|
|
In This Issue |
|
Editor's Note
PWG News
PWG Sucess Stories:
Job Hunting Group Success
Style Diary
Classifieds:
Schmid Relocation |
|
|
Susan Tesselaar
Editor
I have just picked up, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson. I must be the only one in my family who hasn't read this book let alone the entire trilogy! I am really looking forward to getting stuck in to see if it lives up to my expectations of a truly gripping read! |
|
Justyna Klebermass
PWG Communications
Manager
I am finishing a book by
New Yorker staff writer
Peter Hesler about China
titled "Country Driving: A
Journey through China
from Farm to Factory.”
For anyone interested in
culture, life far away,
good analysis, a well
written story and the new
Asia. This is a smart and
compassionate book and
comes recommended.
|
|
Katie Kurtz
Networker Proof Reader
I am currently caught up in one woman's travelling adventure and I love it - I'm reading Elizabeth Gilbert's, "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything across Italy, India and Indonesia”. Based on her own life events, Gilbert discovers her real self as she curiously explores the world (and recounts life's experiences which most of us can relate to). Vivid, entertaining, well written, honest and inspiring. |
|
Kasia Fornalska
Style Diary
I'm reading "Status Anxiety" by Alain de Botton. |
|
Desiree Steinmann
Leader of the PWG Success Group
Désirée Steinmann is a certified Coach and Professional Master Trainer and Workshop Leader who works internationally with clients of all levels. She is also the author of the book "Reflections – bringing attention to your every day life”. Désirée believes in creating a life you love and helps her clients to see all the possibilities and motivates them to take ownership and action. |
|
Ellen Peitz
Success Group Interview
Ellen has worked in the insurance industry for 14 years, notably with Allianz in Germany. She is currently working with Swiss Life. Ellen holds a Marketing Management Degree from Bentley University and a certification as an insurance / investment funds consultant. |
|
Kelly Dycus
Leader of the PWG Job Hunting Group
Kelly Dycus received her Master's in Communication Management from the University of Southern California and her Bachelor's in Marketing at the University of Wisconsin. Most of her career, Kelly has been a Project Manager in Medical Education for National Health Organizations. She moved to Zurich in 2009 and currently manages the PWG Job Hunting Group. |
Karri Ann Werner
Job Hunting Group
Success Story
Karri moved to
Switzerland with her
Swiss husband Thomas
and currently lives in
Oberrieden in Kanton
Zurich. Karri was raised
in Michigan but went to
college in North Caroline
and worked in Atlanta,
Georgia. Karri enjoys
cooking, reading and
being social, she also
tries to be sporty. | |
|
Editor's Note
With the burning of the Böögg (Snowman), it is officially Spring!
In England (where I was born), this time of year is all about the
"Spring Clean” and having a really good sort out before getting
out the duster and polish! BUT, if not too surprisingly, this
doesn't grab you, then hopefully this issue's book ideas will –
on my left, you can check out what Panel members are
currently reading.
As for our Networker content… we have a "Success story”
spread where members from the PWG Success and Job
Hunting Interest Groups conducted interviews to share their
experiences of success and learning – I was certainly inspired
by the energy coming off the page!
In this edition, we bring you up-to-date with the important
points from the PWG Annual General Meeting held in March.
We also have our regular Style Diary which is a must read if
you are thinking about a new "Spring look” or simply updating
your wardrobe.
I hope you enjoy browsing this issue and extended thanks
again to all our Guest writers.
Susan Tesselar, Editor
Networker
PWG News
PWG held its 2009 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on
March 16th. We thank the 42 members and guestswho
participated in an active discussion about our future. We noted
strong PWG growth with both membership and average
attendance reaching new levels. Perhaps our "hottest topic”
was how to make our monthly events break-even financially
as PWG is growing. As one solution, members approved a
2010 budget that would allow us to raise event fees to
CHF 70.00 for members.
After the AGM, the Executive Committee considered all
input heard and decided to raise event fees to only CHF 60 for
members and CHF 80 for nonmembers for the April and May
events. Both events, along with our AGM, broke-even!
As a result, the event fee for June will remain the same with a
similar dinner service or full dinner buffet.
You will find two new Forums added to our web site
community: 2009 AGM Dialogue and 2009 Member Survey.
There (when logged-in to your profile) you can access the
AGM Minutes and Member Survey results and continue to
share your ideas. PWG Vice President Helen Palmer will
monitor these Forums and ensure that the EC is aware of
all feedback. Your feedback is important to us as we continue
to try new ideas to give PWG a stronger role it the
Zurich community.
We hope you find these steps positive and appreciate your
continued energetic and enthusiastic support of PWG.
Jill Allemang, President
PWG
PWG Success Stories
By PWG Success Group Leader, Désirée Steinmann
Hi. My name is Désirée Steinmann. For a long time I was
looking for a group of people who could put their heads together
to help each other become more successful.
