I’ve been a Deputy Director at the Government Digital Service (GDS) for almost two years now - a good length of time to have worked out some of the things that I’ve learnt from the experience so far, 但不会太久，我已经把一切都搞清楚了. I consider myself really fortunate to work for an organisation where 50% of jobs are held by women, a rarity in the UK tech industry where women account for around 31% of the workforce. So, 虽然我自己还在学习, I’m sharing some of the things that made the biggest difference for my career in the hope that it helps others:
花时间弄清楚你想从你的工作中得到什么
This is probably the most important one - being honest with myself about what I wanted from my job and what motivates me has made me feel a lot happier about my career choices recently. This could be about getting the opportunity to work with and learn from someone that you really admire, 或者学习一项新技能, 或者有机会在更高的职位上施展你的技能. (诚实地表达自己的需求和愿望也是可以的.)
Performance management and talent frameworks are really valuable for prompting meaningful development conversations. They often place an underlying emphasis on promotion and things that you need to do to get promoted, which are clearly valuable but not always the right thing for everyone at a specific point in time. While it’s undoubtedly important to get more women into senior leadership roles (particularly in tech where women account for around 10% of technology leaders), it needs to be what you want rather than something someone else has told you to want.
了解下一阶段的工作机会，做好你的尽职调查
Getting into a senior leadership role and the Senior Civil Service (SCS) was never a career aspiration of mine. 我是家里第一个通过a -level考试并上大学的人. Everything that happened after that has been a case of having the curiosity and motivation to figure out what it involved and working out whether it was the right thing for me through a bit of trial and error.
So if the idea of progressing up a level or getting into senior leadership piques your interest in the slightest (even if it does also fill you with dread), 花时间去了解更多是值得的. 和以前做过这项工作的人聊天, 和其他高层领导, with recruiters and recruiting managers - are all things that can demystify promotion and recruitment, 帮助你找出你想要的(见1).)，并了解你需要做些什么才能达到目标.
要清楚你能给公司带来什么
角色的具体类型, 所需的技能和行为, 和你一起工作的团队, the organisational ethos and your fit with all of those things become more important the more senior you get. I’ve caused myself a lot of misery by feeling guilty and apologising for things I can’t do - rather than working out how to upskill, 填补我的空白，专注于我的优势. So, 除了清楚地了解你想要什么, knowing your value proposition and leadership style – and being able to articulate this succinctly to others – will make it a lot easier both to target specific roles effectively and be confident about doing them.
接受指导并指导他人
Having a mentor provides a great opportunity to work with someone who can give advice on tackling the different challenges that you may come across. This isn’t just about promotion - it can be about coping with work/life balance, 向了不起的人学习, having a safe space to talk about stuff you’re finding hard when you’re new in a role, 还有其他各种各样的东西.
Finding a good match and building a relationship with someone who offers a different perspective can be really energising and motivating, particularly when you’re going through a tough time and periods of uncertainty. 同样的道理也适用于传递爱和指导他人. There isn’t a one size fits all approach to mentoring - you’ll need to figure out what you want from someone (needs to be more specific than ‘more senior’) and find mentor(s) who you can ‘click’ with. It’s definitely ok to politely walk away from mentoring matches that aren’t working.
想想如何处理挫折
职位越高，个人适应力就越重要. It’s not unusual for interview panels to ask what you do to remain resilient, for good reason. Applying for jobs or starting a new role can be really challenging for your self esteem. 就我个人而言, 我每周晚上跑步几次，以保持我的心理健康, with the occasional therapeutic mid-week takeout splurge for when I’m in need of a more targeted pick-me-up! Everyone’s different and if you don’t already know what your personal strategies are, 花点时间想想你能做些什么来重新调整并恢复正常.
要了解更多十大网博靠谱平台GDS的职业，请访问 http://gdscareers.gov.uk/
