Women who work from home can boost their productivity by setting up a comfortable and efficient workspace at home.

By Prerna Malik

For most career women, the office and home tend to overlap. Whether you’re a high-powered executive who brings home projects from work or a working mother with a home-based business, chances are you have a niche that you use to work in.

A home office can be a dedicated room with a door that shuts out the television and the household sounds or it could be an area in your dining room. Regardless of how big or small your home office is, here are ways to organize and improve it to boost your own productivity and efficiency:

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What are the top 5 mistakes made by women during a job interview? HR professionals tell us the mistakes to avoid.

By Aarti Krishnakumar

Inadequate preparation, not matching the company to one’s work-life requirements, wearing the wrong outfit – these make a world of difference when meeting with your prospective employer.

It doesn’t help that women are often asked tricky interview questions about their personal lives. What common mistakes should women at work be aware of when on the job hunt? Read on!

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Careers for women in the IT industry often stop with 5-8 years of work experience. But, career transition from programming is possible.

By Sairee Chahal

The Indian IT and ITES industry employs anywhere between 1.5 to 2 million people. Coders or programmers form a big chunk of this pie. While it is one of the few sectors with a decent gender ratio at 25-30 percent, this begins to dwindle as women reach mid-careers.

Caregivers – working mothers, women supporting traveling spouses, taking care of the elderly, army wives leave as they need to assign equal attention to two primary responsibilites. Women professionals with an average of 7-8 years experience and care-giving duties come to a point where work needs to meet life better.

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Is gender equality a reality in Indian offices or can one percieve subtle differences? Should gender influence how we interact at the workplace?

By Chitra Iyer

The question is not so much as ‘should it’ because any rational mind will tell you that undoubtedly it should not. However, the truth is that at the workplace, as indeed in any other place or situation where men and women interact, gender often provides a subliminal framework for interaction. While gender-dynamics are a given across the world and the boundaries of ‘normal’ vary across societies; as a practicing woman professional in India I have found gender to be a more dominant influencer here than in other cultures.

Irrespective of what is legally and morally acceptable in the modern Indian corporate workplace today, how we actually behave is another story altogether – one that starts when we are very young and impressionable. How many of you find the below situations familiar?

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Many older women are starting businesses quite late in their lives and becoming successful at it too. A heart-warming look at some such senior entrepreneurs. 

By Nisha Salim

If you think that all Indian women in their golden years spend time singing bhajans, babysitting grandkids or watching saas-bahu soaps, you couldn’t be further from the truth.

On the contrary, many are working their way to success, generating jobs, contributing to our economy and also giving back to the society in a way that most young people cannot.

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Are multiple commitments and shuttling between work and home modes leaving you stressed or feeling low? Learn the work-life balance.

By Aarti Krishnakumar

Creating a balance between work and life is a juggling game, and one that people master with time and experience. Everyone needs this balance, but it’s tough especially for mothers with children or those with elders at home who need additional care.

While they do not want to compromise on work quality, many organisations are coming to terms with the fact that people do need to spend time away from work and fulfill their personal commitments to boost their productivity.

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2012 has just begun and we are in resolution mode! How about considering some of these resolutions to make your work and life run smoother?

By Chitra Iyer

Resolution 1: I shall not feel guilty if I don’t do everything. And if I don’t get everything done on time.

Reality: Do you sign up to do a million things at home and office, for friends and even your housing society? And then spend time making excuses for not being able to do them? And then spend even more time feeling guilty about it? Let go of the ‘I want to be Superwoman’ complex and just enjoy being you.

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Are you confident enough? What are the factors affecting confidence in Indian women? Some tips to improve your self-confidence!

By Jaya Narayan

India ranks 113 out of 134 countries in gender parity according to the World Economic Forum’s recent Global Gender Gap Index. This metrics is an indication of access to education and opportunities for Indian women compared to their counterparts in the rest of the world. Sairee Chahal, Co-founder, Fleximoms, shares, “Women not speaking up in family matters, not owning property or financial assets, not taking decisions related to relationships, careers, family and children add to the perception of lack of confidence”.

Priya Chetty Rajagopal, Vice President and Partner, Stanton Chase points out, “Education, exposure, mentoring, family support, organizational context and being an optimist are some factors that determine the level of confidence in people. In a similar cross section of urban and educated professionals, the confidence levels across gender are close, but bring up a crisis, and you see the great divide”.

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With 2011 drawing to a close, here is our look at 10 Indian women achievers – who have some interesting ‘firsts’ to their credit.

By Anne John

Education, Administration, Arts, Science, Law, Sports, Defence, Politics – the list of fields in which Indian women have excelled this year seems like an endless one indeed! Here are some path-breaking women who we noticed for their pioneering achievements. Did you come across any such inspiring women this year? Do leave a comment and tell us! Continue reading →

Career women today are often compelled to relocate. The story of one young woman, who overcame her fears and chose to begin anew. 

By Chandrima Pal

Gone are the days when women moved to a new city, simply to follow their husbands. Women moving from one city to another for career reasons are not taboo anymore but it is still considered a daunting task that should be avoided if possible. A general lack of safety for single women coupled with the notion that a woman’s destiny is in marriage, only leads to anxious parents. No wonder then that the confidence of single women gets ruined through such overprotective and conservative family pressures. Nidhi S*, 23 is one such woman.

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