As old-school as it might seem, a resume is still your key to letting people know what you offer to the job market. The way you communicate your skills, talents, and experience on paper can make or break landing that dream opportunity. And though many things about the job search have gone digital and the process has gotten quite casual with more jobs transitioning to remote work, a good resume is still a requirement for top companies and brands, even if you're a freelancer or self-employed.
According to a survey by Careerbuilder, one of the leading employment platforms, almost 24% of hiring managers spend less than 30 seconds even looking at a resume and another survey showed that 54% of job seekers don't customize their resume for each employer, leading to the less of a chance of even getting a call for an interview, nevertheless an offer. Also, 75% of recruiters "use some form of recruiting or applicant tracking software," or ATS, according to Capterra, an online business software resource.
Need any more proof that what you include in a resume—and how you include it—is important, sis? Take a look at a few tips for refreshing your resume to get optimal results when job-seeking:
Entry-Level: Your resume includes irrelevant, poorly worded, or hard-to-understand sections or formatting.
There's always the debate about whether or not to include an "objective" or "summary" section, however, if you do include either, experts recommend not only customizing it to truly tell, in a conversational manner, what you bring to the table but tell it in a way that will capture a prospective employer's attention.
Experts at Indeed, an OG job-listing website, suggest staying away from overused words and phrases like "team player," "go-getter," or "detailed-oriented," and replacing such expressions with actual details about your work history that illustrate that you embody those phrases.
For example, what specifically classifies you as a "go-getter"? Were you able to secure 20 new clients in the past 3 years working for a company? Did you start a new initiative that brought in revenue? Say that.
And since many recruiters and hiring managers use ATS, you'll want to be sure that you have a Word doc or rich text version of your resume that can be easily understood and dissected through any system that filters resumes for relevance to the position. The experts say that the ATS has a hard time reading specialized formatting like headers, footers, certain text boxes, and colored ink, so using traditional fonts and spelling out acronyms is recommended.
Entry-level: You're not selling your skills in a way that's dynamic.
You might have little to no traditional job experience, but that doesn't mean your resume should be bland or sparse. A good idea is to redirect focus from what you don't have (i.e. experience) to what you can offer. If you've volunteered, interned, or started your own side gig while unemployed or a student, market the skills you used in doing that, and tell the story as if you're the best person for the job you're going for. Don't downplay the time spent doing those things because your talents are valid and those projects often require skills that are transferable to almost any entry-level position.
Be sure to include information on any special certifications, training, or secondary education you've excelled at. Again, the key is to play up what you do offer, not what you don't.
You were the treasurer for your sorority, raising $2,000 for a benefit, collecting yearly dues, and handling the accounting for events and expenses? Talk about what you did and detail the results. Did you volunteer at a local pet shelter, grooming more than a dozen animals per month? Talk about your time management, animal care, and empathy skills in doing that. Did you intern for a small business owner, taking photos, scheduling Instagram posts, and coordinating Reels? Well, sis, that's a social media manager in the making. Toot your horn!
Mid-level: You're using descriptions that signify amateur or vague results.
Yes, the phrases and words you use in your resume can be a reflection of where you are in your career and your level of expertise. You don't want to give the impression that you're not a competitive match for your mid-level peers. Careerbuilder experts point to survey results that show that 38% of HR pros and recruiters aren't keen on "deal-breaking" phrases like "best of breed," while 26% are not fans of "think outside the box," for example.
Also, if you're using jargon or "industry-speak" that was all the rage back when you were in college in the early 2000s (See what I did there!), you might want to freshen up on your industry's language or even up your skills and training to reflect the times.
As a mid-level professional, you're at a level where you've gained quite a few career receipts, so speak on them boldly and with consideration of today's technology, deliverable expectations, and success metrics.
Get into percentages when you talk about growth, increase, or management of anything, name those brands you've done campaigns for, and talk about the talent you've attracted, mentored, and cultivated. Indeed experts recommend using words like "overhauled," "chaired," "championed," or "strategized" and including a professional title at the top of your resume to describe where you are in your career.
Mid-level: You're taking for granted the soft skills and omitting them.
By the time you've gotten to mid-level status, you might have been so focused on climbing up the ladder and getting results that you forgot about the soft skills that are the foundation of success. What's a soft skill? Well, if you have savvy with communicating with a certain audience, you're a great listener, you're a person people just like to work with, or you're great at connecting folk for lucrative collabs, those are soft skills.
And when you're looking at advancing beyond associate or assistant, it's the soft skills that CEOs look for when filling VP and other executive seats.
