Career guides often talk in terms of mentorship, or some kind of ongoing professional relationship. But, as this book excerpt demonstrates, sometimes it’s informal support or a personal challenge that changes your career path.

It’s common knowledge that the technical world is male-dominated. From the cultural belief that computer science is a “subject for boys,” to the assumptions and discrimination women experience in the field, it can be challenging for women at every stage of their careers to thrive in tech. Nevertheless, many high-performing women persist and succeed as leaders despite the gender biases pitted against them. Pratima Rao Gluckman—a female leader in tech herself—embarked on a project to collect stories of the leadership journeys of such women.

These stories and more inspired Gluckman to write "Nevertheless, She Persisted: True Stories of Women Leaders in Tech" (Friesen Press, 2018), for which she interviewed 19 female executives about their encounters with bias, their influences and inspirations, and their strategies for success. We publish this excerpt with her permission.

. . .

Before I started this book, I had never heard of the concept of “career intervention.” Career interventions are used to enhance a person’s career and to help them make sound decisions about the best next step. There are many types of career interventions, some of which fall under the category of career counseling. They can range from one-on-one sessions with a trained psychologist to assessment tests.

Not surprisingly, there isn’t any one agreed upon definition as to just what a career intervention is. But most of the definitions describe it as some type of formal career guidance provided by professionals. Yet all of the stories about career interventions discussed in this book came from informal sources. It was parents, professors, mentors, and sponsors, saying the right words at the right time, that made the difference.

While I would have thought that all job growth came from career advice professionals, that was not the case. Unfortunately, most people, both men and women, do not use professional career guidance services. A recent poll indicated that only 24% of randomly chosen respondents reported ever using the services of a trained career counselor.

Fortunately, as shown in the stories shared in this book, informal and sometimes unexpected sources can be very effective sources for career advancement. For instance, in Telle Whitney’s case (Chapter 1), the decisive impetus came from her stepmom, who recommended that Telle take an inventory test. “Because the suggestion came from my stepmother, it was the last thing on earth I wanted to do, but I had run out of options, so I did it.” For Orna Berry (Chapter 17), it was a professor telling her, “I won’t tell you you’re smart, but I will tell you that people who are more stupid than you have PhDs.” That single comment inspired her to work toward her doctorate, which then propelled her into an amazing career.

Perhaps we need another way of looking at what a career intervention can be. From my point of view, an informal career intervention is when someone offers an outside perspective that encourages an individual to see new possibilities for their career. This kind of input implies that you have confidence in the person to whom you are giving advice. When you suggest to someone that they aim high for a promotion or a new degree, you are implicitly letting them know that you believe that they are capable of more than they may realize. Sometimes that outside validation is all it takes.

While I was writing this book, I had an experience that proved to me how simple it can be to offer an intervention and how profound the results can be. One day, I was chatting with a very talented and hard-working woman engineer who had once reported to me and was now working under a different manager. I asked her why she hadn’t been promoted yet. She answered, “I don’t know.” I asked her if she had discussed the possibility of being promoted with her manager. Her reply was, “I didn’t know I could. I think he should promote me if he thinks I am good.” I suggested to her that she ask for a promotion directly.

A couple of months later, while I was looking through the organization’s database, I happened to notice that she had received a promotion. I sent a text congratulating her. She said, “Thanks, Pratima. It’s all thanks to you for telling me to push for the promotion.” She had already done all the hard work to prove herself, but she hadn’t realized she needed to communicate with her manager. I told her what I thought her next best step would be. The reason it worked for her was because she is a great software engineer. She had done the hard work and proven herself, but she had to nudge her manager to do the right thing. Sometimes you need to do that. Offering the advice to her was easy, and it was great to see that it got results.

Jocelyn Goldfein, one of the female tech executives I interviewed, offered some sage advice on interventions and women’s careers. She said that at whatever point you choose to intervene, it has the potential to help a woman’s career. “You can intervene at any stage and have a positive impact downstream of that stage, and even upstream if it inspires younger girls with possibilities.”

I offer two takeaways on this concept of career intervention. First, it would appear we need to make more use of the career professionals who can help guide us on our journey. Second, parents, professors, mentors, sponsors, and colleagues have a greater ability than they realize to provide the advice that can make a huge difference in a woman’s career. We should all take advantage of that knowledge and help one another make our career aspirations come true.

The State of Hiring: Learn how 101 IT execs find staff for critical positions and cajole in-demand tech specialists to accept their job offers Download the free report now

Your takeaways