004 - Career Capital | Women's History Month
So, what is Career Capital?
Career capital can be regarded as the valuable assets you collect throughout your career, like the points you collect in a video game. The more points you collect, the more control, chances of success, and opportunities you have.
I came across this concept from Cal Newport’s book “So Good they can't Ignore You." And it has changed how I approach my career.
6 Key Areas of Career Capital
When people give the career advice of "invest in yourself", it means investing in one or more areas of career capital.
1. 👨🏼 Personal Brand - how you present yourself to the world
2. 🏫 Knowledge - education, training, or industry-specific knowledge
3. 🥼Professional Experiences - previous jobs and projects in your field
4. 🛠 Skills - technical skills like programming or soft skills like communication
5. 🤝🏼Network - people who can provide support, advice, and opportunities for career growth
6. 💵Financial Resources - monetary resources can allow you to pursue new opportunities or weather tough times.
Over the past few years, I've invested consistently in my knowledge, experience, skills, network, and financial resources but have neglected personal branding. I'm now focusing on balancing things out.
My current focus is my Personal Brand.
For starters, this newsletter and my personal website are a form of investment in that area.
I've also become more active on LinkedIn and Twitter since February 2023.
It's hard to create content, but I've been able to systemize it after a couple of iterations to see what works and what doesn't.
So far, it has given me positive results like podcast guesting and job opportunities.
Women's History Month! 🎉
A bit late to the celebration, but I wanted to share some incredible women's programs and communities that help women achieve great things in tech!
A non-profit coding school for women which also partners with companies to offer paid internships.
BreakLine provides education and coaching for exceptional, women, people of color, people with disabilities, and veterans who are interested in accelerating into the next phase of their careers. Our education is designed to help you successfully land your next role and build your professional network.
A non-profit that build pathways for young women of color to embrace the current tech marketplace as builders and creators by introducing them to skills in computer programming and technology.
Coding Black Females was created in 2017 and is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide opportunities for Black female developers to develop themselves, meet familiar faces, network, receive support and build relationships through having regular meetups.
"Girls Can Hack" is a movement that aims to encourage and empower young women to pursue careers in cybersecurity. The movement seeks to address the gender gap in cybersecurity by promoting awareness of the field among young women and providing them with the skills and resources needed to succeed in the industry.
Girls Who Code is on a mission to close the gender gap in technology and to change the image of what a programmer looks like and does.
GDI’s mission is to create welcoming, supportive opportunities for women and non-binary adults to learn software development skills. They believe in a world where all people are included and empowered in developing the future of technology. Through classes, projects, and events, GDI students develop code, confidence, and community.
Girls in Tech works to erase the gender gap in tech. Today, every industry is a tech industry, with a need for people of all skills and backgrounds. Girls in Tech offer education and experiences to help people discover their unique superpower and hone it. We aim to see every woman accepted, confident, and valued in tech—just as they are.
Latinas in Tech is a non-profit organization with the aim to connect, support, and empower Latina women working in tech. They work hand in hand with top technology companies to create safe spaces for learning, mentorship and recruitment.
Women in Tech® is the world’s leading organization that fosters Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in STEAM. They promote girls’ and women’s empowerment around the world, with a focus on four main pillars - Education, Business, Digital Inclusion and Advocacy.
Women Who Code envision a world where women are proportionally represented as technical leaders, executives, founders, VCs, board members, and software engineers. They provide coding resources, job boards and a global community with over 2,000 events annually.
WIGI's mission is to cultivate resources to advance economic equality and diversity in the global games industry. They achieve this through knowledge sharing, access to technology, professional development workshops, and mentorship programs; WIGI works to normalize women, femme-identifying, and nonbinary professionals in the gaming industry by eliminating barriers and increasing access and opportunities for all.