I have often experienced how easy it is to come up with ideas,
even make choices and put an action plan together, when
brainstorming with like-minded people. In such an environment,
you can openly discuss the feelings of fear or uncertainty which
hold you back. I also learned that if I was surrounded by people
who played a much bigger game or who took really bold steps,
I too felt empowered and motivated to think big and take more
educated risks. Often we work alone, with no readily available
person to consult. Even in a team environment, people often
prefer to keep business issues and challenges to themselves.
I believe a success group can be a great way to get the
needed "energy injection” to move forward faster, have partners
along the way and as an added bonus, meet and have fun with
interesting people. With all this in mind, I wanted to join such
a group. The search began, I asked around…..and then quite
spontaneously, here I was sitting at a PWG meeting. As I
was enjoying a great conversation with successful women,
the penny dropped: "Why wish for one, when I can create such a
group myself!?” I had all that I needed – a clear idea of what the
needs of a success group were, and the PWG network in
front of me.
The energy we create at our meetings is totally uplifting,
contagious and motivating. I find the friendship and expertise we
share with each other simply fantastic. If you also have a desire
that you would like to turn into reality, this is the group to join.
We are ready to welcome and support you on your future
road to success!
Successfully,
Désirée
A Success Group Tip:
Success is often based on two things
- meeting the right people who support and encourage you
- putting your ideas into action
Interview with Désirée and a member of the
Success Interest Group, Ellen Peitz
Q: What is your professional background?
A: I have a Bachelor of Science from Bentley University,
Massachusetts, USA.
Since 1996, I have been in the Insurance business
starting at Allianz Suisse and after a few stops
I am now with Swiss Life.
Q: What is your personal background?
A: One long-term marriage, one grown-up son and p
lenty in between!!
Q: What inspired you to join PWG?
A: It was actually my boss who inspired me to join a
professional group of women for networking.
As it happens, he has since been fired and I am still
with PWG.
Q: How does the PWG Success Group help to shape
your thinking professionally and personally?
A: Just being part of a "Success Group” changes your thinking!
Q: What secrets (or advice) have you learned about
being a professional woman in Zurich?
A: To be myself! It's the best advice/secret for
being a true professional.
Boundaries, obstacles and narrow mindedness have
been my greatest motivators… keep going and believe in
what you do and see the results and feeling it gives to
those around you.
Q: How has the difficult market situation impacted you
professionally and personally?
A: The market encourages me to change for the better!
Q: What is a personal passion of yours?
A: To love and to dance
|
|
Job Hunting Group Success
"Women Sometimes Need to Stick Together”
Interview from PWG JHG Leader, Kelly Dycus and former
job hunter, Karri Werner
After an eight-year overseas romance with her Swiss beau,
Karri Werner bravely decided to marry and leave her career in
financial sales with JPMorgan Chase to make the move to the
charming city of Zurich. The choice was not made lightly - she had many fears and apprehensions about leaving her position shortly after the 2008 U.S. economic market crash, the effects of which swept the world and had a devastating effect on the financial industry's reputation.
Karri felt society's strong distrust towards the industry. She
was concerned that she would be negatively labelled IF she
could even find a new job in the uncertain economic climate
and in the financial sector where dramatic downsizing was
taking place. Would she have to start all over again?
Would she be able to meet other women like herself that
valued their careers?
Karri concluded that this move could be an ideal time to
explore different career options outside the financial industry.
She attended PWG's "8 Minute Networking” session and found this an excellent opportunity to meet other career-oriented women and to learn about their chosen professions as a preliminary search towards a potential new career path:
"I wanted to find my niche in Switzerland. I like PWG because
we have a wide variety of professional women that are warm,
intelligent, have a high energy level and above all, value
their careers.”
Karri also joined other organizations in Zurich but she found
PWG to be her best fit:
"I joined PWG to associate with other professional women.
I wanted to be inspired and help inspire others if I could,”
she explains."Women sometimes need to stick together!”
Anouk Poelmann, President of Volvo Switzerland, was one
such inspiration. "I thought it was great that even though it
might seem like she didn't have the best qualifications to get
her job with Volvo Russia, for example, she didn't speak
Russian, she was confident in her abilities and persisted until
she was offered the job. Besides, Anouk is so young too!
What an inspiration!”
Karri joined PWG's Job Hunting Group when it launched in
early 2009. Since the group was international, just like many
employers in Switzerland, she valued the input of group
members with her job search and respected the different cultural backgrounds each brought to the discussion - whether it was suggestions for formatting her CV or tips on adapting her interview style.
She found the mock interview invaluable to her career search
and appreciated the educational presentations on the topic
so she could better prepare. This summer, there will be a
video-taped interview session and ironically she wishes she
didn't have a job so she could participate!
