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November 28, 2018
Casper
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A Look at Our Event with Casper in San Francisco
PowerToFly was thrilled to partner with Casper, the groundbreaking company revolutionizing the way we think about sleep, to present an evening for women in engineering on November 14th.
As our guests arrived, they had plenty of time to network with their peers and members of the Casper team over cocktails and bites before the event officially kicked off with a welcome address by Casper's Chief People Officer Elizabeth Wolfson. Next up, our guests were given a real treat as they watched a product demo conducted by none other than Casper's Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Jeff Chapin.
When Jeff concluded, it was time for a panel discussion, moderated by PowerToFly's Amy Trappey, featuring two of Casper's impressive women tech leaders, Chief Experience Officer Eleanor Morgan and Design Strategy Director Rachel Robinette, along one amazing male ally, Vice President - Industrial Design Rhys Newman. Our panel not only answered Amy's questions on their careers and journeys at Casper but were more than happy to take questions from our enthusiastic audience too.
As the panel wrapped up, the evening concluded with more free networking time which provided our attendees more opportunities to ask the panel (and other Casper employees) their burning questions. Before the night came to a close, Casper had one more surprise for everyone as they raffled off one of their acclaimed mattresses to a lucky audience member.
Casper is hiring! They believes that better sleep makes for better living. Their competitive benefits include company equity, a comprehensive 401(k) program, fitness stipends, an open vacation policy, catered lunches and a gifted bed set. Follow Casper on PowerToFly to learn more about their open roles.
Casper's CoFounder and Chief Product Officer Jeff Chapin chats with attendees.
PowerToFly's Amy Trappey moderates the evening's panel with Casper's Eleanor Morgan, Rachel Robinette and Rhys Newman.
Casper's CoFounder Jeff Chapin discusses some of his company's latest products.
A great panel discussion and audience Q&A.
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June 02, 2020
Being Anti-Racist
My cofounder Milena and I shared the note below with our team this week. We wanted to share it publicly with our community as well:
<p>Team - </p><p>When you have people being killed senselessly by the police for the color of their skin along with a White House that makes White Supremacy one of its pillars, it's no surprise people are protesting. I urge you to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/06/01/quick-lesson-what-mlk-rosa-parks-really-said-about-protests/" target="_blank">read what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks</a> said about protests over fifty years ago. Their words apply to what we are seeing today. Another reminder that racial justice will not happen while it's a trending topic. Our commitment to building a world that ought to be is going to take generations and countless necessary resources.</p><p>Many of you have asked what we can do at PowerToFly beyond our daily work and <a href="https://powertofly.com/summit/" target="_blank">Diversity Reboot 2020</a>, the four-day summit, and job fair from June 15th - 18th where Donna Brazile, Rep. Val Demings, and more leaders and hiring managers will connect to people who need action and jobs now.</p><p>Dionna Smith-Keels has started an "Allyship Training" module after speaking with clients who want to put Anti-Racism front and center in their virtual workplaces. We'll continue to update you as we develop these modules - <em>quickly</em>.</p><p>On Friday, Dionna will lead a talk on "Being An Ally To Black Colleagues and Peers". This will be open to anyone outside the company as well. They can <a href="https://powertofly.com/career/live-chats/276535-being-an-ally-to-black-colleagues-and-peers" target="_blank">sign up here</a>. </p><p>Here are a few more thoughts that you're welcome to share and a library of links where you can immediately contribute.</p><h4>Take Direct Action. </h4><ol class="ee-ol"> <li>Make space for Black Lives Matter. We're participating in #BlackOutTuesday for this reason. Here's a link to <a href="https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/" target="_blank">a one-pager</a> with a number of actions you can take on the BLM site. </li><li>Go local. Look for protestor bailout funds in your communities as well.</li><li>Research organizations that are doing the work to lobby against White Supremacy and for politicians and PACs committed to the same. Supporting the right lawmakers and voting will force change. Use your voice and your vote to support politicians committed to ending police brutality. Visit <a href="http://vote.org/covid-19" target="_blank">vote.org/covid-19</a> to request an absentee ballot and learn how COVID-19 has impacted your state's voting procedures.</li></ol><h4>Educate yourself.</h4><ol class="ee-ol"><li>Read and listen. I suggested "White Fragility" over the weekend. I've read it and it really impacted me. </li><li>The New York Time's posted an anti-racist reading list <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/books/review/antiracist-reading-list-ibram-x-kendi.