Career Advice Bingo

Women have a great history of forging rewarding and impactful careers that have made a difference to the world around us. But there’s just not enough of us who’ve achieved the level of success we’re capable of. The reason for this is simple…conventional career wisdom disadvantages women.

Right now there’s increasing visibility of the challenges facing women in the workplace. There’s open discussion about gender equity, work/life balance, paid vs. unpaid work and other issues that are typically considered to stand in the way of women’s careers. 

And it’s really great that there’s a recognition of the systemic issues that women face when it comes to work. But the unfortunate truth is, there’s a lack of genuine ways to successfully address them. 

I’m all for the things workplaces typically implement, like:

• Diversity and Inclusion programs

• Workplace behaviour programs

• Flexible work policies

But these things alone aren’t enough and they take a long time to reap results - that’s why after decades of effort, we’re still having so many of the same conversations. 

This means any genuine systemic change that gets us to the point of true gender equity, equal pay and working environments that actually meet womens’ needs, is a while away. 

So while we’re working towards change to deliver the outcomes we need collectively, we still have to take individual action to achieve the careers we want personally.

This means we need to know what will help us do this in the most effective way; which requires us to first acknowledge what doesn’t work. 

So let’s play ‘Career Advice Bingo’! Whenever you’ve been seeking career advice, how many times have you’ve read or been told the following?

These are just a few of the conventional pieces of career advice you will most likely (have) come across during your career. There are so many others I could’ve used to the same effect, because all conventional advice typically upholds the following problems:

• Numbers 1 - 4 are typical of those based on a male perspective and experience of work.
  While there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with it, the truth is advice based on a male experience of career progress may work for some women, but it’s much more likely to work for men. 

• Numbers 5-8 are typical of those aimed specifically at women.
  They’re an easy way to pass responsibility off to individual women and ignore the reality of the challenges faced by the vast majority of women in the workforce. 

• ALL of them ignore the fundamental truth - that work is only one part of, and needs to be seen in the context of, our lives. This ignorance lies behind the failure of achieving work-life balance.

So, these types of advice are those that hold us back from achieving our success. Will we continue to follow them and reap the same results?

Or will we turn our backs on what disadvantages us so badly and instead each forge our own path to a most fulfilling and impactful career?

If you want to turn from the conventional advice and instead follow a new career wisdom specifically suited for women, then you can find a guide here to help you. 

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