3 Pieces of Career Advice Every Young Woman Must Hear
International Women’s Day has been celebrating the achievements of women since 1911. And every year I think about just how far we’ve come -- and then I’m reminded of a very well-intended social media post. It was from a woman who shared advice to her young daughter about becoming a successful woman.
She said, “If you are good, and work hard, you can be anything.”
While that might sound encouraging, it’s actually pretty damaging career advice for young women.
I don't want to shame parents or teachers who have said something like this, especially if they’re trying to encourage young women to dream big.
But I know from experience that this advice is not quite what you need to hear.
Being good isn’t going to help you land an amazing long-term client or a promotion at your job.
Working hard is fine but if you’re neglecting yourself along the way, what’s the point?
And it doesn’t matter what you are if you lack awareness of your strengths, skills -- and how to leverage them.
That’s why the advice above upset me. It doesn’t point young women to the skills they need to be truly successful in the workforce.
That’s why I’m so passionate about what I do. I get to help people discover their unique powers, aka Zone of Genius, and figure out how to spend more of their time doing what they love!
So, get this: I’m doing what I love — connecting freelancers and business owners. The freelancers offer their services doing the thing they love to help business owners free up their time to do what they love.
To me, being a part of this big, crazy Zone of Genius vortex is what being successful in life is all about.
My Career Advice for Young Women
Instead of “be good/work hard/be anything” advice, young women need to hear these three things…
1. Know your strengths, skills and limits.
Let’s be honest… “being good” isn’t really the key to success.
Yes, of course, be a good person, be excellent at your work. But being good and working hard doesn’t necessarily give you career or business opportunities.
More important than being good is being resourceful.
Be a critical thinker. Take initiative. Be proactive.
Resourceful freelancers are priceless because they figure things out. They are ambitious, motivated, and adaptable.
They are trustworthy; they solve problems. If they see something isn’t working, they take the initiative to fix it or at least offer some solutions.
But in order to be in that position where you feel free to move around your space, take risks, make mistakes, and learn from them, you first need to uncover not what you are or what you do. But who you are.
Resources to Identify Your Strengths
And these are some super well-known resources that can help you figure out just who you are. The top three are ones you’ve probably heard of, and I include a link to three you probably haven’t.
CliftonStrengths Assessment - There is a fee for this one but it’s the gold standard for determining strengths. (It was previously called StrengthsFinder 2.0.)
Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment from 16 Personalities - The reports for each personality type in this evaluation are really thorough and cover a wide range of topics, such as work habits, career, parenting and romantic relationships.
Enneagram Type - This is another way to look at your motivations rather than your personality.
Now, if you’re up for taking a trip down the unbeaten path, I have three more personality quizzes that were really helpful for me — and gave me some insight that these big-name assessments didn’t.
You can see them all right here — and have a peek at my results, if you’re curious.
2. Set clear boundaries with yourself and your work.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an employee, or a freelancer, it’s important to know your boundaries.
One of the problems with advice like “work hard” is that it’s never ending. There is always more that you can do.
I can tell you from personal experience — and an extreme case of burnout at the end of the corporate phase of my career — that you are the only one who can set and uphold your boundaries.
Here are what some boundaries at work can look like:
When are you generally available?
What can coworkers, team members or clients expect from you in terms of responsiveness?
How should people communicate with you (text, email, slack, etc.)?
But figuring out the boundaries that work for you can take some time — and trial-and-error. What works for you will be different than what works for someone else. But here’s how I found the boundaries that work best for me.
A while back, I stumbled upon some advice that said the best way to manage your time is to manage your energy. It was a total game-changer for me in my business.
For a couple of weeks, I tracked how I was spending my time and what my energy was like for each activity.
I noticed that I am most creative and productive in the morning. I noticed that meetings were draining for me.
I also noticed that I was frustrated when I had to meet with clients in the morning because I was giving them my best energy of the day and didn’t have enough to give my other work in the afternoon.
After this, I changed my schedule, and I have never looked back.
3. Have a clear specialty.
“You can be anything” is common advice. While this is well-intended advice, it’s also really overwhelming.
Today, there are more options than ever for building your career.
The challenge for young women is not to try and be anything, but to have a clear specialty so that potential clients or employers can understand your strengths, your skills, your experience and most importantly the value you will contribute to their business or team.
Furthermore, it’s important that as young women, you hone in on the skills that will empower you to be successful. Then position yourself to go after opportunities that need the skills you’re offering.
You can’t wait for the universe to decide when your “working hard” and “being good” will finally earn you the right to “be anything.”
My recommendation is to make a plan and take small steps every day toward your goal. Before long, you’ll look back and notice just how much traction you’ve made.
For me, I had to shift my mindset and envision my ideal client. It’s a technique I learned about in a book called Attracting Perfect Customers. In this book, the authors offer up three really specific questions to help us figure out the type of client we would like to attract.
You can see what those questions are and how you can navigate them in my blog here. I did this, and it gave me a super crystal-clear vision about who my clients are (and are not). And I really think it will help you do the same.
Chart Your Career Path
As an organizational strategist and career coach, I get asked for career advice all the time. And I’m especially passionate about giving career advice for young women. Because I love helping others discover a career path that will bring fulfillment to their lives.
And I will tell you this. As a freelancer, once you zero in on your strengths, establish your non-negotiable boundaries, and position yourself to attract your ideal clients, you’ll be on the right path toward a fulfilling career doing what you love.
Is this the same thing as “being good” and “working hard”? Nope. Not even close. Because this formula actually works.
