I recently saw this last week and was glad that these women were willing to talk about this topic.
It’s okay to be confident in the office place and speak your mind about things you are not comfortable about. We live in a world where men in the office just want us to be seen and heard. Times have changed and Women have a voice to say what they want to now.
AWW
The workplace can be such a toxic place when it comes to dealing with mental abuse. Here are a few heart breaking things that people had said to me at the workplace. Trust me it has made me a stronger person. Let’s all Scream together and get all of this off our chest.
“I have had a manager tell me before that I did not deserve a raise or promotion.”
“A guy has told me before at an interview that “I would not be a good a fit”.
“My manager striped my pride by demoting me”.
“Why do not women want to be in and Information technology field”.
“Can you lift 75 lbs by yourself and push this cart around”.
What is something hurtful someone has said to you at workplace?
No one likes having conflict at work, I know I do not. This industry can be stressful especially for a woman in Information Technology. We have to keep continuing to fight for our rights to be in this industry.
Working in a field that can be referred to as a “Good Ole Boys Club” or “It’s a Man’s World” industry. Women often face issues with trying to find our place in this industry where men dominant this field. I can relate to the growing pains of this industry from being discriminated against, put down, lied on, cheated on, abused, scorn, ganged up on, up and down.
I have been through so much in my industry that I have had several mental break downs because of the industry. It’s hard to just be the only woman on your team with whole lot of men. Not having anyone to relate to who you work with. Sometimes I would do my work and be so overwhelmed at times I would go to the restroom to go cry to relive myself from the hurt and pain I am feeling from my job. Superwoman also has her days when she has to still put that cape on and hold the world down. I still put on my big girl panties at the end of the day to make it through all of this.
Women have been fighting for equal rights for along time and still continuing to fight the good fight. Stand your ground and let your voices be heard. We have arrived and are not going anywhere. We deserve respect, equal pay opportunities, raises and promotions.
Sexually harassment is never a topic people want to talk about in the workplace. Yes it happens! Sexual harassment can leave to working in an hostile environment. A lot of companies tend to over look the situation because people are used to getting sexual favors in the office from someone who is not their spouse.
I was working my first internship at a company that I was excited about working for. I was the only woman on my team as usual. Yes, I was approached by older men on a regular basis trying to shoot their shots at me. I would would get invites to go to happy hours, lunch, to go look at something, etc. Not knowing at the time that this was a form of sexually harassment. The main thing they would come over was to look at my boobs at my desk. Of course sexual harassment is not being taught about in college and of course I was young and naive.
One day I was approached by a lady who worked at the site. She wanted to talk to me woman to woman. I was like what did I do. So I went to go to her office to meetup with me. She starts to talk about my suit and how revealing some of my clothes were and the rumors she has been hearing about the intern being fine. She asked me was all of this going on in the workplace and I told her yes. One thing that she had offered to do was go take me shopping to go buy some better clothes to cover up my boobs more and she paid for the clothes. Also my desk space was removed from the directory to stop the old dirt men who used to come by and bother me.
More real life harassment stories will be coming soon… stay tuned.
Technology is getting better everyday and people do tend to test people on the daily basis.
Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.
The information is then used to access important accounts and can result in identity theft and financial loss.
Examples of Phishing
Here are some examples of Phishing Attacks
(Stay tune for more examples and how to protect your identity).
“Wish we could switch up the roles and I could be that”.
I joined a different company than what I was used to this time around. Trust me the shit stanked since day one. I was the only female and black on my team with a whole lot of men. I was excited to be working with another female in IT but that did not happen because she decided to go to another team because she was wearing the same shoes as me but a different color.
As I begin this unfair journey with being the only one like me and not having anyone who could relate to me in my role. They would go to lunch all together and leave me behind (take extended lunches over 2 hours). Yes there was always cliques with them all. I worked harder than they ever would have in their lives. I was never promoted in my area or given a raise. The guys on my team have gotten multiple pay raises and promotions in the same role. I got plenty of praise from the people who had appreciated me for the work I was doing and how good I was at my job. The term I was use is the Good Ole Boys club.
