Hot Tips for Career Chicks

Hot Tips for Career Chicks

A book to change a nation.

In a country where women make up just 8.3% of board directors, number just four CEOs out of 200 listed companies and hold only 10% of executive management positions, Karen Adamedes's Hot Tips for Career Chicks® is long overdue.

Adamedes's advice on surviving and thriving in a male-dominated business world is timely in a country that lags behind Canada, the US, the UK and South Africa in terms of female representation at board and executive level.

Whilst Australian women make up more than half the population, hold over 53% of bachelor degrees, graduate and post graduate diplomas, and make up more than 45% of the workforce, very few achieve senior management status.

Many women find that their efforts are not recognised, the value they bring to a business or organisation is not appreciated and the success they aspire to is not realised.

Hot Tips for Career Chicks® provides real and tangible solutions with over 200 practical Career Chick Hot Tips. The premise of the book is that progression up the career ladder is determined not only by a person's ability to do their job, but their Communication skills, Operating style and their focus on career Development. Which combined with prioritising, Everything else, becomes the CODE for unlocking career success.

Adamedes says, 'The prevailing culture of organisations- how people communicate and what behaviours are accepted and preferred-tend to be male-orientated.' She says, 'Historically, they have simply been more men in business, particularly the senior levels where decisions are made. How men work and communicate has become the norm. And it's not necessarily intuitive for career chicks.'

Examples of where these differences can occur range from the miscommunications that can happen between men and women based on their choice of words, to the differing levels of importance that men and women place on networking activities.

In an era where the question is being asked, 'Are women doing enough to advance their own careers?' Hot Tips for Career Chicks® answers the question, 'What do women need to do to realise their potentional at work?'

With unique insights into the subtleties and nuances of a male dominated workplace-culture, Hot Tips for Career Chicks® provides women with the key to unlocking the CODE to career success.

With a focus on Communication, Operating style, career Development and how to priorities Everything else, Hot Tips for Career Chicks® provides over 200 practical and easy-to-implement tips and answers to must-know secrets to accelerate career success.

'Here is a book that gives some insights and tools to make sure that you are empowered to create your own destiny. It will put you clearly in the driving seat.'- Naomi Simson, Founder and Chief Experience Officer, RedBalloon.
'An outstanding, easy to read guide not just for women, but for anyone. Written in a constructive style, this should be at hand to help anyone facing leading and management challenges in the workplace.' - Rosemary Howard, Executive Director and Conjoint Professor, AGSM Executive Programs, Australian School of Business, UNSW.
'I've read the book twice. It will save women starting out in their careers a lot of angst to read it and older women any further angst.' - Kate Southam, Daily Telegraph, November 21st, 2009.
'Tips not just for career chicks... an easy to read manual with more than 200 tips for women….' - Mosman Daily, 8th October 2009.
'It's a great insight into how to climb the corporate ladder and provides a framework of what is important for career success and practical tips to make it happen.'- Valerie Khoo, Journalist, Productivity plus+, Business and Careers Institute.
'Most of these 'personal growth' books I find pretty boring but this one made me smile too.'- Customer review.
'Forget stuffy training manuals, this book is really easy to read and understand.' - Customer review.
'Fantastic. Have made everyone in my office buy a copy. Easy to read and easy to relate too- a must buy for males and females.' - Customer review.

Get the book. Unlock the CODE! It's a wonderful read, full of real insights that often take years of trial and error to learn. But more than that, it provides over 200 practical and easy-to-implement Career Chick Hot Tips to achieve career success.

Sneak Peek...
On the surface everything looks as it should for career prospects in the world of business. Men and women pursue their careers with equal vigour and the opportunities for career success are available to all. Men and women have the same access to training, roles, promotions and salaries. Rewards and success are based on merit and depend only on the knowledge, skills, experience and effort htta each individual applies to his or her role. However, all is not as it seems...

Over 200 Career Chick Hot Tips Covering:
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Knowledge Is Power
Part 1: Communication
Chapter 2: Choose Your Words
Chapter 3: Be Heard
Chapter 4: Present with Panache
Chapter 5: Write Well
Chapter 6: Speak with Actions
Part 2: Operating Style
Chapter 7: Be Seen
Chapter 8: Meet Successfully
Chapter 9: Work in Teams
Chapter 10: Negotiate
Chapter 11: Resolve Conflict
Chapter 12: Lead
Chapter 13: Get Back Up
Part 3: Career Development
Chapter 14: Plan Your Career
Chapter 15: NetworkChapter 16: Consult with Mentors
Chapter 17: Know When to Move On
Chapter 18: Get the Job you Want
Chapter 19: Earn What You're Worth
Part 4: Everything Else
Chapter 20: Prioritise What's Important
Chapter 21: Chick Tips
Chapter 22: Unlock the CODE

Karen Adamedes has created the CODE to career success. An author and business executive, Karen's experience includes sales, marketing, management, sales operations and business development in the telecommunications, advertising and digital media industries.