How do you express these via your resume? By, again, showing vs. telling. So, for example, adaptability is a key soft skill that leaders look for. Add in how you helped your company transition from an old system to new software or how you managed remote workers while bringing in new talent during the pandemic.
Experienced: You're listing information that's more than a decade old.
When you've worked in your industry for more than 10 years, it can be challenging to edit and omit job experience that you are proud of, but experts recommend that job seekers limit their resume to two pages, even if you have lots of experience. (For some jobs, like government service positions, you might have to submit a longer resume, but that's one of the very few exceptions.)
Experts recommend that seasoned professionals with more than a decade of experience list only what's relevant to the job they're applying for or their most recent experience.
There's no need to include your first job or details on a gig you had 10 years ago, especially if the duties you had aren't applicable to the job you're applying for.
Experienced: You're not highlighting long-term impact, honors, and awards.
Experts also recommend that professionals with more than seven years of experience highlight impact. That means if you were responsible for revenue increases, talent acquisition, business wins, or long-term investment projects, include that. If you were able to create overarching innovation that benefited the company, detail the how and why on that. You want to be concise, but don't downplay the larger successes you've had in your career, especially at your level. High-achievers respect results, so show them what you got!
Whatever stage you are in your career, be sure to plan accordingly in order to land that dream gig. If you have to get professional help, do that, but just be sure to be strategic and smart. It's the only way you'll continue to live in your purpose and advance in it.
Featured image via Prostock-Studio/Getty Images
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The Mecca Of Fashion: The Top Street Style Moments At Howard Homecoming
Outfits were planned, bags were packed, and cameras were ready to capture Howard University's collegiate spirit during its centennial Homecoming celebration. Not only does it hold the number one ranking as the most elite Historically Black College and University or its top performing academics, diversity of students and alumni, but the HBCU also leaves a legacy of style and grace.
The essence of effortless poise and refinement shines bright through the iconic university colors of indigo blue, red, and white. Every October, Howard University students, alumni, staff, and friends gather on the prestigious campus in Washington, D.C. to take part in time-honored traditions and events, which is Homecoming. This year's theme, “The Meccaverse,” was a week-long celebration of Howard University’s heritage, including the Homecoming football game and Bison Pep Rally, the Fashion Show, Greek Life Step Show, Homecoming Day of Service, Lavender Reception, and the iconic Yard Fest Concert.
As 2024 marked the 100th anniversary of the Howard Bison trek back to The Mecca and after two years of virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was to be a celebration of a lifetime. We enlisted HU alumnus Sharmaine Harris, a luxury retail buyer, as she revisited her alma mater as eyes on the yard for fashion-forward outfits mixed with personal style and campus pride for the weeklong celebration.
Before we get to the looks, discover how attending Howard University impacted her career in fashion and her day-to-day style:
Credit: Sharmaine and Friends
xoNecole: Describe your personal style. Did attending Howard have any impact on developing it?
Sharmaine: Howard taught me that there’s no such thing as being TOO dressed. There’s always a reason to “put it on” and look presentable, even if it’s just for a day of classes. Standing out was celebrated and encouraged with my peers embracing the opportunity, giving me the confidence to try new styles and trends.
xoNecole: How did Howard shape your career as a luxury buyer?
Sharmaine: I studied Fashion Merchandising, through which I was fortunate to have professors who were very connected to the industry and able to give first-hand accounts of opportunities and what to expect post-college. I was also able to build a network through my peers and other Howard Alum, which has opened doors to endless possibilities both within fashion as well as daily life.
The same confidence instilled in me through my style has also been rooted deeply within me as I step into any role or project I’m faced with throughout my career.
xoNecole: This year marked Howard’s 100th-anniversary Homecoming celebration. Can you describe what the weekend looked and felt like?
Sharmaine: I’ve gone to many Howard Homecomings since graduating, but this year’s 100th anniversary felt like a huge family reunion filled with nothing but love. It was beautiful to see so many Bison return home looking great and radiating joy. It was beautiful!
xoNecole: What makes Howard fashion different from other HBCUs?
Sharmaine: Being that Howard is The Mecca, we have such a diverse population with each individual having their own spin on fashion. Getting dressed is second nature for us, but the layered confidence is our secret ingredient to make any look come together. Through that comfortability to push barriers, we have a legacy of setting trends, as indicated by the many alumni we have in the fashion and entertainment industry.
Keep scrolling for the top street style moments from The Mecca's Homecoming weekend:
Credit: Lacey Gallagher
Credit: Alan Henderson
Credit: JaLynn Davis
Credit: Dylan Davis
Credit: Caleb Smith
Credit: Kendall W.
