4) Mentoring
Just about every woman who has ever been interviewed for Computing emphasises the importance of mentoring - both from the perspective of the mentee and and the mentor.
Mentors can really make a difference to professional development by helping you to develop and polish communication and leadership skills and helping you define goals and strategies. Ideally, women should have multiple mentors at different levels within a company and also as part of your professional network. Mentors from different companies and industries can offer fresh perspectives.
Mentors can often turn into sponsors which is another crucial component of progression to leadership. Who's putting your name forward in meetings when you aren't in the room?
One of the highlights of Women in Tech Festival 2022 was the opportunity to book a mentoring session, and we're running the same programme this year. Don't miss out on a chance to spend time talking over your challenges with a female leader who is likely to be able to offer some new ideas and valuable advice and meet other women who could be mentors of the future.
Maybe you can act as a source of advice to younger women at the Festival? Even if you're only a couple of years into your career, you'll still have advice that can be useful for someone starting out.