We would like to pass on our thanks to all who attended “getting your worth, know your value” which was co-hosted with Hive Colab on Friday 29th June 2012. This was our fourth event of the year and was extremely successful! Special thanks go to Hive Colab for kindly hosting the event with us. Our keynote speakers, Juanita Ntambi Billing officer at ORANGE Uganda and Barbara Birungi Managing director of HIVE COLAB and our Q&A panelists: Komuhimbo Sandra from UWONET, Faith Kyateka from HCP, Topista A. Mpora from UNBS and Sarah Ruhukya from CDC.

Many women find themselves failing to get the salary raise they so deserve or the new job appointment they have been working towards achieving simply because they do not believe that they will get it or that they have the right to ask for it. The reason is because they do not know their value and do not know how to ask for it, they are easily intimidated into thinking they are bothering the organization or management by asking, therefore end up letting many opportunities pass them by. If one has worked hard and has the Qualifications and know how of a job why not ask for it? Or if you valuably contribute to the organization and believe you deserve a rise why not ask for it? We discussed and determined that some of the mistakes women make and reasons they fail to ask are:

• Our greatest enemy is ourselves

– Words and actions undermine our goals

– We feel grateful to having been given the opportunity

– We find it hard to advocate for ourselves especially when it comes to money

• You deserve the money

– We are fantastic at telling other people how valuable they are but horrible to do it for ourselves

– Difference between how a man asks for a raise and how women do it

– Lack of confidence that you can actually get it

– The feel sorry for me attitude

– Not knowing the right buttons to press when asking

– Not stating the value you add and why you deserve it in relevance to the organization instead of personal relevance

We discussed how to deal with these issues and solutions below;

• Be fearless
• Know your value and its up to you to get your employer to value you
• Come up with a plan – do not wait for your company to recognize your worth
• Ask in a confident, straight forward way and be ready to walk
• Learn a skill in demand, one that is important to your company
• Give credibility where it is deserved and if it is you, applause yourself Be specific in applause
• Keep going where you face the greatest resistance
• Read up
• Ask yourself how you can improve situation and do not succumb to your past mistakes (Failure is when you succumb to your past mistakes)
• Your friendships matter a lot the people you keep around you matter in your future
• What is your current status? Have friends that matter and have your best interests at heart. People influence each other without noticing each other
• Take time off every week to market yourself, get published, talk about what your have been up to whether at meetings, conferences, workshops. Grow your network meet new people you never know who you are sitting next to at a meeting or networking event. Take your business cards with you, never allow to be caught in a situation where you say’ “sorry I run out of cards” always be prepared
• Show genuine interest in people, listen when they speak and reflect later on.
• Decide what you want to be known for and work towards being exactly that. Be that lady every one knows can do “this” or that”
• LEARN and KEEP LEARNING
• The only person responsible for your career is you!
• Do not dwell on mistakes, Take time to think of where you are, where you are going and how you are going to get there, then do what you need to do to get there!
• Failure is not as bad as we think, its part of learning, helps you wake up so do not beat yourself up so much when you fail, pick yourself up, dust failure off and keep moving and improving

When looking for a job, what Competences and Ideal decision making skills do you need? We listed some of them;

Be fruitful and know how to present yourself

Show your achievements in your application and resumes, do not copy and paste other people’s Cv’s, be ready to defend your skill stated in your CV.

When you are not sure of your competence of a skill required at the new job, show enthusiasm to learn and that you are a fast learner. Do not be rigid.

Show confidence when speaking to the panel or interviewer.

Do not assume they know about you from your CV, talk about yourself and say the best there is about you.

Market yourself to yourself; if it were you interviewing someone presenting him or herself like you are, would you employ them? Branding yourself - know yourself

Talk about your accomplishments, the things you did as an individual

Taking up opportunities that may not seem pleasant at the moment, a job transfer up country may seem like a bad idea but in the Long run contribute to a new job you are applying for that requires one to have worked up country.

Know your profile and Market your skills,

Attitude is everything

Confidence in yourself and what you know you can do

Have a big dream and always expand your boundaries

Grow your network!

Enjoy your week ladies as we prepare for more at our July Meet on the 20^th Of JULY which will be at HIVE COLAB.

Related articles

• WITU June Meet up: Getting what you are worth, know your value ! (witug.wordpress.com)