Credit: Jordyn Finney
Credit: Vanessa Nneoma
Credit: Dr. Mariah Sankey-Thomas
Credit: Caleb MacBruce
Credit: Tiffany Battle
Credit: Teniola
Credit: Ilahi Creary
Credit: Nicolas Ryan Grant
Credit: Dylan Davis
Join us in celebrating HBCU excellence! Check out our Best In Class hub for inspiring stories, empowering resources, and everything you need to embrace the HBCU experience.
Featured image courtesy of Sharmaine Harris
Message From A Mad Black Woman: Y’all Keep The Blue Bracelets, We’ll Take Our Rest.
Mere hours after the 2024 presidential election results made it clear that the United States would need to gird its loins for a second Trump presidency, a gaggle of women ran over to social media to announce that blue bracelets would serve as a new sign of solidarity. A safe space, if you will.
This declaration came about in response to Black women openly voicing their disappointment in both the election results and exit poll data that showed that not just white people, but Latinos and women of “all other races” had played a surprising role in the now President-Elect, Donald Trump’s reelection.
These exit polls quickly became the object of Black women’s attention and ultimate disappointment. Because while Black women went out and reliably voted for Vice President Kamala Harris to the tune of 91%, white women handed Trump 53% of their collective vote, Latino women 36%, and women of “other races” 46%.
On the night of November 5, 2024, Black women were left in shock. This shock would morph into disappointment, and the disappointment was a consequence of what, some would begin to argue, felt like, well, betrayal.
Like Rome, though, this heart-wrenching disappointment wasn’t built in a day.
Screenshot from "2024 Exit Polls," NBC News, accessed Nov. 12, 2024.
The Set-Up
On Sunday, July 21, President Joe Biden announced that he would not be seeking reelection - a decision that followed the disastrous one-and-done debate against former president Donald Trump, the subsequent wavering of major donors, and growing calls for a new candidate to run on the Democrat’s ticket. Hours after Biden’s announcement, Vice President Kamala Harris would send Beyoncé's internet into a frenzy by announcing that she would seek the party’s nomination.
That July night, 44,000 Black women assembled via Zoom to stress test the limits of the meeting app, break historical fundraising records, and strategize - subsequently setting into motion a series of virtual meet-ups. As a result, more Zoom meetings cropped up, bringing together attendees connected through countless combinations of backgrounds, orientations, and genders.
One said meeting was held by and for 164,000 “White Women for Kamala” who’d come together to publicly declare that they’d regretted not doing more in 2016 and were ready to use their privilege for the sake of advocacy and allyship.
A woman wearing an anti-Trump button as she listens to Democratic presidential nominee VP Kamala Harris speak at a campaign event on Oct. 18, 2024.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
For months, white women made it a point to convince Black women that they were on board - ensuring us that they were ready to seize their second chance at pushing back on the pillars of the patriarchy. The same group who’d failed to answer the call of rejecting Trump’s racist, sexist, and xenophobic antics before swore, for months, that they’d seen the error of their ways and were looking for redemption. The alleged fix? Betting better. Doing more. Voting differently.
While there was an understanding undertone of apprehension from Black women, the rhetoric began to lend itself to hope — with some going so far as to lift the moratorium on cookout invites. There seemed to be a collective sigh. A brief moment of unity.
The Let-Down
Little did Black women know, they were about to be played like a fiddle by the same group who, like in 2016 and 2020, were more interested in their own self-preservation than in actual change. This short-lived hope was dashed on Nov. 5 as the true nature of performative allyship became evident.
Turns out, the Black women who’d served at the helm of the movement, bless their hearts, had been bamboozled. Hoodwinked. Swindled. Like a modern-day Boo Boo the Fool. Believing the hook, line, and sinker, it was almost cute, in a tragic sort of way. They saw the potential, the hope, and the promise, drinking the red Kool-Aid, so to speak, eagerly awaiting the revolution.
The excessive blue hearts and social media commentary pledging solidarity had turned out to be performative or had over-indexed the voices of the 44% who were actually in solidarity. Either way, the seemingly overwhelming allyship wasn’t there, reminding Black women that while they are constantly expected to stand on the front lines for so many, rarely is there any ally who will actually show up for them.
A History of Short-Lived, Self-Serving Allyship
The 2024 election wasn’t the first time we’d seen this type of performative allyship, though. While a noble concept in theory, the kinds of allyship that have been displayed in many movements across The States have far too often missed the actual point. In fact, throughout U.S. history, allyship has actually been used more as a tool to bolster a single group’s positioning in the social hierarchy rather than genuinely advocating for the progression of marginalized groups.