The Job Hunting Group meets bi-weekly for coffee,
"I found that afternoon coffee was an important social outlet
when I was focused on my job search. Searching for a job can
get very frustrating. Meeting up with other group members
was a great support system. Group members were friendly
and could relate to what I was experiencing. They were also
happy to brainstorm regarding different avenues for pursuing jobs. They even suggested books and personality assessment tests so that I could fully explore all my options. Overall, I thought that they were really just a great group of women.”
Karri now works in Global Wealth Management with CitiTrust
Private Banking. After extensive research, she realized she
had chosen her field correctly after all! In her free time,
Karri enjoys cooking, watching movies and socializing.
Style Diary – "Inside Out” Makeover
By PWG's own Kasia Fornalska
When was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror
and thought: Wow, I look great!
If the answer to this question is "quite a while ago” ... the time
has come to change your way of thinking! Simply put, we are not objective when it comes to judging our own looks!
A couple of months ago I read an article in Psychology Today,
which caught my attention "WE ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY
HOTTER THAN WE THINK.”
The explanation followed… everyone is too fixated on their own appearance to be scrutinizing someone else's! In contrast to
ourselves, we look at other people as a whole package.
Individually, we only focus on the imperfections.
Repeatedly, research (rightly or wrongly) has shown that we
prefer to interact with attractive people and in so doing form more positive impressions of them. It might appear that good-looking people are treated better than those who aren't, so there is nothing wrong in wishing to be beautiful.
The question is: How to do it the natural way?
The most important beauty secret of all – know yourself!
We all have an ability to change how other people perceive us.
When we're convinced we look good, others see us in a more
favorable light. Understanding your own self-perception is key
to making sure you stop obsessing over your appearance and
actually look better.
The way we judge almost everything is by way of comparison.
Social comparisons happen constantly and automatically.
Unfortunately, too often when women evaluate their physical attractiveness, they match themselves with an idealized
standard of beauty, such as fashion models and airbrushed
magazines, so it's no surprise that this comparing can make
us feel low.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of us all?
Physical perfection is a myth we strive for yet paradoxically it's
often hard to admit the good parts about yourself. None of us want to get caught admiring ourselves in the mirror, but this is exactly what has to be done!
There is no way of knowing what will make us look attractive
without taking an honest look at yourself. We all come in different shapes and sizes but every woman has flaws on her body she may wish to hide and beautiful parts she should want to show off. Here are my three steps when it comes to upgrading your appearance:
Step 1: Identify your body shape and look for clothes which
balance your body proportions. For example, if your body
resembles the shape of an hourglass - be happy and show off
what you‘ve got! If your figure is smaller on the top and wider on the bottom, your goal will be to balance shoulders to hips meaning your upper body should always be a focal point when
planning an outfit.
Step 2: Know and play up your assets!
For example, if you like your waistline, wrap dresses that tie at the waist or belts that cinch will show off your defined midsection. If you love your arms, sleeveless tops, halter tops, and strapless dresses will attract attention. Nice butt? Trousers or jeans with interesting back pockets will show off your natural curves or if you like your neck, reveal it by wearing V-necks and wide U-necks to elongate its appearance.
Step 3: Accept the parts you are less than thrilled about and
find out how to disguise them! For example, the eye is attracted by colors that are light, bright and shiny, so do not wear these in places you do not want to emphasize; from head to toe, monochromatic outfits create the illusion of height and medium, dark colors diminish size.
Like a picture, clothes say a thousand words. Consciously
choose the clothes that make you feel authentic, that say
something about your personality and make you look fabulous.
When you are convinced you look good, you will radiate a
positive energy so that other people respond well and feel just as glamorous in your company! |
|
| |
|
Classifieds
|
We are specialised in competently supporting families and individuals in finding their Swiss home!
Our sound expertise in the real-estate market and many years of experience in the relocation business allows us to offer a comprehensive and personal service tailored to you!
Our relocation assistance does not end with the move in to a new home; we also offer
individual concierge services:
-
Advice on insurance especially health insurance
-
Arranging furniture rental
-
Finding English speaking doctors, dentists
-
Advice on schools, day carers, babysitters
-
Organising handyman services
-
Finding household help
-
Shopping assistance (clothes, furniture, cars etc.)
-
Information about clubs, associations, language schools
-
Registration of dogs / finding animal hostels
… And many more things which make life easier...
We have made it our task to make the relocation process across national,
language and cultural borders as smooth and as personal as possible.
Contact us at info@schmid-relocation.ch.
Schmid Relocation GmbH
Bahnhofstrasse 6, 8302 Kloten-Zürich
Switzerland
Phone +41 (0)44 804 9090
Fax +41 (0)44 804 9099 +41 (0)44 804 9099
|
The Professional Women's Group, Zürich editor@professionalwomensgroup.com | |
|
|
|
|
Print Page
