In all honesty, even as a recruiter, I hesitated when my company was asked to participate in a virtual job fair. How on earth is that going to work?! Is it worth my company’s time? If we cannot see the person and receive their resume on the spot, why bother? Boy was I wrong! Above all, the more structured format of a virtual job fair equalizes the playing field for the job seeker. It removes barriers. You can network in the comfort of your own home instead of navigating the Beltway at rush hour and scrambling to find inexpensive parking. There are fewer crazy, long lines at popular companies ..read more

Two-thirds of workers aged 45 to 74 say they have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, according to an AARP study.  So it’s no surprise that older workers—even professionals with stellar careers and credentials—often find it harder than their younger counterparts to find a new job, especially after becoming unemployed. Strategies for overcoming ageism: Lead with your value proposition: Potential employers want to know if you can solve their problems; they are less interested in how many years of experience you have. Be able to talk about how you tackled challenges in p ..read more

Did you leave a technical career behind to care for family or take an alternative path for work/life balance? If you are ready to return or transition to a technical field, the timing could not be better. Despite the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic, the demand for talent in the technology sector continues to grow, and this is especially true in the DC metro area. Explore Northern Virginia Technology Council’s Tech Talent Initiative or Northern Virginia Community College’s Labor Market Research to learn more about in-demand jobs. No matter how you cut it, there are more opportuniti ..read more

John C. Maxwell said, “One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead, what others cannot see, and to help them navigate a course to their destination.” When I couldn’t see what was ahead of me, amazing mentors helped me see unconditionally and selflessly. Twenty years ago, I was an international student here in the U.S. and did not know how to navigate even the next step. If it were not for three women who helped during my foundational years, I would never be where I am today – a successful Operations and Engineering Senior Manager in a large corporation. My first mentor, a ..read more

Did you leave a STEM career behind to care for family or take an alternative path for work/life balance? If you are ready to return or transition to a technical field, the timing could not be better. Despite the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic, demand in STEM fields continues to grow, and this is especially true in the DC metro area. Explore Northern Virginia Technology Council’s Tech Talent Initiative or Northern Virginia Community College’s Labor Market Research to learn more about in-demand jobs. No matter how you cut it, there are more opportunities than ever for women returni ..read more

COVID-19 has forced employers and professional organizations to quickly pivot to conducting interviews and running networking events in a digital environment. Honestly, I doubt we will ever return completely back to “normal”. Instead, I see a future where job seekers and prospective employers regularly interact using both technology platforms and in-person exchanges. If you are waiting to start your job search until things settle back to normal, you are missing out on opportunities to connect and delaying the inevitable need to adjust to a new normal. Here are a few best practices to get you c ..read more

Easy Dynamics (ED) and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) are attending Women in Technology’s virtual career fair on Nov. 5— to give you a head start, we asked them what they look for in a candidate, what positions they’re hiring for, if they offer training and more.  What positions are you hiring for at the fair? ED:  Director of Cloud DevOps/Automation Engineer Security/Network Engineer Internship HPE: Solution Architect – Ezmeral Federal Solution Architect Enterprise Account Manager – Intelligence Agencies Master Software Architect for GreenLake Central Site Reliability Security Clo ..read more

Leading the Nation in Tech Hiring - This year Virginia had more tech job posting growth than California and New York according to a recent report by Dice.com, making it one of the few states in the nation to experience job growth despite a pandemic. All in all, the Capital Region expects to add more than 130,000 tech jobs in the next five years. Who is leading Virginia’s tech job growth according to the report?  Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Leidos - all headquartered in Northern Virginia, which brings us to our next point… Employers that Support Your Entire Career - One of the r ..read more

Everyone has a budget. Big, small, or in between, you have to work within those parameters. Research shows that B2B services companies, for example, spend an average of about 12% of their overall budget on marketing. It’s a wise commitment that can pay off big time.But are you getting the most out of your marketing spend? Here’s how you can start right now.ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS In a changing climate, it’s sometimes wise to step back and take a deeper look. Maybe you’ve always marketed in a certain way, and it’s worked well, but things are different today. That’s why the most import ..read more

The primary objective of the WIT. Connect program is to provide high-value networking and educational programs that bring women of metropolitan Washington’s diverse technology community together to expand their relationships and knowledge.Due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, WIT had to pivot to ensure we continued executing our two final WIT. Connect events of the year. COVID-19 provided WIT with an opportunity to expand our reach virtually outside of metropolitan Washington as well as to non-WIT members.The 2019 - 2020 WIT season saw a lot of challenges, accomplishments, and growth ..read more