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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1982)
Page 4 Section II Portland Observer August 11, 1902 Your job: How to get ahead An expert offers hints to working women of the '80s » illi people » h o have had exper leneev similar io vours I hex 're usu alls able io help sou come out ol the “ lo g " and see things clearlv enough to deal »uh them • II you aspire to a higher post lio n , look around at some ol the people »ho have already "a rrive d ." I rv to look and act like them II yon can a tto rd it, dress as » ell as the »oman » ho already has the position you’d like to have. It vou can't at lord it, then look as perfect as possi ble in »hat your budget permits you to buy II you d o n 't know » h a t’ s appropriate, ask someone, or read magazines that o ile r such inform a tion. • II you have the slightest problem in speaking m using correct I n glish, in getting rid o f certain collo quiahsms, m communicating effect ivelv vou should make every effort to gel some help You might speak one »ay at home and among triends, but you’ d belter learn to speak " rig h t" il you plan to impress the people » h o count in your organization. •Develop a network or "p o litica l base lo r contacts and for career building skills that w ill help you reach your goals. Connect with other people » ho are doing jobs similar to your o»n or to a job you »ant I earn all you can through this networking and make all the con tacts you can Also join professional organizations and associations that can help your career development • I ake advantage of career devil opment opportunities and activities offered by your company Attend seminars and »orkshops in your held or in the field in which you'd like Io work in the future Consider taking some college course that will enhance your skills. Read career de vclopmei’ t books, publications, pro fessional journals and other mater lal that will offer vital information written by experts Also update your resume periodically. If an opportun tty does arise where you work or somewhere else, you'll be ready with an up-to-date summary o f your skills. •I earn necessary decision mak mg skills that w ill enhance your career development and w ill help you in terms o f negotiating | Mr raises arid better positions Develop objectivity about yoursell I his iv critical lake stock ol what you al ready know, what you need lor mi provemenl, and what you kno» nothing about •(.el help from a professional ca reer counselor il you think you need it Such a person not only helps you locus your skills lor a new posi tion but also can help you advance withing your organization A career counselor also can tell you how to motivate yoursell and can provide career direction Women stepping into more jobs Freddye P e tte t o f th e P o rtlan d U rban League If you w a n t to get ahead on th e jo b . you m u st learn to dress for the position you w a n t to a ttain O U'HE a Black w o m a n a n d y o u 'v e m a n a g e d to g e t the k in d o f jo b you re a lly like a n d w h ic h you k n o w y o u 're q u a lifie d to h a n d le ve ry well. B u t ht ‘cause y o u 're Black a n d y o u 're a w o m an , you k n o w th e re m ig h t be s o m e h u rd le s -o n e s b e a rin g la b e ls such as “ age, sex a n d race d is c rim in a tio n ," "s e x u a l h a rra s s m e n t," "to b s tre s s " a n d "o ffic e p o litic s ." Y How can you avoid the barriers to your career success? Why can't you simply do your job well and w in the promotions and salary increases you deserve? How can you. a black woman, get ahead on the job? Black working women— no mat ter whether cleaning ladies or cor porate executives—have always had to deal with such questions, and the answers arc likely to become more complex during the '80s as competi tion fo r jobs increases and as the available jobs demand much more skilled personnel. A young woman who deals with career questions every day and who has formulated a number of answers to them for today's Black working woman is Chris B Bardwell, presi dent o f The Career Connection, a Chicago-based career counseling and consulting firm , and director of employ ment/professional staffing for The American Bar Assn. " I t doesn't m atter whether a black woman is seeking jo b ad vancement from secretary to admin istrative assistant, from bank teller to loan o ffice r, or from , say, hos pital housekeeper to supervisor o f the department, the rules for getting ahead are about the sa m e ," says Ms Bardwell, who also is founder and director o f The M inority Wom en’s Center for Self Development <St Career Advancement, the first cen ter o f its kind in Chicago offering a year-round program to help m inor ity women determine to succeed in the working world, analyze the d i rection o f their careers, and learn to cope with on-the-job problems and the problems of balancing personal and professional lives. "T he re are certain basic things that have to be observed, certain rules that have to be learned. Quite often, when things aren’ t going right on the job, black women develop paranoia; they be come isolated and defensive, and blame themselves for their lack o f progress. They start spinning their wheels and wondering, ‘ W h a t’ s wrong with me?’ Often is isn’ t ‘ me’ at all; i t ’ s those inevitable hurdles that arc in the way. Women who fail to understand this haven't learned the rules and haven't learned how to play the game o f getting ahead very well.” Some o f the rules Ms. Bardwell advises black women to follow are: •F irs t o f a ll, recognize the fact (hat you are black and female and I that this is a dual barrier as it relates to how you are perceived w ith in your company. W hite males arc going to perceive you entirely differ cntly than they perceive anyone else —other white males, white females or black males—who has a position similar to yours. It's a fact o f cor porate life, so you have to develop the skills to deal with it. •Discover your personal career strengths by sittin g down and examining you skills, your abilities, your weaknesses and your accom plishments since you've been on your jo b . W rite everything down and study your list. This w ill help you learn ju st who you are, w hat you have to o ffe r, and what you have to do to improve yourself. Be brutally honest; don't lie. You have to know who you are and what you have to offer if you plan to advance. •Once you know who you are and what you have to offer, the next step is to learn the political structure o f the environm ent in which yo u ’ re working. Develop the "p olitical sav v y " for whatever games that may be played and any conflicts that might arise which might affect you on the jo b . Document everything. Make carbons or photocopies o f all letters and memos you send out and route them to people who need to know this in fo rm a tio n . However, d on ’ t constantly "b u g " people by sending them copies o f trivial inform ation. Keep a personal log o f projects and a ctivities y o u ’ ve in itia te d so that you can take credit if you have to. •D evelop your career image: learn to dress properly for the job. Remember, you aren’ t going to a party or concert, you're going to w ork. So, as the old saying goes. Dress f o r success. You don’ t get a second chance to make that firs t im pression, so select the proper clothes, groom yourself perfectly, and carry yourself on the jo b in a manner that will make your supervi sors take favorable notice o f you. A fte r a ll, the y’ re the ones w ho’ ll probably decide whether you should be promoted or left at the same lev el. •Find a mentor—someone in the organization who will give you real help and support when you need them. Develop a good, close rela tionship with that person and dis cuss with them any problems you have. Be willing to go to your men tor or to an outside support group or organization to talk things out It m ight seem a bit strange to think o f coal miners or butchers putting on lipstick and perfume a f ter a long day o f work, but it hap pens In fact, it's an almost com mon sight now that a number o f »omen have started to test their skills in traditionally male-domin ated job arenas. I or many biack »omen o f the '80s, the tools o f their trade are (or » ill become) hard hats, safety gog gles and steel-toed shoes instead o f typewriters, steno pads and pleasing telephone voices Whatever their reasons— the adventure o f trying something diffe re n t or the search lo r bigger paychecks— more and more women are tackling jobs that are o lten describes as "m e n 's work " The so-called "weaker sex” can be found in the darkness o f coal mines or w orking alongside men as carpenters, painters, fire fighters, railroad engineers, crane operators, tra cto r-tra ile r drivers, plumbers, construction workers and in many other positions that ro u tinely have been handled by men. fro m an economic point of view, there are some advantages when women decide not to try nursing, teaching or clerical work but, in stead, take employment that many o f their friends call " d ir ty and gre asy." fo r example, a woman working as a roustabout in a con struction and maintenance crew on an offshore oil rig can earn a starl ing salary o f $27,000 compared to the $10,000 she could make as a sec retary or typist. On the other hand, many of those same women might experience d iffi culty because o f the physical de mands