gross national product.

Like so many of these organizations, Wired Woman exists solely out of the contributions of volunteers—women helping women (and not just because we all don’t want to go to hell). The most rewarding experience for me has been mentoring. I still feel like a young woman fresh out of university, but really I am in my 30s, deep into my business development career at a software company. And how did I get here? Through the mentoring of a few powerful people who took time out of their busy days to care about my personal and professional growth. I woke up one day thinking it was time to give back, and give back I did.

The Wired Woman mentorship program paired me with a delightful girl (okay, she’s only six years younger than me, but we’re still all girls after all!) from Poland. Her English skills were impeccable from years of living in the U.K., and her academic record was spotless, so really her only challenge was to figure out how to make her own professional mark in her brand new place of residence—Canada. With a few pointers from yours truly over coffees or a hike, she was off to the races, and soon after established a promising career with a software company that was willing to sponsor her. She even bought her very own bachelor condo by Stanley Park!

She has become her own success story, and, furthermore, she goes around telling everyone it’s all because of me. This, of course, is silly since she earned every bit of her success through her own dedication and hard work. But she felt that without some good advice and a bit of cheerleading (my specialty) she would have been dead in the water, and she is incredibly thankful. And isn’t it nice to be appreciated once in a while? Our bosses, husbands, family, and friends all appreciate us, of course, but sometimes they forget to take the time to tell us. That is the added bonus of mentoring: it’s easy as sin, and you get paid in accolades. It’s good stuff. Everyone should try it.

In this shrinking economy, with jobs fast disappearing, the information-technology industry shows no signs of faltering, and there is a strong need for more people to fill the growing number of IT jobs. There is definitely a spot for women in IT, but it can be scary entering a sector that seems to be male-dominated. With a little coaching and cheerleading, though, ladies can break into this lucrative job sector and really make their mark.

Judi Wannamaker is a director of the Wired Woman Society, and the chief market relationship engineer at 2Paths Solutions.