Five Ways Women Can RaiseTheir Professional Profile
By Karin Halperin

You might be doing an outstanding job, but if nobody notices, your efforts are likely to go unrewarded.

Most women who reach the upper echelons of management aren't shy about talking about their successes. But some observe that a reluctance to do so is one factor holding other women back in their careers. Whether you're seeking better pay in your current job, a promotion or looking to move on to a new employer, these tips can help to put women -- as well as men -- on the radar screen of decision-makers in your field.

1. Become an authority.
Developing an expertise helps you stand out, especially if it's territory no one else has yet staked. Shelley Harrison, chief executive officer of Launch Pad Inc., a San Francisco company that manages marketing for high-tech start-ups, says she learned this lesson as a product-marketing engineer in the 1980s at Hewlett-Packard Co., just as office automation was catching on.
"I developed this expertise of quickly and efficiently launching products and became known as a launch queen," says Ms. Harrison.
The skill, she says, won her recognition: HP made her its email product manager in its U.K. division and, on returning to the States, she was assigned to then-new CD-ROM technology. To help explain and promote it, Ms. Harrison created a cartoon-style booklet and commissioned photographs of kitschy sci-fi characters inspired by the New Wave band Devo to put on the discs, which were handed out at trade shows.
"Your expertise doesn't have to be something the company even knows they care about yet," says Ms. Harrison. "But you have to be an evangelist for why they should care."
She was recruited out of HP and went on to manage marketing for other high-tech companies before founding Launch Pad 11 years ago.

2. Polish your public speaking.
Libby Sartain, senior vice president of human resources and chief people officer at Yahoo Inc., attributes much of her advancement to speaking at industry conferences and forums. "That got me noticed, " says Ms. Sartain. She had developed an expertise in compensation and benefits and the drivers of health-care costs while at Southwest Airlines Inc., where she'd worked for 13 years, eventually becoming its "vice president of people" before joining Yahoo in 2001.
"Other people are at these conferences, noticing your talent," she says. That's been a hiring strategy for Yahoo, says Ms. Sartain, who's in charge of recruiting at the Internet company. "We send our recruiters to conferences to look at who's speaking and whether they're any good," she says. Women, she says, are often in the minority at technology meetings. "I think women often miss those opportunities," says Ms. Sartain.

3. Identify new ways to build business.
Lisa Sloan Walker, a business director at Campbell Soup Co., who runs its new-business development group, has drawn notice by finding new ways to showcase the company's products. As a junior marketer in the condensed-soup unit 10 years ago, she says, she spotted a fresh advertising tactic. She noticed that many shoppers purchased tomato soup for cooking casseroles and other dishes and proposed promoting the soup as an ingredient instead of as a meal in itself.
"It helped grow the business," Ms. Sloan Walker says. "In the whole scheme of things, it wasn't one of those things that most senior management was focused on, but I created a space for myself and was able to execute it." As a result, the Camden, N.J.-based company sent her to Tokyo for a stint, a rare opportunity for someone at her level then. "It helped me grow as a business leader," she says.
Back in the U.S., as a beverages brand manager, she helped revive the V8Splash business by linking it with USA Swimming, she says. The move gave her "great visibility. It was one of those things we hadn't done much as a company," she says. The company tapped her to lead its single-serve beverage group and later as marketing director for Campbell's beverage business, eventually putting her in charge of soup new-business development.
"I think a lot of women wait to be asked or expect they can work hard and good things will come to them," she says. "I go out there and find people who are willing to listen and help me sell my ideas."

4. Participate in an industry association.
Don't just join, volunteer, says David Perry, managing partner of Perry-Martel International Inc., an Ottawa recruiting firm. Leading a membership or fund-raising committee has particularly high visibility, says Mr. Perry. "If I'm looking for a VP of marketing or sales, that's where I'll look," he says. "The first thing I do is hit an association's Web site and see who's speaking at a conference. They get all the calls."
Writing articles about what you know also gives you exposure and enhances your credibility. "Whether it's letters to the editor or opinion pieces for industry journals or trade associations, white papers, or press releases, the idea is to be a source for people in your industry," says Mr. Perry, co-author of "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters" (Wiley, 2005).
Volunteering for community-service organizations and company-sponsored activities also can raise your profile. But don't be too selfless about your philanthropy, says Mr. Perry. "Decide who you want to get noticed by," he says, "and go and find out what boards they're on, what charities they support, and go volunteer for those. It's the easiest way to get to your end goal."

5. Publicize your achievements.
Use your company's newsletter or Intranet site to highlight what you and your group have done. "On our site, we have a place where any employee can write in a story idea -- a product-improvement story, a community story," says Nancy Reardon, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Campbell Soup Co. With company employees from the CEO on down visiting the site, she says, "it's a great way to get noticed. Employees world-wide email each other about these ideas, so you get noticed by both colleagues and people above you in the organization."
Don't be afraid to toot your own horn, says Ms. Reardon. "I do think women in general hang back," she says. "I think it's important for women to learn how to brag, but in a positive way...by not only showcasing what they've done but giving credit to the people around them."

-- Ms. Halperin is a free-lance writer in New York.

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