The Mid-Career Professionals Affinity Group (AG) was formed to bridge the gap between the already established Early Career Professionals and Late Career and Retiree AGs for members in the 10-25 year range of career experience. The Mid-Career Professionals AG supports those who are established in their career and looking for support during transitions typically experienced at this stage of their career. This can include transitions into management levels, job changes, hybrid career paths (leadership in a technical role), career breaks, parenting, caregiving, new ways to excel, reentering the workforce, and/or adapting to changing times. This AG will connect members in virtual settings for networking, best practices sharing, and mutual support.
While this demographic tends to be responsible for managing responsibilities at work, home, or their community, we understand time is incredibly valuable. This AG aims to provide a venue to stay connected with SWE and receive the SWE support needed with minimal commitment, or travel. The last thing we want is to add more to the do-to list.
The dimensions of mid-career are numerous, making the scope of mid-career support very large. As a first exercise within the group, around 150 members were asked to comment with words to describe what “mid-career engineering” meant to them. Below is the word cloud that was captured.
Early in the formation of the group, a leadership meeting showed mid-career issues are pretty extensive. From riding the ranks to caretaking to finding healthy ways to rest and build resilience – it’s no wonder engineers feel the pressure at this point in their careers! This group is looking for people that would be willing to facilitate conversations about mid-career issues. For example:
|
|
The goals and objectives of these roles are to provide a safe space for support, opportunities for discussion, and collaboration on the topic. This can include posting on social media and hosting discussions in the comments, hosting a zoom meeting, or organizing a meet-up at a conference.
AG co-chairs Deb Willems (she/her) and Felicia Guerrero Green (she/her) are looking forward to further establishing the group in its beginning year. For more information contact Deb Willems (debwillemsswe@gmail.com) or Felicia Guerrero Green (feguerre@gmail.com).
Opt into the Mid-Career Professionals Affinity Group email list by logging into your member portal and updating your Communication Preferences.