One thing I learned about this situation is that I wish I would have been a little be wiser in the situation and left the company after I saw that I have been here for a year and was not awarded any raise or promotion at. Yes, I learned a lot new skills at this place but my redundancy and not growing in my career. I have asked the manager and my directors several times in my 1:1s “Why am I still in an entry level role? I was not fresh out of college or did not have any skills at all. But another guy on my team who was hired a month later after me was hired on as a level III”. I never understood how he amounted to getting that title. I went on questioning this the whole time and still no answers were given to me. I figured it out because I was not a male and women are not being accepted in this field and not given their flowers. I wish I was a boy or they could switch roles to see how much you have to deal with and how they would feel being underestimated as a woman in Information Technology.
Being a women in the Information Technology field is not easy. Yes please speak up and let your voice be heard. Never let yourself slip into the background when you know you are worth it. Women have fought in the past to have rights. I am not going to keep fighting and I am going to continue to fight the good fight.
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
As humans we all have that need to want to be the best at what we do. Discovering your talents can a challenge when you do not have a clue what you want to do in your life.
At the young age of 15, I found out what my special talent and gift to the world was. Yes, I was in love with fixing computers, being on the computer, and curious about the World Wide Web. All of this was new to me but I loved it. I started fixing my own computer and upgrading it. Being with my computer was so therapeutic at times when you have such as rough life that you are going through. As a teenager I was dealing with so much and it could range from ( trying to accepted into, not being the prettiest , and dealing with rejection). Yes being a teenager is hard and it was stressful time in my life. When you find out you must be from a different planet and not like your peers.
As a teenager, I was so curious in learning how to help others with there technical needs such as computer, printers, etc. Which I did learn that I could make some extra money on the side beside working at the job I had as a teenager.
Learning to accept myself has been so hard and knowing that I was blessed with a good talent. Looking at myself as such a young person and know what I know now. I wish I could have told me younger self that everything you have went through as that age would make you stronger for talent you have before you.
This story is a funny one and yes this lady challenged me that day with her complaining about her laptop is heavy. This is not her first time coming by the desk to tell me this trying to get a smaller laptop or naming someone on her team who has a smaller laptop. She happened to have a meeting the building where I was sitting at and she came back after her meeting to complain. Yes, I went there with her to prove my point. I had the weight scale sitting next to me because I was getting packages together to send out to people.
I noticed she had a Louis Vuitton bag that looked like this and the same size a well. I said to the user “I am pretty sure your purse weights about the same as this laptop”. I put the scale on top of the desk and turn it on to compare the weight of her purse with laptop that she was carrying.
The laptop only weight only 4.16 lbs and next I asked her to put her purse on the scale next and guess what her purse with all the stuff she had in it was 6 lbs. Guess who won that challenge that me and yes I proved my point to her that her purse weighted more than the laptop she claimed that was to large and heavy for her.
The reason why she was deemed “Drop It Like It’s Hot” because she dropped her laptop right in front of me after complaining her laptop is heavy. I did not grant her a smaller laptop because you proved to me that day that you do not take care of the company equipment you have because you dropped it right in front my own eyes.
Shout out to all the women out there in this world who have chosen a life to work in Information Technology. This post is for you and to keep you encouraged in this journey. It is a man’s world in this field and we often get discourage because it’s not many of us around due to the fact that you have to deal with following: sexual harassment, discrimination, male egos, mental aggression, mental abuse etc. Yes, I have been through it all just like you.
Times have changed and it’s time to accept our female counterparts in these roles. Women are still fighting now for the same rights. You can have all the knowledge, skills, and sassiness to do this role but yet feel alone when it comes to encouragement. I have been the only black woman in my department doing the same role the men are doing. Yes, I have opened up a door at one of the companies I have worked for to another women who wants to pursue this field.
Here is a playlist that I have created that celebrates women. Trust me, I do listen to this playlist when I am in need of encouragement.
Allow me to introduce myself, my name Cam. Everybody kept asking and motivating me to start this blog. Guess what it finally happened. First of all I plan to keep it professional and talk about about real life being a woman in the Information Technology field. It isn’t often discussed in my field and yes it can be a reality show role. I am down to share some of those stories and experiences to bring light into my career of choice.
My goals are to entertain, inspire, motivate others, and sharing private moments. I am already nervous 😩 and ready to embark on this journey with the world. Yes, I love music and so post may have a song with it. It helps to describe the mood sometimes. This one a little short and sweet. Thank you all for the love and support.
Cam's Tech Blog 