Karen has developed many practical solutions to the challenges facing Career Chicks in today's competitive environment.

She has also been known to use the emergency-only Career Chick Hot Tip in Chapter 4 on more than one occasion.

Karen's new book has recently been featured on national TV on the 9am with David and Kim program and in the community newspaper, the Mosman Daily. It has also been profiled in Productivity plus, the newsletter of the Business and Careers Institute, and by the Sydney Writer's Centre.

Karen is a business executive, with experience in sales, marketing, management, sales operations and business development in the telecommunications, advertising and digital media industries.

Karen is the general manager of sales at TrueLocal.com.au which is an exciting and challenging role where she is responsible for leading and managing the sales division of the online business directory.

Formerly at Telstra, Karen has won numerous awards for her achievements in sales and sales management.

Karen has a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Asian Studies, is an accredited Belbin Team facilitator, and has completed an advanced management program at the Australian Graduate School of Management.

Karen is passionate about the achievement of both business results and the advancement of women. She also has a lifetime of experience as a chick!

Hot Tips for Career Chicks
Abney Hall
Author: Karen Adamedes Price: $32.95

Interview with Karen Adamedes

Why did you decide to write this book, did you see a gap in the market for women?

Karen Adamedes: Yes I certainly believe that there is a gap in this market for women (well there was until now!). Appropriately, there is a lot of discussion about the issues of juggling work and family life and the appallingly small number of women in senior positions (only 8.7% of board positions in ASX 200 companies are held by women in 2009). These are such enormous issues that they dominate the discussions about women in business and there is very little coverage of the many discouraging and disappointing experiences that women have at work.

The thinking behind 'Hot Tips for Career Chicks' is that the culture of business favours men as it has evolved over time influenced by the historically greater representation of men. It's not necessarily a 'boys club' but how it works favours how men typically think and act.

Understanding how business works and how to communicate, operate, focus on career development and balance everything else at work (which is the CODE for career success) provides women with some tangible and practical tools to ensure that they are working on an equal footing with men.

I worked out many of these tips based on my experience in business and then found that many women that I worked with, coached or mentored had similar issues. It seemed like a good idea to write down what I had learnt. The book gives me the chance to share what I have learnt with more than one chick at a time.


Do you have a success story that came from someone reading your book, which you can share with us?

Karen Adamedes: The book was only released in late October so it is early days for success. But I know of at least one Chick who decided to take on an extra-curricular role in an industry association after reading the book. And another got her husband, who was looking for some techniques to have his contributions at worked recognised, to read the chapter on how to 'Be Seen'. He implemented a few of the tips and found that his visibility increased immediately. These tips aren't just for Chicks - it's simply a blueprint of how to operate in business so that the value you contribute is understood. And so that you can enjoy the experience of work.


What research did you have to do, to be able to put this book together?

Karen Adamedes: My research started with many years of working with men in business. I was often the only female in a team and as I was promoted I had to learn the skills not only to do my job, but for my work to be understood and appreciated. When I started working with other women I found that many of the ways that I 'intuitively' wanted to work (that I had to adapt to be successful) were the same for them and that there was a gender issue at play.

I started writing them down, thinking I would have enough ideas for a pamphlet or an article but there were more than enough for a book! I then did a whole lot of research and interviews with women to confirm my thinking. And with men to find out and confirm their perspectives on how business works.


Can you share your number one tip in regards to females in business?

Karen Adamedes: My number 1, 2 and 3 tip is that you have to really know and understand yourself to achieve success. Self-awareness is fundamental to being able to determine what your definition of success looks like, what skills you need to develop and how you need to adapt to be successful.

There are many things that you can do to develop this awareness from some of the basic psychometric testing that many companies offer their staff (e.g. DISC, Myer-Briggs Type Indicator), to networking so that you can learn and benchmark how you operate to working with a mentor.


How did you come up with the CODE?

Karen Adamedes: I was organising the material into logical sections and looking for an anagram that would help people remember what the information was about. I have used this technique a number of times with major projects and found if a project name says what it is about, people remember and it is quite powerful. I'd already summarised a number of work skill-sets like how you work with teams and in meetings under the heading of how you operate, and then when I added this with Communication and career Development the idea fell into place under the shower one day. How business works isn't a secret and many men don't even realise that it is not intuitive for women, they just accept it as 'that's the way things are done around here'. Chicks just need the CODE so they can be valued on their contributions.


Do you have a website readers can visit?

Karen Adamedes: www.hottipsforcareerchicks.com