The best way to land your next role in Security…

This post has been written by Claire Fulford an active supporter of diversity and the AWSN.

An old friend recently remarked that I always know what I am going to do next, what my next job will be and how I am going to get it.  Apart from my recent decision to start my own business (call me if you need a coach!), I felt like I had mostly just been in the right place at the right time.  When I reflected more closely on his comment, in reality, opportunities come to me because I network.  Alot. Mostly because I enjoy meeting people and hearing their story, both of us not realising the value of our connection until later. 

Without networking, I would not have known about any of the jobs I have held since leaving university (and I wouldn’t have some of my great friends either!).  Every one of my jobs has been suggested to me through people I have known or those I have made it my business to know.  So many people out there hate networking and do everything in their power to slip out sidedoors or check email to avoid the coffee break at conferences and corporate retreats. 

The old adage…’its not what you know its who you know’ only became an old adage thanks to networking.   There are people whose life purpose is to bring others together.  Malcom Gladwell called them Connectors in his book “The Tipping Point”. They are "a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack [... for] making friends and acquaintances" thanks to "…something intrinsic to their personality, some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability, and energy".  We are certainly not all connectors…but we all need one now and then and the only way to find them is through networking.

I implore you next time you get the opportunity, make the effort to network. Accept an invite to lunch, hang around the sandwiches (not in a creepy way) at the next conference you’re at and strike up a conversation over egg & lettuce or find the person in your organisation who you can help and ask them out for coffee.  If all of this seems a bit daunting…try to prepare in advance.  Consider a topic to discuss with others and decide on your purpose for networking at that event…are you looking to meet new clients or understand more about industry challenges you might be able to solve. You never know who you might meet (it could be me!).  

What are some of your networking success stories?


Claire Fulford is an accomplished security professional. She recently started her own business after seeing the need to consult and guide organisation's on their security professional team needs.

 This post has been written by Claire Fulford & coded by Mandy Turner on behalf of AWSN. 

(c) AWSN 2016

A Father's Love

This post has been written by Michelle Weatherhead 

I wrote this in memory of my loving father who I suddenly lost 16 years ago.  His death has changed me forever, but his love, encouragement and belief in my career success continues on.  

“connect, support, collaborate and inspire”

This is what it’s all about.

RIP Dad 

A few weeks ago one of my colleagues came into work excitedly telling me how his 8-year-old daughter had just been on an app coding course.

In his words…

My daughter had an absolute ball and was very excited to show me the game she made and is planning her next games. More than that she was able to bring home a good understanding of what she’d learnt and actually completed the whole course again when she got home… It’s brought out her experimental side which I love, trying new things just to see what happens.

How wonderful to see this father supporting and encouraging his daughter to programme.

This got me thinking about my career and what forces were at play around my decisions to pursue and maintain a career in “IT”.  There are many factors at play - I have worked hard, been in the right place at the right time and had wonderful managers and mentors.  But without question I point my career success to my parent influence.  My mother was a microbiologist and father an IT strategist for New Zealand Government.  Without question I was guided, and expected to study STEM at high school and university.

Laying the foundations in pointing me towards STEM studies was key, but I think more importantly my father lay the social foundations for entering a world of business in the IT sector.  Once I entered university my father encouraged me to meet with him and his work colleagues for a monthly after work “networking session”… code: “beer” at the local Wellington institution “Backbencher pub”.  It was here I learnt to interact with senior exec’s and the importance of connections and networking.  Learning to build and maintain win-win business relationships is critical to career success.

Quick detour to a diversity panel recently held by AISA and CBA in Sydney.  The inspirational key note panellist from CBA shared her story and perspectives.  In particular, a study about the impact of gender bias, marketing and in my mind – the impact parental choice has on children’s subsequent careers.  There are some fascinating statistics that demonstrate a correlation between children computer game marketing and female participation in the computer science domain.  To hear more about this please access the recording available from this link.

The impact of parental influence is something that I think about and action daily with my two beautiful children Olivia and Charlie.

Best wishes,

Michelle

 This post has been created by A Turner for Michelle Weatherhead on behalf of AWSN. 

(c) AWSN 2016

What Motivates you to volunteer?

[This post appeared on Linkedin on 18 October 2016]

A post by Mandy Turner, an Australian Public Servant, fulltime student, volunteer at a variety of associations, and advocate of diversity and inclusion.

