Your web-browser is very outdated, and as such, this website may not display properly. Please consider upgrading to a modern, faster and more secure browser. Click here to do so.

Ask Ada

A service of the Tech LadyMafia. Career advice for professionals in tech, science, entrepreneurship, and media. Hit the ask button and we'll answer to the best of our collective wisdom.
Oct 16 '12

2 minutes to a stronger interview or presentation.

14 notes

Oct 16 '12

Admiral Grace Hopper explains the nanosecond

2 notes

Oct 16 '12
My college mentor gave me a copy of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office when I was a sophomore. It’s super cheesy and over the top but a lot of the advice stuck with me especially 176 – Stop apologizing all the time. Apologizing for unintentional, low-profile, non-egregious errors erodes our self-confidence — and, in turn, the confidence others have in us. Don’t overdo the apologies. Save it for the big stuff. I take this so seriously that when I’m sending a long work email I always a CTRL+F “sorry” and “apologies” Also did you know that Apple employees don’t ever say “unfortunately” instead they say “as it turns out” to sound less negative when they can’t solve a problem.  I do the same thing now! —Ada

My college mentor gave me a copy of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office when I was a sophomore. It’s super cheesy and over the top but a lot of the advice stuck with me especially

176 – Stop apologizing all the time. Apologizing for unintentional, low-profile, non-egregious errors erodes our self-confidence — and, in turn, the confidence others have in us. Don’t overdo the apologies. Save it for the big stuff.

I take this so seriously that when I’m sending a long work email I always a CTRL+F “sorry” and “apologies”

Also did you know that Apple employees don’t ever say “unfortunately” instead they say “as it turns out” to sound less negative when they can’t solve a problem. 

I do the same thing now!

—Ada

1 note Tags: career jobs

Oct 16 '12

Unsolicited advice: How to get your tech dream job? Drink more coffee.

Every week, I talk to 2-3 people about:

- What it’s like to work at my organization
- How to best apply
- What they should do to make sure a human sees their resume/they have their best chances

They all come to me one of three ways:

1. A friend emails “Hi! I know we’ve been meaning to get together for [insert number of years], but I have a time sensitive excuse to finally get that drink! I want to work with you. Do you have time this week to grab a drink and plot?”

2. Soft intros for friends of friends: “Hey, Copied is a guy, X, that I know from [insert yuppie after work sport]. He’s really interested in joining your organization and wanted to know if you’d have some time to get together in the next few weeks.”

3. Or actual strangers email/DM/tweet me: “Hey! I found my dreamjob at your organization. Could I buy you a coffee to learn more about what it’s like to work there?”

I actually am always the most impressed by the 3rd — that’s a tough communique to send to a stranger, and tells me that they really are curious/determined/passionate/whatever.

And — to be honest — most of these requests come on behalf of male applicants (bless them!). But I want to remind any women who don’t take advantage of this approach that:


a) anyone who cares about their work *likes* helping awesome people join the team,
b) successful people will turn you down if they’re too busy, so don’t worry that they’re too busy to even ask,
c) Your (often male) competition is doing this without hesitation. Your job is to eat their lunch.

—Ada

15 notes