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Don’t Let the Beckys Be the Only Ones at Happy Hour
For women of color especially, work-related socializing could be the best way to get ahead
An important aspect of building your squad at work is putting yourself out there. And there are plenty of books about how to create a network, but what most won’t tell you is one simple but important factor: stuff happens after 6 p.m.
Minda, what you do mean, stuff happens after 6 p.m.? Well… I’m glad you asked. Not every business decision occurs between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
After running career boot camps for almost three years, I’ve heard countless women of color say, “I don’t want to go to happy hour with my colleagues.”
My response is virtually always the same. You don’t have to go to happy hour, but you know who is at happy hour? Becky. Becky is going to be at happy hour, having a great time, laughing at all of Bob’s jokes, and finding out the tea, while you’re at home watching old episodes of Girlfriends on BET, wondering how Becky got promoted.
We have to put ourselves out there so our colleagues get to know us.
The happy hours, the barbeques, the birthday parties, this is where employees find out what’s coming…
