Day 16: Ask for support for your side quest
Your side project might just be your secret weapon at work.
𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 - whether that's an open source project, a diversity initiative, a technical blog, or a community you're building.
Richa Gupta turned her side quest of teaching an AI course internally into a career catalyst when it made her visible enough to get a promotion even with a major org change!
𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀: "I'm working on [side project] that focuses on [relevant area]. I think this could benefit our team/company by [specific ways]. Would there be any way to get support - whether that's time, resources, or just visibility within the company?"
𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵:
✅ Building your expertise in relevant areas
✅ Raising the company's profile in the community
✅ Attracting talent who share similar interests
✅ Developing skills you bring back to work
Be clear about the value and what kind of support you need. Companies often sponsor conference talks, support open source projects, or give time for initiatives tied to their mission.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿.
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✅ Want to get even better at asking? I still have a limited number of seats left in the July 25 cohort of my course. Last cohort of this year! https://maven.com/chaitali-narla/outstanding-tech-career