WEST Wisdom Blog

Are you planning a career change? Thinking of jumping to a competitor? Has a recruiter contacted you about a new job opportunity? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will need to have a strategy in place to negotiate the best possible compensation package for yourself.

Topics: Events, Women, Financial Planning, Wealth Management, Transitions, Career, negotiation

Negotiation skills are required of all professionals. In fact, you use these skills in many phases of both your work and personal life.

According to a recent study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, failing to negotiate on an initial job offer could mean missing out on over $600,000 in salary during a typical career. 

This session will focus on negotiation strategies to help you achieve better outcomes. We will discuss how to effectively prepare for a negotiation, think on your feet and deal with conflict. This session will be an interactive discussion with exercises to hone your negotiation skills. 

Topics: Events, Women, Transitions, Career, negotiation

Last week, more than 130 men and women gathered in Cambridge to recognize the honorees in WEST’s Annual “Giving Back Awards” ceremony. EACH YEAR for the past 9 years, WEST has brought the biotech and tech community together to honor incredible women from the science, technology and engineering fields who go above and beyond and selflessly give back to society. This year, in addition to recognizing women, WEST added a new accolade designed to recognize men who have demonstrated commitment to supporting and advancing talented women in STEM careers.

Topics: Events, Women, Tech, Science, Awards, Giving Back, Network, Giving, Inspire

Join WEST for an enchanting evening of celebration in Cambridge on Wednesday January 25^th at our “Giving Back Awards” event where we will be recognizing remarkable individuals who contribute to the greater good.

 

Topics: Events, STEM, Women, Awards, Community, Giving Back, Network, Giving, Inspire

WEST is accepting nominations through December 15th for our 9th Annual Giving Back Awards. You can nominate a deserving contender for one of the awards listed below. All nominees should be providing direct service to the community, be giving outside of the core responsibilities of his or her job, have a day job in science or technology, and be willing to have his or her story printed in the event program. The nominations should include name, title, company, giving back award category, and 1-3 paragraphs about their giving back. Please send nominations to Jaime Luna, WEST’s Director of Operations, at jluna@westorg.org. 

Topics: Events, Women, Tech, Science, Nominate, Awards, Community, Giving Back, Network, Inspire

Topics: Donation, Events, Leadership, STEM, Women, Giving

Did you know that 57% of women have more earning power than before, that women are making major investment decisions, and 60% of women are the "breadwinners" of their families? Therefore, it is crucial to be informed and proactive about financial planning.  Beata Dragovics from Freedom Trail Financial takes a quite different and effective approach to financial planning, starting with the individual's values to set financial goals and plans. Beata graciously shared her take on 5 mistakes most people make when it comes to financial planning below. If you're interested in learning how to avoid these mis-steps, evaluate your own values and how they can map to your own financial goals and plans please join WEST for an interactive session with Beata on October 26th at 6pm. Participants will leave with a clear sense of how to plan for their values and how to set financial goals as it relates to compensation, equity, and savings. 

Topics: Events, Women, Financial Planning, Wealth Management

Topics: Events, Best Practices, Leadership, Women, Tech

Topics: Leadership, Announcements, Gender Balance, Women, Tech, Science

Our WEST Wisdom Member Spotlight for February 2014 is with Jenny Maki.  Jenny was a WEST 2014 Giving Back Volunteer Awardee.

Topics: Women, Science, Member Spotlight