Student News
Networking Is Crucial for Women's Careers, Panelists Say
Networking – i.e., building personal relationships in business – should
be an important tool for women as they grow their careers, a panel of women from the realms of
business and government said at a "Women in Business Forum" held Nov. 29 at the Moore School of
Business, University of South Carolina.
More than 150 female graduate students, faculty, and staff, along with women from the community, attended the forum, sponsored by Moore Dean Hildy Teegen and the school’s Moore Association of Graduate Women organization.
"I am living and breathing proof of the power of networks," said Dr. Teegen, who introduced the program. Teegen credited supportive contacts in the higher education community with helping her become Dean of the Moore School. She took over the position Sept. 15 upon the retirement of Joel A. Smith III. Teegen is the first woman to head the school.
"Look for mentors and look for guides in unlikely places," she told the group, explaining that she had once learned some important "life lessons" that she never expected while spending time with a woman in a poor village in Bangladesh. "We have the opportunity to learn from every one and every thing," Teegen added.
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(l to r) Cathy Novinger - Novinger OTR, Amanda Smith - Resurgent Capital Services, Dean Hildy Teegen, Nelda Connors - Eaton Corporation, Kristen Patel - Intelligence Analysis Training Program & Jennifer Vadersen - Gulfstream. |
Jane R. Willis, the Moore School’s Director of Graduate Career Management, was the panel’s moderator.
Connors, an engineer by training, said she was "not a natural networker" – by temperament or training. But she has learned to do it, she said, and believes that networking is "a big part of being able to get what you want."
Novinger, who began her career at SCANA as a "file clerk in the basement" of that Fortune 500 company and retired in 1999 as one of the industry’s most highly paid women, said building personal relationships in business "is a critical component of anything I do." It is “the best tool you have" for succeeding in your chosen career, she said.
Men learn about the importance of building personal relationships early in life by playing on sports teams, Novinger said – something that not all women have done. So she urges women to join professional organizations and to volunteer at church and in the community, which allows you to chair committees and meet people. As a private consultant today, she added, "people pay me to connect them with people."
Vadersen said that "understanding others is a huge part of my career," and that networking has been a crucial component. The mother of a 20-month-old child, she often brings the child with her when traveling on business, which has encouraged other women she knows to bring up the subject of children and careers at their companies. "You have a choice to be a token or a beacon” on issues of importance to women, she said. “Choose to be a beacon."
Patel told the group that
in networking, "Numbers do matter." The more people you get to know, particularly outside
your social circle, the better you will be wired in to what is happening, she said. Patel
also urged women to get to know people you can trust, and to help others develop their own
networks.
Smith, who has worked for Resurgent Capital Services for nine years and is one of three female executives (out of 19) there, encouraged women to broaden their skills internally in their firms and to "toot [their] own horn" about their accomplishments. Men aren’t shy about doing this, Smith said, and women shouldn’t be, either.
Since much networking is done outside of business hours, how can women with young children and
other family responsibilities deal with this, a questioner in the audience asked? Panelists
suggested bringing up the issue at the corporate level if too much networking is done outside of
office hours and if this poses a problem for them. They also suggested scheduling as many
business breakfasts and lunches as possible during the regular working day, and making productive
use of e-mail at all hours.
Jan Collins
December 2007