By Emily January Petersen
Large crowds can be intimidating, and technical and professional communicators often describe themselves as introverts. Many of these practitioners are likely female, but they may also be surrounded by male coworkers in male-dominated organizations, making them a minority among their peers. Sam Dragga noted that “women’s dominance of the field … is neither representative nor indicative of business and technical occupations. The segregation that has traditionally limited women’s access to business and technical disciplines, while diminishing, still prevails.” The results of such “feminization” typically see males concentrated in the highest status positions and earning more pay than their female counterparts, according to Pamela J. Creedon.
Of the 39 women I have interviewed about their workplace experiences with the feminization of the field in mind, most of them know that networking is important and a way of addressing possible power imbalances within the workplace. However, few of them enjoy networking, and many of them admitted to not networking much because “I’m not good at it” or because they are not in need of new employment. Helen admitted, “I went to the [conference’s] cocktail party and left because it was too crowded for my taste. I just I couldn’t move, you know. I couldn’t find a place to sit, and I was just like get me out of here so I went back to my hotel room and watched Netflix on my computer.” Kim shared, “I’m a very introverted person, so my basic inclination under most circumstances is to go home and shut down.” She joked, “How do you know when you are talking to an extroverted technical writer? She’s looking at your shoes.”
While networking may be hard for those inclined to this profession and for women in general, we know that it is vital to career success for many reasons. The women I interviewed had innovative suggestions for building networks and cited reasons for doing so other than a need for new employment. This article presents, according to these women, why networking is important and which techniques work best for making the most of networking.
Reasons for Networking
Networking is important for many reasons, but as scholar Jia Wang suggests, “women do not have equal access to social capital because they are often excluded from the social networks most important for power acquisition and career success.” Knowing who is in power and connecting one’s self to those people allows women the ability to join and have access to networks of power. The number one reason women cited for networking is to get a different or better job, and social capital certainly helps in this situation. If you are well connected, you have a better chance of hearing about job openings and of getting references within targeted companies. Kim said, “there was a period of about 10 years when I could truthfully say that every job that I had gotten was in one way or another because of STC networking and being visible in the community.”
However, networking is additionally beneficial because of its potential for making us aware of best practices and knowledge in the field. Emma noted, “Nobody needs to figure these things out for themselves…. [R]each out to a few other writers … [when you’re] stuck.” Sharing knowledge with each other, and therefore mentoring and guiding each other through the different phases of our careers, is another pertinent reason for creating a network.
Best Practices for Networking
So what are the best practices for networking, especially for women? According to the women I interviewed, they cited volunteering, socializing, online social networking, making in-house connections, and being brave and creative.
Volunteer
One woman noted that while she’s been actively involved in networking through STC, she has found that the volunteer opportunities through that organization are most important for her network and for her ability to recommend others. Katrina stated, “There are a couple people who are looking for a job. One is about to graduate, and I’ve worked with her on the [STC] conference and I would totally be a reference for her, because I’ve really seen what she can do as a worker based on her volunteer work…. I feel like that’s the best way to network.” Volunteering does what most of the women suggested: build relationships. Anna said, “I try to do more relationship building than just collecting names.” Networking relationships become more meaningful when you have worked with a person on a project and you get to know them well.
Brenda’s work in technical communication involves advocacy, so she volunteered for legislators in order to become friends with them. She said, “Anytime I have an opportunity to do that I usually try to take it. I like getting to know people, and I’m not actually particularly fond of small talk, so my objective is always to get past that point of small talk and then have an opportunity to ask people to lunch or go meet them at their office.”
Socialize
While volunteering might not be feasible for you, socializing should be. Anna, in her quest to build relationships with her network, suggested talking to people wherever you go and meeting up with people, for coffee or lunch. She excitedly talked about meeting another technical writer: “We’d connected through [a] mutual acquaintance and he just wanted to know what my thoughts were on technical communication in general in the industry, and we talked for 30 minutes and it was cool because … we had such a great conversation.” She extends this friendliness to any connection, whether online through social media or email or face-to-face at a conference. “I always try to answer them because you never know when somebody is going to be an asset to you later as well as me being a benefit to them.”
Online social networking is another form of socializing, one that introverted practitioners may find more accessible. Kim mentioned, “I’m sort of loosely in touch with a ton of people through Twitter. I don’t know what proportion of my Twitter friends are in technical communication. I’m going to guess it’s about a third, so that’s probably three or four hundred people.” This virtual meeting place gives women the opportunity to support each other and know each other without the expense of travel. Anna said, “I really love meeting people on Twitter or online or something and then actually getting to meet them in person at a conference. It’s so cool. You feel like you already know the person.” This was important to her because of her responsibilities as a mother, meaning that she doesn’t often have time to meet people in person at networking events. Twitter and other social media outlets bridge that gap of time and geography.
In addition, social media networks often include private groups, meaning that women can create their own organizational space for sharing ideas and best practices with each other. Renee called it “weak networking;” however, studies of online communities, such as May Friedman’s, have shown there are numerous benefits to participants and that these virtual communities are important for women, especially mothers, whose time and ability to travel may be limited. Online networking can also soften the awkwardness of self-promotion, which is an uncomfortable part of joining any community or landing a new job. For those who may feel uncomfortable making face-to-face connections, online social networking with career goals in mind can alleviate that stress and produce the same results in terms of people met and connections made. In fact, such networking can make connections more meaningful and lasting, especially if your interaction with the online groups occurs daily and you get to know one another over time, rather than over one conversation.
