Advice for a Younger Me

The end of May marks the closing of graduation season, which is an exciting time for any grad!

I still remember the feeling I had at my graduation from Orange County Community College. It was a mix of emotions to say the least, but I felt great about completing this phase of my new life.

I had pride in the fact that I had a diploma in my hand, when just a few years before I was spending my last pennies on a gallon of gas so I could make it back to the trailer park with my son. I really couldn’t believe I was on the cusp of becoming financially self-sufficient.

I had excitement for the job at IBM that I was about to start just a few days after graduation. I had fallen in love with electronics and engineering and I was thrilled to continue working in the field surrounded by others who had the same passion as me. Plus, I felt I could really make a difference in a field that was changing quickly.

I had been the only woman in my engineering classes, and I was about to join a company where the majority of women sat at a secretary's desk. Perhaps I would be a trailblazer in a field that, up to this point, had pretty much been represented only by men.

The first day

I remember my first day at IBM so vividly.

Most of my peers took a week off between graduation and starting at IBM, but I started the first Monday after walking across the stage.?

I was in a hot hurry to get to work and start making some real money for the first time in my life! And pay for the first new car I had ever owned.

I arrived that morning in pigtails and a fashionably short skirt (In hindsight maybe not the best choice). While the men at IBM had a strict dress code (the white shirt and skinny black tie for which they were famous), there were no other women technicians or engineers to model a dress code for me to follow. So, I figured I would create the standard by dressing the way I wanted.?

I had already decided that I would act like an engineer at IBM (rather than a technician) since that was my ultimate career goal. Today, they would call this approach “fake it ’til you make it.” Little did I know that whether I planned to act like an engineer or not, I was going to be placed in that role on my very first day helping my team design and document a printed circuit board.

I was shocked to be given such a task on my first day. I actually thought it was a test to see how much I had learned at OCCC and whether I really knew my stuff.?

I only found out it wasn’t a test after I turned my design in for review and discovered it was assigned an IBM part number and put into production the very next day!?

It was an incredible feeling–I was doing engineering and generating real value on day one!

Looking through the rearview

As you will read in my book, I take a lot of pride in my work ethic and career path, even from my earliest days. But that doesn't mean I had it all figured out.

The girl in this photo is about to walk into the IBM office as an official employee (a day that three years earlier would have seemed impossible), and have a first day beyond her wildest imagination.?

While you can clearly see the excited smile and anticipation, you don’t see the anxious heartbeats of wondering if her career and life would turn into what she hoped it would.

This girl had been married and divorced by age 20, lived on mere pennies in a trailer park, defied the odds by attending and graduating college, was a mother and now step-mother to four boys, and had secured a job with benefits at one of the country’s leading technology companies.

She had gained so much ground in the last three years, but she still had so much to prove.

If I could go and whisper in her ear, here's what I would say to her...

• Be confident and bold, but always honest
• Listen and learn everything you can every day?
• Believe you will accomplish great things even though you are just starting out
• Be positive and always have a can-do attitude
• Trust your instincts, they will help steer you
• Bet on yourself even when others don't
• Don't be afraid to follow the biggest and brightest North Star dream

These are the same things I’d say to anyone who is getting ready to take on a new adventure!

Looking for more career inspiration?

I share a lot more about my career path, including my early days at IBM post-graduation, in my forthcoming book, Breaking Through the Silicon Ceiling.?

Here are some ways you can incorporate the book into your own career journey:

1. Order a single copy to discover the lessons that I hope inspire you to live an extraordinary life.
2. Order in bulk for your organization to inspire your employees and colleagues to do courageous work.
3. Submit a request for a virtual lunch and learn for your organization, where I’d be happy to share my stories and lessons first-hand with you and your colleagues.

Sincerely,

Chris King