Think back to 2020. Just months after the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of the country into isolation, remote work, the acknowledgment of essential workers as, well, essential, and, for some reason, bread-making. For 9 minutes and 29 seconds, the world watched, helplessly, as a powerless George Floyd was slowly pulled away from the world, drained by Officer Derek Chauvin's knee to his nape. In a traumatic 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the world seemingly changed.
Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images
Protests quickly spread across the globe, and along with it, a wave of “allyship” swept across America. Large corporations, scrambling to answer the calls of Black employees, consumers, and investors demanding that they use their financial prowess to do more to prevent the next Floyd, almost instantly began releasing statements of solidarity, pledging donations to “racial justice” causes, and promising to promote more Black employees.
However, as quickly as these gestures showed up, most were forgotten, with almost all proving to have provided minimal impact on the groups they’d pledged to help. While some companies, like Target, increased their spending on Black-owned businesses, others faced scrutiny for their lack of substantive change.
A study by Color Of Change found that only 17% of companies that pledged donations after Floyd's death had fulfilled their commitments. Data compiled by theWashington Post found that two years after America’s 50 largest publicly traded companies pledged a collective $50 billion to racial justice causes, just 37 had disbursed a collective $1.7 billion. What’s worse?
Ninety percent of the pledged amount - or $45.2 billion - had been allocated in the form of mortgages, loans, and investments that the companies themselves would more than likely benefit from. These companies said one thing and did another and still found a way to benefit from the delta.
Performative Allyship: Civil Rights & Women’s Liberation Movements
This type of allyship is new, though. It didn’t take long for powerful groups to figure out that the simple appearance of allyship was, for the most part, good for business and the bottom line. For decades, powerful entities have publicly supported movements only to be later found to have engaged in discriminatory practices, highlighting the consistent disconnect.
During the Civil Rights Movement, companies issued statements of solidarity and even donated to civil rights organizations, but behind the scenes, they continued to segregate their workforces and refuse to hire Black employees for higher-level positions. During the Women's Liberation Movement, advertisers capitalized on the feminist moment by incorporating imagery and slogans associated with women's empowerment into their campaigns, while the underlying message of many advertisements reinforced traditional gender roles and stereotypes.
The difference between what is said and what is done has time after time exposed the shallowness of allyship, highlighting how it has mostly served as a tool for public relations rather than a genuine commitment to social justice and to the marginalized groups who are most at risk by the upholding of the status quo.
For two election cycles straight, white women posed as allies and still voted in a way that upheld the power structure that they benefit from - with many understanding that the survival of white supremacy is of more value to them than sexism and misogyny is a threat. In 2016 and 2020, 52% and 55% of white women, respectively, decided that they’d rather keep their position of second place in the social hierarchy than risk dismantling it and being forced to find a new place in society.
Latino women and women of “all of the races” followed the trend - blatantly ignoring the warnings of the same Black women who have not only been on the front lines of social justice but who are often called into the lead movements in communities that are not there own - increasing their support for Trump between 2016 and 2025 by 13% and 15% respectively.
Screenshot from "2020 Exit Polls," NBC News, accessed Nov. 12, 2024.
The Blue Bracelets are Going to Be A “No”
On the night of Nov. 5, 2024, Black women watched their country look at a qualified, experienced, capable, and willing Black woman and say, “Nah, we good.” It was on this night that a group that had been denied democratic rights for centuries, but had still attempted to rescue American democracy far too many times, only to be let down, put away the warnings, and began issuing a new declaration - they were opting out.
Black women have decided to lean into rest and recuperation - uninterested in any additional work that will, more than likely, end in disappointment and betrayal. For many Black women, the suggestion to wear blue bracelets as a symbol of solidarity is patronizing and dismissive of a greater and more complex issue. It’s a way to absolve the women who let Black women down for failing to keep promises made while simultaneously positioning the wearer as morally superior.
It fails to address the historically deep betrayal that Black women have experienced at the hands of their country and, more specifically, their own countrywomen. The request reduces the fight for equality to a simple, superficial gesture when allyship isn’t aesthetic and Black women deserve more than a symbol.
While the blue bracelets may be the new fashion choice for white women attempting to set themselves apart, to symbolize that they were on the right side of history, for many Black women, it’ll always be difficult to trust. In fact, it may serve as a symbol of a hollow and fleeting promise for the Black women who have done the tireless and thankless work for justice and equality.
For now, Black women are choosing themselves. Anywhere between a few days and the next four years should be enough time to reset and recoup. And who knows, they may even find the excess capacity means energy to train as pilots, restart forgotten yoga practices, expand the business, or earn that second Ph.D.
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Featured illustration by nadia_bormotova/Getty Images