Women in business share career advice

On Monday, March 8, in the Vertical Campus Multipurpose Room, the Zicklin Women In Business club convened a panel of six corporate women to share their stories of success in the workplace in honor of International Women's Day.

International Women's Day began a century ago to secure for women the right to vote. Today, it celebrates the social, economic and political achievements of women. It is recognized by the United Nations and is an official holiday in several Eastern European and Asian countries.

President Samantha Matin said that when she became took over last semester, they focused on growing the group, and "wanted to do something really big" for this semester.

Matin found panelists for this event by "working the floor" of other career events that took place in New York City. She said she would introduce herself to people, tell them about Baruch College and how good Baruch is, then invite the person to speak here in honor of International Women's Day. The six women who accepted her invitation were Christina Dragonetti of Health Management Systems; Michele Hendricks of KPMG; Krujssen van den Heuval of J.P. Morgan; Janice O'Rourke of The TAI Group, an executive coach group; and Nikkia Reveillac and Elyse Kane, both of Colgate-Palmolive.

Approximately 80 students, mostly women, attended the event. Images of famous successful women including Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Oprah Winfrey, flashed across two screens flanking the stage. A half hour was set aside before the panel discussion for students and guest speakers to get to know each other. The panel began at 12:30 p.m., with an introduction by Matin, who served as moderator.

Speakers were quizzed on topics ranging from dressing in the workplace or asking for proper compensation to balancing family life with work.

All panelists agreed on the importance of finding and keeping a mentor, preferably early in one's career, even as you advance up the corporate ladder.

"Mentoring doesn't have to stop once you get a job — it can get lonely in management," said O'Rourke. Krujssen van den Heuval, who spent two years at Baruch, said her mentor sized her up and told her "you're not right for a small bank; you should work for a big bank." She is now the vice president of J.P. Morgan's Global Funds Group.

For their biggest challenges, Hendricks recounted confronting her bosses at the Federal Reserve Bank after she found out that a male counterpart who performed the same work as her earned thousands more in salary. She counseled students to track their worth and to not be afraid to ask for what they want in the workplace.

Hendricks said, "You are your best PR person. Are you going to ask for what you want?" She told an anecdote about a co-worker who was made partner quickly. When she asked him how he did it, he said he went to his bosses three years prior and asked what he would need to do to make partner. "Nobody is going to do it for you," Hendricks said. "But you can always ask for help."

On the topic of looks, Dragonetti said, "It's not looks that matter. It's how you package yourself that matters."

Holger Briones, a Baruch graduate student and one of only four men at the event, said, "They had a lot of good insight, and, you know, the things they said, like having a mentor, applies to men too."