Besides virtual communities, we can seek out and be aware of work-related communities within our geographic areas. STC often has local chapters, but Elizabeth noted finding a user design scene in her area, where she attends happy hour. Milly suggested looking at Meetup.com, on which she found many groups that applied to her work, including one for women in start-up. Caroline also mentioned finding and attending meet-ups, where she has found some women in technology groups that interest her. Lily noted being a member of an information development meet-up group in her area. “We meet and actually have presentations. I’m actually giving the presentation next week about content development.” Not only is she gaining new knowledge from attendance, but she has a chance to improve her presentation skills through this opportunity. Networking in groups like these can become professional development opportunities.
Connect
Finding connections within a company, especially larger corporations, may be the single most important networking a technical communicator can engage in. While large companies often employ many technical and professional communicators, they do not necessarily work together. They often find themselves on different teams, in different cities or states, or even in different countries. Technical communicators are often the lone writer on their teams, and reaching out to others within your company is a productive way of building a network that allows you to speak about proprietary information and construct best practices.
Carmen took the initiative to do this at her company. She said, “If I knew that there were other tech writers or similar in the company … I would just start looking through company personnel directories or searching for job titles that said anything like technical writer, communicator, document specialist, or something similar to kind of find out where everybody else was. I wanted to know where my peers were and build a little mini-network within the same company so I would have other resources, like somebody I could reach out to and ask a question.” She made this more formal by asking the IT department to create an email distribution list for the people she connected with, and they would share ideas and information with each other. This is especially helpful to the three people her company employs in Canada, who are spread out over 500 miles from each other. She instructed these coworkers, “If you don’t have somebody down the hall that you can go and ask questions, you can send this to our distribution list and send it to like 30 technical writers in the company at the same time.” She found that people appreciated her creation of this network, and that this act is especially helpful when beginning a new job.
Emma engaged in a similar project. She reached out to the other writers in the global company she works for and expanded it into a best practices group. “We have meetings and we have a monthly newsletter we’ve produced and … we reach out because [no matter which division you work for], the technical writing challenges are so similar. We’ve all been able to vent or share tips, and when we have successes we get them out there to hundreds of other writers.” Her efforts to network within her company have led to a formalization of the group and ways for the writers in the company to learn from each other.
Melissa, an active participant in an employee networking group, said, “I have quite a bit of fun at work. I do all those networking groups, and it’s really pretty good because I get to meet people from all different parts of the business and at different levels, and they’re interesting. If I didn’t do the networking groups I would never know them.” Not only should we find connections with other technical communicators in our companies, but we also can make interdisciplinary connections and strengthen relationships with subject matter experts and other employees relevant to our work.
Mabel’s women’s group at her company has the goal to visit high schools and middle schools and encourage girls interested in STEM. This networking is a cross between getting to know people within your corporation and using combined knowledge to volunteer within the community. A vital part of networking is being willing to mentor or help those you might come in contact with, especially younger students or practitioners.
Be Brave and Creative
The best advice I ever got was “Be brave!” The women who have learned to network more effectively than they have in the past suggested the same thing. Dina recounted advice from a professor, who said “Don’t take no for an answer” and “What’s going to happen if she says no? Is she going to burn down your house? Is she going to kill your cat? Or is she just going to say no and you’re going to move on?” Dina found that reminding herself of this helped her to be more comfortable approaching people and asking for help through networking.
Networking does not always have to be about work. Melinda started a weekend tennis team, noting that her life as a busy soccer mom and full-time employee made it necessary for her to find an outlet. She said, “There were no opportunities for working women to play tennis, which is crazy! It was only for women who are home all day, so I knew there were other people out there—other working women that wanted to play tennis—so I worked on it for a couple of years, and I was able to get a team together last year. We won our league and went to districts.” She found friendship and satisfaction by starting this league and likely made many meaningful connections with other working women.
Conclusion
Networking can be a daunting task for technical and professional communicators, yet it is vital for women to connect with and support each other in their career goals. It is also necessary for women to connect with men. While the women I interviewed often avoided and disliked networking, their suggestions for making meaningful connections can help to alleviate that anxiety and foster ways for all personalities to find what works for them. Networking can and should be enjoyable, beneficial, and ultimately fun.
Note: All interviews were conducted between January and May of 2015. All names used are pseudonyms.
Emily January Petersen is a PhD candidate in the Department of English at Utah State University in the theory and practice of professional communication. Her research focuses on professional identities from a feminist perspective, examining how women act as professional communicators through social media and historically, in public spheres and in the workplace of the home. Before academia, she worked as an associate editor for a worldwide nonprofit corporation’s security department.
Bibliography
Creedon, Pamela J. 1991. “Public Relations and ‘Women’s Work’: Toward a Feminist Analysis of Public Relations Roles.” Journal of Public Relations Research 3.1–4: 67–84.
Dragga, Sam. 1993. “Women and the Profession of Technical Writing: Social and Economic Influences and Implications.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 7.3: 312–321, esp. 315.
Friedman, May. 2013. Mommyblogs and the Changing Face of Motherhood. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Wang, Jia. 2009. “Networking in the Workplace: Implications for Women’s Career Development.” New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 122: 33–42, esp. 33.
