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What department do you work in?
Anyone up for practicing case coming weekend?
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It can be difficult. At times it feels like it's a constant battle to be taken seriously, and when you're young it can really be exasperating. One thing to keep in mind is not to let people erode your self-confidence. Be who you are, and be good at your job, and over time things will get better. Doing it quickly can happen, but in some things there are no easy shortcuts.
When you say that you feel you are being disregarded what does that look like? I doubt that they are saying to you directly that your thoughts don’t matter because of your age. Without knowing specifics I can take one scenario to offer. Is it that your opinion on something is not taken as the decision and instead others directions are being enacted? When I am asked this question by folks that are younger, age is commonly the number one reason that is defaulted to as to why their idea is not done because they haven’t become aware it is truly due to something else. I would advise when you feel this way to really get down to the issues, people or situations that you find this to be the case in. Find out the reason specifically as to why for example a decision was made if you can i.e. was it cheaper was it perhaps that it truly was the better route to take and in fact had nothing to do with your age or competency.
In terms of building trust and rapport with individuals who are your peers, employees and even more senior management I have found that I tend to trust more when people are competent, consistent in their behaviors, their actions (do what you committed to do timely), and they are acutely aware of their limitations and seek to learn from them. Unfortunately yes, it does take time to build trust but it can be accomplished with consistency.
Personally I use it to my advantage and surprise people with my skills and knowledge. When people have low expectations of you, you can choose to be upset by it, or you can just use it to impress them. I know it can be really frustrating, but just try to remember that most people don't mean harm by this kind of thing. Prove them wrong one step at a time, you got this!
You really just have to put in the work, be well prepared, bring an opinion or point of view.
And ask concise, thoughtful questions
Been here. And I've climbed a few more rungs on the "ladder" since my first leadership job. Get out of your head and be the best at what you do. Your work will speak for you. Be visible to those outside of your immediate team, don't skip the small talk, and be your authentic self (professionally, of course). Always remember there is a bigger picture, and sometimes the best approach is to simply say, "may I ask what factored into this decision?" or "can you provide some support to clarify your stance on this, I'm not quite understanding." --- Get to the bigger picture and make sure you being disregarded isn't due to something completely different than you being a young female. Rarely, this is the case. Also, this will help you learn what drives decisions - which you will need to understand in order to get your own ideas off the drawing board and into reality. Good luck!
Hey! I want to recommend a book. Jessica Chen’s “Smart, Not Loud” gives great tips on how to manage your office experience at work, get noticed for the right things, and foster professional relationship building skills. 10/10