Venture out of your comfort zone, lead organisation initiatives

Every woman’s journey is distinct due to circumstances and choices. Yet, most working women go through distinct stages in their lives, each characterised by priorities, obstacles and encounters.

I broadly classify these phases as Entrant, Mid-Career & Growing. Over my two decades of experience in the aerospace industry, the following have helped me make some of the most important career decisions.

Entrant (early career): This is the phase every woman/girl needs to drive hard and continue learning. Understand the technology or product you are working on, understand the organisations’ priorities. Make friends, get involved in org activities and events, volunteer to help others, work for community services, find a mentor. Basically, build networks. You need to start building a “reputation” for yourself, be known for something, like being knowledgeable in a certain product, technology, process, or tool.

Mid-Career (career advancement, family & care giving): Most of us go through a lot of changes through this phase and this is also the time to set a path for career growth. At this stage you should start taking stretch assignments, stay up to date with the latest technology through certification courses, listen to podcasts, or utilise the learning programmes of your organisation.

When I took a break, I kept myself updated with Honeywell’s strategic priorities and what our plans towards sustainable aviation, urban air mobility, connected avionics, new mandates, and regulations were. You need to stay connected with the people in your field and continue to update your skills during the break.

Growing (15+ years of experience): This is the phase where I see many women wanting to accelerate their careers. But again, career advancements might need you to rebuild your reputation. When I returned from my break, I volunteered to take on a project that required me to learn the whole connected aircraft (API-based aero microservices platform) ecosystem, and did very well. Many times, our inhibitions hold us back from achieving our potential. So go ahead and venture out of your comfort zone, lead some of the organisational initiatives and drive strategic changes for your product line. Mentor someone genuinely.

Deepavali Desai is senior software engineering manager for aerospace at Honeywell in India

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