Overcoming the credibility conundrumOvercoming the credibility conundrum

AUSTIN – Big 5G Event – In this fireside chat during the Women in Telecoms workshop, experts from AT&T, Boingo and MetTel discuss the "credibility conundrum," and how women in the industry can better demonstrate their value and best utilize their skill sets to advance their careers.

Layli Amiri, lead member of technical staff, network infrastructure and services for AT&T; Lori Thomas, SVP of strategic engagement and transformation for MetTel; and Rachel Rea, SVP of operations for Boingo, discuss how to access leadership and continuing education programs, the importance of speaking up and taking credit for personal success, and how to identify allies and support in the workforce.

Attracting female talent to the telecom industry continues to be a challenge.

"It does have to start young and you have to breed that interest. You also need women in roles and responsibility of influence," said MetTel's Lori Thomas.

"If you look across Fortune500 companies today, there's 15% [female] CEOs which is 74 women. It is not enough."

Here are just a few things covered in this fireside chat:

How the telecom industry can attract more female talent (03:31) Opportunities to reskill to establish credibility (06:55) Accessing leadership programs (08:54) Identifying allies and advocates (10:13) Making your voice heard inside and outside your organization (16:49) Becoming more comfortable with self-promotion (19:17) Changing course after constructive criticism (22:00) What to do when you don't have all the answers (24:10) Check out more news from the Big 5G Event here. — Kelsey Kusterer Ziser, Senior Editor, Light Reading