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Fresh starts are mostly full of excitement, but with major shifts in life come nervous jitters. No matter how old you get, the first day of a new semester or a job interview can still give you sweaty palms and a racing heart. However, if you’re as well prepared as possible for what’s yet to be thrown your way, you’ve got nothing to worry about. There will always be things out of your control, but if you manage to maintain your confidence while chatting with a potential new boss, friend or date, you’re on the right path toward success. Even if you don’t land the job, become close pals with the person who sat beside you in class or lock it down with your gym crush, you’ll still leave every situation more confident after showing up as your best self. In many cases, job interviewers and professors alike enjoy getting to know people in lighthearted ways, such as “fun fact about me” games. Some university students spend time at the beginning of the semester carefully planning what...
If you want to advance in your professional career, it is imperative to obtain guidance from the right supporter. Keith Chaney learned this while working at technology company Google as the strategy and operations lead of its global partnerships and at McKinsey & Co., where he served as a management consultant. That’s when he decided to exit those jobs to pursue his own career as a founder. During the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2024 pitch competition, he recalls his experience as a first-generation graduate navigating the intricacies of post-college life. He later realized the importance of gaining peer support to be successful in the long term. “When I started my career, I was surrounded by an amazing family. Unfortunately, no one in my family had worked for Google, McKinsey, or any of the places I found myself during my career. So, despite their best efforts, no one was ever able to tell me the information that I needed to win in those spaces,” Chaney said at SXSW 2024. His desire...
Even for someone who is highly extroverted or a social butterfly, networking events can be uncomfortable. From your mind going into overdrive on whether something you want to say is too informal to feeling overwhelmed approaching strangers, it can be socially exhausting. A group of young Black professionals across fields have joined forces to carve a space for people to create connections but also genuinely enjoy themselves while doing so.
Howard University is on a mission to empower its women. In a new announcement, the HBCU revealed that they will work alongside The Estée Lauder Companies to launch a new program to provide a career resource lab for women professionals. She’s Howard: Own Your Power is set to be a space for Howard alumni to not only develop skillsets to apply for high-profile job opportunities, but a space to connect via virtual networking workshops and events. “My HBCU experience, like no other experience I’ve had, prepared me, not just for my career, but for life,” said Nicole Monson, senior vice president and deputy general counsel for The Estée Lauder Companies, who also just happens to be a Howard alum. “It instilled in me a confidence that I can handle anything that comes my way because I was prepared, in large part, by what I learned during my matriculations,” she said. “I have no doubt that my career and the opportunities I’ve had in corporate America are largely attributable to my HBCU...
As we approach ten months into the global pandemic and nationwide halt on social gatherings, most people have adapted to using online means of interaction. Attending online workshops and conferences can put individuals in spaces with people they possibly would not have had the opportunity to meet. Just as in-person networking required preparation (and a pep talk) before approaching someone you admire, there is a science to building connections online. Before the week ends, here are some tips for making more connections during AfroTech World. Do your research In AfroTech World, a person’s name and company is displayed above their avatar. Take a moment to search for them on LinkedIn. Doing this will help you find a common ground to approach them in conversation. Compliment the work they did on their latest project, comment on the sports team they’re wearing in their profile picture, commend them for a question or comment they made during the conference, etc. Also, visit the AfroTech...
One of the largest multicultural tech conferences in the U.S. — AfroTech World — has officially kicked off. Although things are a little different this year, we want you to know all of the amazing things you have to look forward to. It’s our way of bringing Black engineers, recruiters, venture capitalists, culture enthusiasts, and everything else under the sun right to your fingertips for the next week! View this post on Instagram #AfroTechWorld is only 3 DAYS AWAY and we’re hyped to have thousands of Black techies come together for a week jammed pack with gems, community, amazing panels, networking opportunities and more! ? ⠀ It’s not too late to join in on the festivities – cop your tickets TODAY via the #LinkInBio ? Can’t make it to a session? Catch the replays of all the AfroTech World speaking events on Lunchtable – a new community built for Black professionals and the official app for AfroTech World ?? // #LinkInBio A post shared by AfroTech (@afro.tech) on Nov 6, 2020 at...
In today’s world, there are very few spaces for Black women creatives to gather, network, and explore our talents. Without strong support systems and a proper spotlight, Black women creatives continue to struggle to find opportunities in our career field. However, Polly Irungu — multimedia journalist, self-taught photographer, and founder of Black Women Photographers — is striving to amplify Black women’s creative work and disrupt industries to change common, obsolete hiring practices. “I’m not trying to be a movement, but I do want to help connect the dots,” she said. Irungu — who grew up in a traditional African household in Kansas and later in Oregon — has always had a creative spirit but found it difficult to find communities for Black women who had a passion for photography. After attending the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention, she discovered the organization had a large close-knit community of Black writers and creatives, and so she came up with the idea...
LinkedIn revealed earlier this year that a person is nine times more likely to get a job through a referral . The obvious question is if someone doesn’t have a big professional network, how can they break into getting a middle class job? A lack of social capital becomes a burden for job applicants who feel they have done everything “right” in their journey, yet struggle to secure a career opportunity. Thankfully there are programs whose purpose is to help people build professional networks, and learn technical and soft skills to get a great job. Climb Hire — founded by Nitzan Pelman in 2019 — is one of them. The Bay Area-based non-for-profit startup — funded by Eric Schmidt, a former CEO of Google — creates economic opportunity for hidden talent. They train people to become Salesforce administrators . Salesforce is a massive $16 billion company and according to the IDC , they are projecting over 3.3 million new jobs will be created by the end of 2022. Gaining technical skills is an...
If you haven’t heard, LinkedIn is where it’s at, especially for entrepreneurs. Of course, your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are great networking tools, too, but LinkedIn is a startup founder’s dream. Connecting aspiring founders with heavy hitters in their field as well as providing a channel of communication for established businesses, LinkedIn has a little bit of everything, including social networking, job opportunities, and a place to blog ideas. Here’s why you should set up and maintain a LinkedIn account: Increase Your Startup’s Visibility If your personal social media account has ten times more followers than your brand account, then using LinkedIn might increase your visibility by giving you an audience that is interested and seeking out business-related posts. Simply put, LinkedIn is about business and entrepreneurship, which makes it different than other social media platforms that are more geared towards entertainment. According to statistics from Oberlo, LinkedIn has...
Networking is crucial for entrepreneurship but may not come easy for introverted founders . Although many extroverts make great founders, it is a misconception that one must have an extrovert personality to become an entrepreneur or leader. For example, media mogul, Oprah, classifies herself as a true introvert but has managed to become a world-renowned entrepreneur. To all the introvert entrepreneurs who may struggle, here is how to amp up your social networking skills. Gather Talking Points Beforehand As an introvert, personal space and alone time are high on the list of priorities, while mingling with a crowd of people most likely doesn’t make the list at all. However, business purposes might call the introvert out of their comfort zone and into a brunch meeting or happy hour networking event where social mingling is expected. Although you may be content sitting in silence, chances are the individuals around you would like to indulge in conversation. Networking is the goal, after...