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </li><li>Here's a link to <a href="https://shoppeblack.us/2018/11/black-owned-bookstores-2/" target="_blank">28 Black owned bookstores</a> that you can order online through. </li></ol><h4>Listen.</h4><ol class="ee-ol"><li>This goes with education but it deserves a separate bullet. Just listen. I can't pretend to understand what others are going through right now. I can learn what they need and find ways to make space for them, amplify their voices, and marshal resources for them.</li></ol><p><strong>Here are a number of additional resources/places to donate that are also helpful:</strong></p><ul class="ee-ul"></ul><ul class="ee-ul"></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.antiracismproject.org/resources" target="_blank">https://www.antiracismproject.org/resources</a></li><li><a href="https://policeviolencereport.org/" target="_blank">https://policeviolencereport.org/</a></li><li><a href="http://justiceforbigfloyd.com" target="_blank">JusticeForBigFloyd.com</a>: Demand all officers involved in Floyd's murder be arrested and charged. </li><li><a href="http://justiceforbreonna.org" target="_blank">JusticeForBreonna.org</a>: Demand Taylor's murderers, none of whom have been arrested, face charges. </li><li><a href="http://runwithmaud.com" target="_blank">RunWithMaud.com</a>: Demand Arbery's murderer and his accomplices face just time in prison. </li><li>More petitions can be found at <a href="http://colorofchange.org/campaigns/active" target="_blank">colorofchange.org/campaigns/active </a></li><li><a href="https://www.joincampaignzero.org/" target="_blank">Campaign Zero</a>: Help lawmakers adopt data driven policy solutions to end police brutality across America </li><li><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019" target="_blank">Black Lives Matter</a>: Support the fight against state-sanctioned anti-Black violence and systemic racism. </li><li><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/freeblackmamas2020" target="_blank">National Black Bailout Fund:</a> Help end systems of mass incarceration and free imprisoned Black mothers.. </li><li><a href="https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/louisville-community-bail-fund" target="_blank">Louisville Community Bail Fund</a>: Contribute to bail for protestors in Louisville. </li><li><a href="https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/" target="_blank">Black Visions Collective</a>: Fund campaigns to empower Black communities in Minnesota.</li><li><a href="https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2" target="_blank">Reclaim the Block:</a> Help Minneapolis community and city council members move money from the police department into areas that promote community health and safety.</li></ul><div><br></div>
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May 28, 2020
New Relic
From Event to Offer: How Sales Exec Danielle Satterfield Found Her Next Challenge at New Relic
When Danielle Satterfield attended a PowerToFly networking event with cloud-based observability platform New Relic last December, she wasn't actively looking for a job.
<p>She was, however, looking forward to hearing from the event's panel of women and learning about potential new opportunities. Years of working in technical sales meant that it was rare for her to have a chance to network with other women in her field. "It's hard as a woman in a male-dominated field to find opportunities to be around other women who are just like me," she says. "I was really excited to hear the women speak about their experiences."</p><p>Four months later, she joined New Relic as an Enterprise Sales Executive.</p><p>We sat down (over video chat, that is) with Danielle to hear about her path from event attendee to a new employee, how New Relic is managing her onboarding during a pandemic, and how she's nurtured her career over the years by investing in out-of-the-box development opportunities.</p><h3>Being open to change</h3><p>Danielle had been to a few PowerToFly events when she saw one with New Relic was upcoming and it piqued her interest. She'd told a friend that she was interested in learning about new opportunities, and he'd suggested she check out New Relic. She wasn't ready to take a new job—she had a few big deals in process with her then-employer, and she didn't want to leave her customers and prospects in the lurch—but she was looking forward to seeing what New Relic was all about.</p><p>At the event, she enjoyed hearing from the panel of women and the openness and honesty with which they addressed questions and shared their experience. She knew that if she were to switch jobs eventually, she wanted to find a culture that was supportive and a product she could believe in, and the panel made it seem like New Relic could provide both. When a PowerToFly recruiter reached out on behalf of New Relic after the event, Danielle was flattered—and interested.</p><p>She didn't interview right away since she wanted to finish out the quarter with her company. But when New Relic's recruiting team reached out to touch base a couple of months later, she was ready.