Share your story as a woman in tech

How it works

We started launching positive stories of women in tech from 20th May 2019.

If you want to share your story (and we would love you to), here's all you need to do:

  1. Start telling your positive story. Use any format you like (blog, video etc). Publish your story either on your preferred platform if you have one or as a LinkedIn article. Include the #TechRoleModels in your post.
  2. Share your story to all your social media channels using the #TechRoleModels.
  3. Share it to @TechRoleModels on Twitter and the TechRoleModels LinkedIn group and we'll share to our network and beyond.

If you feel like doing a bit more, you could

  1. Share the stories of other women using #techrolemodels on your social media feeds
  2. Share the idea with press, your company, your networks and organisations that may be relevant and interested
  3. Share noteworthy news items about your personal achievements in business e.g. winning an award, speaking at a conference, a promotion or new job. Talk about these from a personal perspective that reinforces the positive role model goals. But please don’t use the hashtag to share promotional posts or pitches for your business.
  4. Connect with and talk to fellow contributors to build your personal network and create projects and activities that promote the purpose.
  5. Take your story to local networks, schools and colleges to encourage younger generations to consider a career in tech.

There are no more rules than these!

Be a tech role model

Be an ambassador

If you’d like to take a more proactive role, you can become an Ambassador. We welcome ambassadors of any gender. As well as sharing your story, that means:

  • Proactively and personally promote and encourage others in your network to share their stories
  • Actively look for opportunities to share the message through networking, press or events
  • Engage your company or other organisations to get involved at a corporate level

Should I share my story?

Yes please! We welcome all positive stories of working in tech:

  • Female working in any tech sector. You don’t need to work in a technical role – sales, marketing, HR, finance, operations…all functions are important and this is a key message to share.
  • You can be any age and at any stage in your career. We all have a story. You don’t need to have achieved stellar success or multiple awards. Just share what you’ve done so far, why you love what you do and what you want to achieve in the future. After all, a school leaver or graduate may relate much more to a role model who’s 2 or 5 years in to their career than someone who’s been around for decades
  • Whatever your gender, please share your story of what you value about your workplace and why working in a diverse gender environment is or has been positive for you. You may be a leader who has worked proactively to build diversity in your company or team. You may be an employee who has benefited from being in a diverse team or having a female manager or mentor. You may be an HR or L&D professional who has been involved in encouraging diversity in your organisation.  You may just think tech is a great place to be and want to encourage more people into it. We believe it's important to be inclusive and that we all have a story to tell.

 

 Ideas for telling your story

There are no ‘rules’ about how you choose to tell your story, except that it should be a positive overall message. Only the recipient can decide whether your story inspires them or they see you as a role model so don’t get hung up on these points, just share your journey and your achievements, whatever those are.

You can tell it in any format you choose – written, video, podcast, whatever you like.

If you’re writing, consider 500 – 2,500 words as a guideline (there are approximately 500 words per page in Word at 11pt). If it’s video, you may want to keep it within 2 – 5 minutes. In either format, shorter fits well with social media but people will read or watch a longer piece if it’s interesting – and this will allow you to tell a more compelling story.

Publish your story on your preferred platform(s). If you have your own blog or website, you may want to publish there, alternatively post as an article on LinkedIn. From there, share via LinkedIn and Twitter (and other social media platforms you use) referencing #techrolemodels and ask your immediate network to share your post.

Here are a few questions or topics you might like to think about to get started but, ultimately, tell the story you want to tell in the way you want to tell it.

  • Describe the journey of your career in tech so far, how and why you got started and what’s happened along the way
  • What are the common themes or threads that seem to run through your career?
  • What personal values have guided you in the choices you have made and the way you've approached your work?
  • What have been the high points and why?
  • What do you think are the core qualities and capabilities that have helped you?
  • Everyone faces challenges. How have you overcome those that you've faced?
  • Who has supported, developed and encouraged you and what did you learn from them?
  • What lessons have you learned along the way?
  • What do you think are the opportunities for women entering tech today – and why should they join tech?
  • What advice would you give to girls and women considering a career in your field?

If you’re not sure where to start, take a read of the stories we've shared here and on #techrolemodels. Don't feel you need to copy anybody else's approach - they may just spark some ideas on how to tell your story, your way.