324: Build Long Term Relationships and Find A Great Mentor with Sham Jabeen

In this week's show, Phil talks to Sham Jabeen, who has worked in the tech industry for the past 12 years, starting her career is an Account Manager for an IT support and services company. She is now a Senior Account Manager for Total Computers, where she works in partnership with vendors such as Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Microsoft and Google, and manages clients in the legal, financial and gaming industries. She is also the co-founder of Tech UK as well as a tech mentor and empowerment coach with a specific focus on women and diversity. Sham talks about the value of building relationships. She also discusses the importance of finding a mentor, and how coaching can help to guide our career paths.   KEY TAKEAWAYS:   TOP CAREER TIP Building long term relationships are the key to a long term career. Your network is your net worth, and foundations built throughout your career will serve you at all points.   WORST CAREER MOMENT After beginning at a certain company, she was dismayed to find that the culture there was one of exclusion, and suffered extraordinary racism at the hands of her colleagues.   CAREER HIGHLIGHT After working incredibly hard, Sham landed a huge deal – the biggest in her organization during 2019 – and became the highest achiever of the year. This was accomplished through her relationships with others and hard work.   THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T Sham is excited and inspired by the sight of more women in the sector, and more diversity in the tech space.   THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Financial incentives were extremely compelling. What's the best career advice you received? – Don't just settle and always be your authentic self. What's the worst career advice you received? – That Sham was not capable enough to lead people. What would you do if you started your career now? – Sham would look more into cybersecurity or networking. What are your current career objectives? Tech UK, mentoring and coaching, being a role model and raising awareness. What's your number one non-technical skill? – Effective communication How do you keep your own career energized? – Setting goals, making sure that reboot time is taken, and being thankful for everything achieved so far. What do you do away from technology? – Dancing, dining out and praying.   FINAL CAREER TIP Find a good coach or mentor that will be able to guide you. Coaches help to give us new perspectives and can guide us through challenging times.   BEST MOMENTS (4:44) – Sham - "Your network is your worth" (9:12) – Sham - "If you build relationships, you will go from strength to strength" (23:46) – Sham – "I want to see more women leaders, role models, mentors, coaches. That's what excites me about IT" (27:50) – Sham – "Don't just settle and always be your authentic self"   ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_PhilBurgess LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Instagram: https://instagram.com/_philburgess Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – SHAM JABEEN Sham Jabeen has worked in the tech industry for the past 12 years, starting her career is an Account Manager for an IT support and services company. She is now a Senior Account Manager for Total Computers, where she works in partnership with vendors such as Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Microsoft and Google, and manages clients in the legal, financial and gaming industries. She is also the co-founder of Tech UK as well as a tech mentor and empowerment coach with a specific focus on women and diversity.   CONTACT THE GUEST – SHAM JABEEN Sham Jabeen can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sham-j-34732727/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tech__uk/