</p><p>Danielle went through the interview process completely remotely, since San Francisco, where New Relic is headquartered, was shut down due to COVID-19. "I must've had ten different BlueJeans calls. The last one was with Sara Coady, the GVP of sales, who was actually on the panel at the event that sold me on the culture of New Relic," says Danielle, smiling. "I was just thrilled with the opportunity. It was clear that they really invest in their people and that they're investing in women."</p><h3>Joining a new company during a pandemic</h3><p>When Danielle officially joined New Relic in April, two things were immediately different from her previous job.</p><p><strong>First: the whole remote thing.</strong> Every April, New Relic has an annual sales kickoff event in Las Vegas to coincide with the start of their fiscal year, but this year, it all had to be done virtually. Danielle was immersed in learning about a host of new products, joining training, and getting to know her team. </p><p>Since the end of the conference, she's split her time between onboarding and getting up to speed on her accounts, all from home. She has a weekly call with her training specialist to check in on her onboarding process and up to "four video calls a day" with her team and new colleagues as she settles in.</p><p>"It's actually enabled me to get a lot more done in the day," says Danielle. "I was just telling one of my coworkers yesterday that not having to get up and do makeup and hair and then commute saves me probably two to three hours a day."</p><p>She explains, "It would be nice to be in the office to be able to ask people questions directly, but I've got those three hours back that I can do more. So I think it's worked out as best it could."</p><p><strong>The second new thing? The chance to work with other women.</strong></p><p>"On my new team of six, two of us are women, and my boss is also a woman. That's the most I've been around women in my career," says Danielle. "At my last job, I was one of 30 salespeople and only two of us were women."</p><p>Danielle says that she's happy to be working for a company that so clearly prioritizes diversity and inclusion. "Women are out there," she says. "You just have to find them. But when you take the time to do so, like New Relic has, you can find good people."</p><h3>Nurturing her career by deepening her technical knowledge</h3><p>Danielle hadn't always planned on going into sales. She studied finance in college, but an internship with Morgan Stanley turned her off of that field. Her first job after graduation was as a network analyst for a voice over IP (VOIP) company.</p><p>"That's where my love of technology started," she says. "I realized that was definitely what I wanted to do."</p><p>Subsequent job opportunities took her to San Francisco, and as she moved up in her career and took on more and more responsibility, she realized she wanted to invest in her technical knowledge.</p><p>"I realized that having a foundation of how everything actually works would help customers have a bit more trust and confidence in me as a rep because I'd taken the time to go and get those certifications," she says.</p><p>Danielle went to Colorado to take a 10-day course for her Cisco Certified Network Associate renewal exam. She was the only salesperson in the entire class—and also the only woman.</p><p>"People asked me, 'Why are you taking the exam?' and my response was always, 'Well if I understand everything down from the physical layer all the way to the application layer and how it all interacts, I can sell better. I can ask deeper questions and help troubleshoot potential issues,'" says Danielle. "And it's really helped me throughout my career."</p><p>Danielle now has her CCNA and CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate) certifications and encourages other women in tech sales to take those classes, too. "It sets the bar a little bit higher. Start with some courses and see how you like them," she recommends.</p><h3>Looking to the future</h3><p>Danielle is still getting up to speed with New Relic's products and her accounts, and for now, it looks like she'll continue to do so from home.</p><p>"New Relic had us fill out a survey about what we thought about potentially returning, and I think the majority of the feedback was 'let's take our time,' especially since a lot of us live outside of the city and use public transportation. Their approach seems to be 'it's better safe than sorry.' And we're set up for it—our customers are more than happy to jump on a video call," she says.</p><p>It's not just her customers. Danielle has been reaching out to colleagues across New Relic, including in engineering and product teams, to get to know them and start building relationships. "I must've had 30 meetings like that so far," she says. "Not one person has said, 'Oh, you know, I don't think I have time.' Everyone is just so helpful and going out of their way to make me feel welcome and part of the team already."</p><p>----</p><p>If you're interested in becoming part of the New Relic team, take a look at their open roles <a href="https://powertofly.com/companies/new-relic" target="_blank">here</a>, and feel free to ask Danielle any questions in the comments!</p>
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Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels through the FB AIR Program
May 26, 2020
Jobs
Applications Are Open for Facebook's Return to Work Program!