o f a number o f the higher- paying jobs. Jacqueline Jones, a Iirc lig h tc r assigned to fire I .ngine Company 1.1 in Newark, N J , says " I love what I'm doing, but the amount ot physical exertion during basic training (six weeks) caused so much fatigue that I just didn't think I ’d make i l. " She made it a year ago and. like some other owners doing "men's w o rk ." has won praise from her superiors and fellow workers alike. Nevertheless, there are still some men who just d o n ’ t like the idea ol working alongside women and are quick to groan that "Y o u can't do this kind ol w o rk " or "Y o u should be at home having babies." In cases like these, women such as Brenda Solomon, a third year apprentice carpenter in Mem phis, have learned to live with such attitudes. "W henever I hear men saying things like that, it just makes me work that much hurder Io show them that I can do unyihmn they can d o ." That kind o f confidence has helped women make major break (tro u gh s in areas that previously had been labeled " o f f lim its ." And by the end o f this decade, those in non traditional jobs probably will have changed the minds o f many who believe that a woman's place is "at home in the kitchen," Federal job opportunities— are they still there? Due to the recent budget cuts mandated by Reaganomics, "fro s ts ” and "freezes" are serious ly affecting the employment out look. One area specifically forecast ed to suffer from financial cutbacks is that of the Federal Government. In the past, when college gradu ates were interested in a career with the Federal Government, they start ed the application process by taking the Professional and Administrative Career Fxamination better known as the P A C E . The P A C E is a 3 hour written test which is the princi pal means ol entry into government lor liberal arts and general business graduates, although it is open to all majors and to applicants with equiv alent experience. These positions are in the areas of A dm inistration/ Management Support, t lairns and Benefits I xamining and Regulations Compliance Applicants who re ceive passing scores on the written test are placed on a C ivil Service competitive inventory in score order and referred to agencies as vacancies open Previously, about 7,000 placements were made each year in approximately 100 different cate gories o f jobs W ithin specific fields, positions arc classified by grade levels based on the level of job responsibility. Salaries correspond to the grades; the higher the grade the higher the salary. Therefore, if one is qualified for a GS-9 position and accepts a job at the GS-5 level, the pay would be for the GS-5 sal ary. not the GS-9 salary. 1 i Kathy M Roberts An Opportunity Equal To The Challenge lu th y M . Roberts began her career with Sears Roebut k and ( im pany in 1971 as a salesperson Her second position as a clerical worker in the personnel department quic kly evolved into the post ot store trainer In 1977 she translerred to the Roosevelt store as tiersonnel assistant where her responsibilities involved hiring training and poltc y ad ministration lor about 1 ¿0 employees Alter leaving the Roosevelt store she assumed the duties ol person net manager tor the S ea,at store m federal Way Presently Ms Roberts is employed as personnel representative tor •be Sears Overtake store in Bellevue Washington As itersr.nnel representative Ms Roberts .s at countable lor establishing a liaison between managers and employees she is also one ot live personnel representatives who travel to 14 stores between Bellingham and Aberdeen A native ot far oma Ms Roberts said she doesn I want Io slay in personnel forever and she entoys working with Sears lie. ause the < ompany doc's not limit anyone < friginally Roberts had planned to bet ome a sc hool teat her and attended Pacific lulheran University tor two years A resident ot Kirkland Rotierts is a collet lor ol old movie stills en toys shopping and leisurely walks Sears is the largest retailer in the world with almost 4 IMX) locations all over the <ounlry That means you as an employee will have Iocs ret resourr es to work with and a lot est room Io show what you t an do Vou II baye the opportunity to prove yourself As a Sears employee you II have responsibilities And you can be sure that the challenges and opportunities will last throughout your career because Sears develops its talent trom within W hy don I you look into the career opportunities al Sears Vou lust might be in business For more information about opportunities al Sears Contact Your nearest Sears Store You can count on ui An «ocaxuAiwfo Satisfaction Guaranteed or four M oney Back An Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F1982
