Advice for Young Women Starting their Careers

On Sarah Pang’s first day working for Illinois Sen. Alan Dixon, in the early 1980s, she asked the senator what her responsibilities would be.  “Are you willing to take out the garbage?” he asked.

Pang said yes and didn’t take offense. “I knew exactly what he meant,” says Pang. “He wanted to know ‘Are you willing to do what it takes to make the place successful?’”

Currently senior vice president of CNA’s corporate communications and public affairs and co-chair of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's transition team, Pang advises young women launching their careers to think hard about what’s best for their employers and find ways to help the organizations run more smoothly and efficiently.

Other tips from Pang:

Work hard, and know your stuff: “I might not be the smartest person in the room, but I try to be the most prepared person in the room….People will almost always let you out-work them.” Being first in the office and the last to leave is not a healthy long-term career advancement career strategy, Pang notes. “But starting out, that’s the first way people notice you.”

Look for ways to control paper and process.  Early in her career, Pang would volunteer to take meeting notes and keep agendas. “Those kinds of things helped my bosses, but also gave me a reason for being in the room,” says Pang. “Over time, it was a way to prove that I had more to offer.”

Continually seek and accept more responsibility:  “People will turn to hard-working folks,” she says. “You learn from getting assignments.”

Know Your Company’s “Playbook:” Learn its vocabulary, its structure, its goals and processes. “You should know the terms, so you don’t have to play catch-up all the time,” she says. “You want to be able to quickly understand the issues and know what’s taking place.”