We're excited to announce applications are now open for Facebook's Return to Work program. We have positions open for 10 roles:
<ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/2667898850006232/" target="_blank">Data Engineer, Infrastructure</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/239103370652935/" target="_blank">Research Data Scientist, Infrastructure</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/3285384208140025/" target="_blank">Capacity Engineering and Analysis Engineer, Infrastructure</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/261338615072095/" target="_blank">Mechanical Engineer, Infrastructure</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/254684762312074/" target="_blank">Mechanical Engineer, AR/VR</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/243807506686947/" target="_blank">Firmware Engineer, AR/VR</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/862881854191570/" target="_blank">Electrical Engineer, AR/VR</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/254092072615335/">Technical Program Manager, Infrastructure</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/1134328926931366/" target="_blank">Technical Program Manager, AR/VR</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/jobs/608484156423560/" target="_blank">Fulfillment Operations Program Manager, AR/VR</a></li></ul><p><em>Roles are based in the Bay Area and Seattle area offices, as well as our Boston office. Please check each job requisition for the corresponding locations.</em><u></u><u></u></p><p><em>What is the Return to Work Program?</em><u></u><u></u></p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><em>A 16-week immersive program designed for those who have left the workforce for 2 years or longer and are looking to re-enter the workforce full-time. </em><em>At the end of the term, those who have demonstrated their abilities to succeed and have an impact at Facebook will be considered for a full-time position.</em><u></u><u></u></li></ul><p>Hear stories from Return to Work Program graduates:<u></u><u></u></p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/facebookcareers/photos/a.1655288474757840/2383199131966767/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">Roopam's Story</a><u></u><u></u></li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/facebookcareers/photos/a.1655288474757840/2388098258143521/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">Geetha's Story</a><u></u><u></u></li></ul><p><em>When?</em><u></u><u></u></p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><em>The Fall Program starts at the end of August and runs through December.</em><u></u><u></u></li></ul><p><em>How?</em><u></u><u></u></p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><em>To view opportunities and apply, visit our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/careers/facebook-life/return-to-work?q=return" target="_blank">website</a>. Please apply early, as we're expecting a high volume of applicants and have limited positions.</em></li></ul>
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May 21, 2020
Work From Home
The Two Causes of Conflict Within a Team: And How to Resolve Them
(With specific tips for remote teams!)
Teams have conflict. It happens. Whether it's disagreeing with your manager's feedback, going head-to-head with a coworker for a promotion, or feeling supreme levels of annoyance at the department head who consistently claims credit for work he didn't do, all of us have gotten into it at some point on the job. (One of my favorite personal conflicts was when a woman who worked for me refused to use our publication's style guide when communicating on behalf of the business. Yes, I once found myself screaming in a newsroom about the need to use size-16 Tahoma in marketing materials rather than size-12 Times New Roman. But I promise I'm better at dealing with conflict now.)
<h3>Two main causes of conflict within a team: <br></h3><p>Whether we're talking about remote teams where everyone works from different locations (whether by design or <a href="https://blog.powertofly.com/a-guide-to-remote-work-during-coronavirus-2645402589.html" target="_self">because COVID-19 required it</a>) or traditional office settings, conflict at work tends to stem from one of two places:</p><p><strong>1. Substantive or task-based conflict arises when people clash over a specific goal or action. </strong>This kind of conflict is usually contained to the issue at hand and can be more straightforward to solve. For example, you as an engineer want to get to work on coding a new feature, but your product manager might want to deploy you to fixing an old bug instead, and you disagree about the right use of your time.</p><p><strong>2. Emotional or interpersonal conflict arises when people can't get along. </strong>The root issue might be jealousy, insecurity, annoyance, or just plain incompatibility. It can be harder to solve emotional conflicts, since you're unlikely to change someone's entire personality. As an example, if you hate interacting with your fellow sales rep because she's self-obsessed and constantly gossips about the rest of the team, that's an emotional conflict that you can't sit down and cut through quickly.<strong></strong></p><p>Within <strong>task-based conflict,</strong> your team might struggle with:</p><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>Competition for resources that pits people against each other</li><li>Disagreement over strategy where there's no clear path forward</li><li>Planning issues that reveal weaknesses in people or in processes</li></ul><p>Within interpersonal conflict, your team might have issues with:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Differences in behavioral styles that lead to frustration or misunderstandings</li><li>Failure to take responsibility that leads to resentment and lack of a team attitude</li></ul><p>And there are some causes of conflict that can be both substantive and emotional:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><strong>Communication issues</strong>, whether they're pet peeves or structural inadequacies in how your team communicates</li><li><strong>Cultural issues</strong>, where your team's culture is a negative and toxic one that either allows or actively supports pettiness, bullying, or gossip</li></ul><p><strong>Remote teams </strong>will see all of the above kinds of conflict, but might have unique issues, too, including:</p><ul class="ee-ul"> <li><strong>Loss of context and communication signals. </strong>Teams that don't work face-to-face and communicate mainly over email or messaging apps miss out on the trove of information that human beings communicate through body language and facial expressions. That makes it easier for a message to be misinterpreted or someone to take offense to a perceived tone.