Sylvie Kwedi

I would say to be very intentional pursuing professional relationships, like networks, very, very intentional, because that's really what works these days. I remember back in the late 90s, you would pick up the Washington Post, go through the job announcements, send your CV, get called for an interview, and get hired. But now, it seems like you have to know somebody in the company to get hired. What I mean by intentional is not just sending an email saying hello, my name is so-and-so, it was nice to meet you. No, it's more like, do you have 15 minutes to talk? I'm looking for a mentor. Is there an opportunity to mentor me? Because those opportunities are not going to come find you. You have to go find them - the networking and mentoring opportunities. And you shouldn't just do it when you need the job. You should do it permanently, all the time. I find that there's so many networking opportunities here in North Carolina. Some of them you may have to spend like $35 or $40 to hear such and such speak, but when you invest in that $35, maybe once a month because it's a budget, and then meet people, work the room, you know? Volunteering helps a lot too, because the more you give, the more you receive also.

The biggest challenge is in terms of career growth. It's so hard these days. When I was younger, especially when I started working in the late 90s, it was so much easier to find good opportunities that were suitable, what you wanted. But now, for example, I was out of a job for about 5 months, and it just seemed horrible. And I still didn't get exactly what I wanted, because I really do believe that right now, with the level of experience that I have, the degrees that I have, I should be in an executive position. But I'm not. So it seems like the career growth kind of stalls after a while. It's kind of like I've hit the ceiling, you know, that glass ceiling, and I can't break through. And my industry is male-dominant because it's science, which makes it even more challenging.