Do you volunteer your time, skills, and resources to assist others either in an informal ad hoc way or via a more formalised group or association? Have you stopped to think what motivates you to do so? I volunteer in both informal ad hoc capacities as well as in a more formal framework in associations. I have reflected on why I volunteer and found I do so for several reasons. As part of my reflection I decided to read research journal articles to find out more about volunteering motivators.

According to an article, written over 38 years ago, people volunteer for a psychological pay off. The person expects to receive something in return for contributing as a volunteer (Anderson and Moore, 1978). They may for example expect to develop skills, meet new people, obtain a career advantage, or to feel a sense of self-worth as they have done something to help others.  

Cary and Snyder (1999) found six main functions served by volunteering which equate with the findings of Anderson and Moore (1978). The six functions were listed as values, understanding, enhancement, career, social and protective. A person may volunteer because they feel it is important to help others or to participate in their community. Some volunteers may be motivated to understand more about their community or learn through hands-on experience. Others may volunteer as they feel the work will develop or enhance them as a person and help them to feel better about themselves.  Some people may volunteer as it they feel it will assist them to gain the career or promotion they desire. People may volunteer for social reasons, they may wish to network with people who share common goals or gain new friends. Lastly people may volunteer to help protect themselves by reducing their own negative feelings or to have temporary escape from their own problems (Cary and Snyder, 1999).

More recent research groups these motivations into two main areas, whereby people volunteer because of a symbolic sociological reason and/or a functional psychological reason (Wilson, 2000). A sociologic motivation may inspire people with strong values and beliefs to give their time and resources free to assist others, whereas a functional psychological motivation relates to a person’s psychological needs being met by volunteering.

A study by Thoits and Hewitt (2001) found that volunteering contributes to improved well-being including better self-esteem, psychological health, and happiness. Given the assertions of Anderson and Moore (1978) that people volunteer for a psychological pay off are these factors discussed by Thoits and Hewitt (2001) also motivators to volunteer or are they serendipitous byproducts of volunteering and not part of the initiating motivators?

I volunteer in a variety of areas in an informal manner and also in more formalised positions. I volunteer in areas that I firmly believe in; in associations and for causes that I feel give value to the community. I am motivated by a desire to give back to the community, to use my skills, to meet with like-minded people, and to have fun in doing so! The serendipitous byproduct of volunteering for me is that I have met people who have become friends, I have developed as a person, improved my by default low self esteem and learned new skills. I also have had some amazing opportunities because of being a volunteer that I would not normally have had.

Do your motivations for volunteering equate to any or all of these? Do you have different views on what motivates you to volunteer? What are your experiences with volunteering?

References

Anderson, J. C., & Moore, L. F. (1978). The motivation to volunteer.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 7(3), 120-129.

Clary, E. G., & Snyder, M. (1999). The motivations to volunteer theoretical and practical considerations. Current directions in psychological science,8(5), 156-159.

Thoits, P. A., & Hewitt, L. N. (2001). Volunteer work and well-being. Journal of health and social behavior, 115-131.

Wilson, J. (2000). Volunteering. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 215-40.

 This post has been created by Amanda-Jane Turner on behalf of AWSN. 

(c) AWSN 2016

The AWSN pathways programme.

Pathways Programme

Introducing an initiative by the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN) to support young women seeking a career in the security sector, the AWSN pathways programme.

The AWSN PATHWAYS PROGRAMMEis a professional development dual programme designed to prepare a select group of young women for a career in the security sector.  The AWSN aims to build a talent pool of high school and university graduates to fill, forge and create existing and new security sector workforce requirements.  The Pathways Programme will provide opportunities to partner with industry and other business environments to provide students and graduates with broad exposure to a variety of roles, and relevant training and development in preparation for a career in various fields which require security specialists with appropriate skill sets.  Admission to the programme will also enable participants to develop networks across the sector in addition.

This provides an amazing opportunity for students and graduates to be exposed to a broad variety of interesting roles, training and preparation for a career in various fields requiring security specialists.

Admission selection for the first programme to be run in 2017 will begin on December 2016. Please register your interest by liking our page 'Awsn cadets'

 This post has been created by A Turner on behalf of AWSN. 

(c) AWSN 2016