My entire department is all men, ranging from late 30s to 50ish. I’m leading the sales team and sometimes I feel like I’m being judged because I’m an attractive young woman (I’m 35 but everyone thinks I’m in my late 20s - the curse of being Asian) who’s single. All my colleagues are old and married. I’m concerned that I’m not being respected or promoted fast enough because of being perceived as too young. What can I do? I feel like if I’m married with kids, I will be more relatable to my coworkers and boss. But I’m not. I just haven’t met the right person yet. What can I do to garner more credibility and respect? I sell large energy projects to government agencies so my performance is evaluated through a long sales cycle (1-2 years). It doesn’t happen fast enough and in the mean time I feel like my career is stagnant. TC = 130-150K.
Tough one. One question- you say you lead a sales team of older reps. Thus in a management role, one that oversees employees, a position of trust and responsibility. What makes you say/think that you need more credibility or respect? Or that you cannot advance further than your current role? If your performance is stellar and you've been there long enough to where you feel you should have been promoted to another level, then that's simply a matter of sitting with your boss or skip level and understanding what expectations are to get to that level.
I’m respected enough to lead the team. But through my intersection with older colleagues I can sense that they’re questioning my ability. I plan on talking to my boss about the next level after we closed a certain amount of contracts.
Have you checked Tesla? Many employees there are about the same age as you. Maybe they need people with your industry background.
Dress old
Try clothing and makeup trick. It’s amazing how much image transformation it can do. OR switch company
Plan team event and game and mix up. It’s good
A few Asian women friends of mine say they feel the need to wear heels and do makeup every day to be taken seriously. Maybe along the same line of thinking....have a few higher status signaling items do the talking for you? High end hand bag, shoes, and key piece of designer clothing here or there?
I wear heels and old lady dresses.
Lol? You think you’re attractive?
I think I’m a 7. But my boss and colleagues have joked that I was hired because I’m attractive and that I get meetings with potential clients. I know. It’s sexist.
😞 dang yeah sounds like not an ideal set of people to work with. Nothing you can do to change them. But you could learn a new set of skills and move to a different industry
I'd first reflect on the observations you've made and look for other causes that may be leading to your perception of being 'judged' because of being an 'attractive young woman' who is 'single', 'not being respected' and 'not promoted fast enough' because of 'being too young'. Do you 'clearly' see the same bias with other people that fit the same profile as yours or could these be originating from some other factors? You may be taking the easier path by relating the negative outcomes to things that you can't change. Look closer.
Could be other unknown factors. I’m considering all causes.
Go somewhere else! Sounds like your industry has some biases
If I go somewhere else, it’ll be an energy or defense company so same biases
Why do you have to stay within those industries?