How to Find the Women Who Will Hold You Up

When discussing any movement in your career, one of the key elements needed are people (correction women), to surround you. More specifically, the women that will help bring forth opportunity. Being a female college student, it is difficult to secure valuable experiences. Many internships require sophomores to have acquired five years of prior experience for an internship. This logic makes zero sense. For anyone to have that amount of experience, one would have had to be in high school and have known exactly what she wanted to do with her life in order to land this or any internship.

This is an unreasonable and unobtainable requirement. But forget about the uncontrollable factors, because you can help yourself with one word: networking. Networking has been the biggest factor for women in the communications industry. It can take you from being stuck on the first floor of an elevator, knowing no one in your field, to the penthouse floor of the elevator among mentors who encourage you to progress to the next step you did not know you could have achieved on your own. Mentors are amazing when you build a relationship and are able to seek guidance in the industry. There are essential steps in order to find these women that will hold you up.

Do your research!

Before you engage in any kind of conversation, it is important to be yourself! Do your research to find pertinent information about the person you would like to connect within order to have thoughtful and interesting communications. Research what articles they have written or what projects they have worked on. It comes off intelligent as well as demonstrating that you are serious about your field!

Be Professional!

When you first meet someone you should present yourself with a clean polished image that is on point. That means hair, makeup, clothes, and most importantly attitude. Attitude is key to becoming a successful professional woman. When asked about past internships, always identify the positive silver lining of the experience. You did not have a great experience at an internship? That’s ok! Identify what you have learned and also what you want to learn. Part of being professional is identifying where you have come and where you can go! Others like when someone has goals for their future and wants to be a part of that growth.

Get their contact, keep in contact!

You already worked hard to get the contact, why would you let it slip out of your hands that easily? Whether you have their LinkedIn, phone number, or email; talk to them once a week. Update them on what you’re doing and ask for advice every once in awhile so the conversation can turn from updates into a natural mentorship relationship. It has to be an organic relationship, not something that is forced.

Don’t be afraid to ask!

You worked hard to keep this connection and kindle a mentorship, but ask respectfully and kindly for a leg-up. Being a part of a network of women is about holding each other up. By asking after keeping contact, it demonstrates you want that growth, but you’re not trying to climb the ladder. The point is to experience and learn from different opportunities not step on others to get there.

Being a woman who holds others up is important but also finding that group of women is even more critical. By networking with women who have these similar values, it begins to become a network of women who look out for each other and opens opportunities for all women. For the women that want to hold you up, they want to hear you out. They realize you are personally not at the seniority level they are, but guess what you may as well be on the top one day and eventually your contact can be valuable. Not at the moment in time that you’re looking for an internship, but the fact is people remember people who do not help them, but people most positively never forget the names that helped them achieve their goals. Be a woman that holds others up because we need more strong, helpful women.