</li><li><strong>No informal run-ins. </strong>If you work in the same office and get a weird vibe from a coworker, you can grab them casually in the hallway and ask them if there's anything wrong. Working remotely means you may need to be more purposeful about addressing conflict when it happens, whether that's in a team meeting or a direct message (more on those options later).</li></ul><p>Even though interpersonal conflict can be more complicated, both kinds of conflict can be resolved. Remote teams that don't have the option to quickly pull everyone together into a room to solve a problem are at a bit of a disadvantage—but at the same time, their focus on constant communication can actually be a boon in fixing issues and making sure they don't happen again.</p><h3>Exercises to resolve conflict (whether in-person or remote)</h3><p>All of these exercises share a common framework, which can be summed up as<strong> "understand what the problems are, understand why they're happening, and create a plan for the future." </strong>Sometimes the plan will be to do nothing, like with some interpersonal conflicts where you can't force two people to like each other. But you need to be aware of what's going on and why if you're going to manage conflicts well. Try one of these methods:</p><h4>Diagnose issues with your team.</h4><p>Get into the nitty gritty. When an issue arises, make it an agenda item at the next team meeting, and have someone who isn't part of the conflict walk through a resolution process. (Since issues will happen all the time, a good practice is to have a standing "issue resolution" agenda item for every meeting and update it with whatever the biggest problem of that week is.) Start by stating the problem, then have the people involved explain what should have happened versus what <em>did</em> happen, why it happened, and what they'd do differently next time.</p><p><strong><em>Example:</em></strong> Your team released a product update that was full of errors. Your manager brings it up at a team meeting and has the head developer explain what went wrong. She says that normally, a release goes through two stages of testing before being shipped, but that this time around, it only went through one, since half the team was busy doing recruiting interviews on the day the update was meant to go live and no one was around to help with the testing. Your manager and the head developer agree that next time, if they're short on resources, they'll delay release instead of pushing through an imperfect product.</p><h4>Communicate productively and personally. </h4><p>No blame game here. Find a direct way (face-to-face or over the phone is best) to touch base with the person you're in conflict with. Communicating productively around conflict means understanding why you are upset, communicating that using "I" statements and not blaming others, and communicating a need and a suggested resolution.</p><p><strong><em>Example:</em></strong> You're pissed that your coworker left you off a meeting invite for a check-in with your client, so you ask him if you can do a 1:1 call. On the call, you say, "Yesterday, when you left me off of the client invite, I felt frustrated, as I didn't get a chance to present my work and build a rapport with the client. In the future, I'd appreciate it if you could double-check the invites to make sure I'm on them. I'd also like you to send a note to the client introducing me so that we can start building a relationship. Does that sound reasonable?"</p><h4>Create a space for surfacing conflicts.</h4><p>If your team doesn't already have one, suggest that you start a special channel for logging problems as they happen. You can ask to make it anonymous, if you're worried about retribution, or you can keep it tied to employee names. Send in issues big and small, from disagreements with management on corporate strategy to someone forgetting to send a new hire welcome email and making said new hire feel awkward on their first day.</p><h4>Invest in conflict training.</h4><p>So much of what flusters us at work is due to bad communication, whether our own or others'. Not everyone has been exposed to productive, positive communication techniques before (like the therapists' tips mentioned above), and investing in bringing that to your team can bring huge payouts. Look at training companies or consultants who specialize in effective communication and see if they can do a live session, whether in-person or over a videoconference, for your team.</p><p>They should cover things like:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Keeping discussions about interpersonal conflicts relegated to behavior, not personality (saying "Sometimes you don't give people time to ask questions when you're presenting" versus "You're impatient and condescending")</li><li>Listening actively and repeating what you understand (after someone shares their perspective, saying, "So what I am hearing is that you felt unappreciated" instead of jumping in with solutions or disagreements)</li><li>Learning how to self-soothe when you're too upset to communicate well (asking if you can take a break before continuing and going on a walk, listening to music, or taking a few deep breaths in private)</li></ul><p><strong>Conflict at work isn't fun—but it doesn't have to derail you, either. </strong>It happens, and learning how to communicate productively through it will serve you well at work and beyond.</p>
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May 21, 2020
Diversity Reboot Summit Speakers
Join Us to Discuss the Future of Work: Come to Our (Virtual!) Diversity Reboot Summit
Join Diversity reboot 2020 virtually
COVID-19 has forced us to map the future of our workplaces at a dizzying new pace.
The Diversity Reboot 2020 Summit is a virtual gathering for professionals who want to share how we can all rebuild faster in partnership with diverse talent. Join us, along with thousands of diverse women and allies, to remake our world the way it ought to be.
Learn more here
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