A thread of career advice that Black women won’t want to he…

1) Shed the defeatist, woe-is-me-imma-Black-woman-in-corporate attitude.

Yes, it can be hard being a Black woman in corporate America. But relegating all your career failures to being a Black woman is doing many of *us* a disservice.

2) Determine what *success* actually looks like to you — chances are, it’s not to be a VP with a corner office managing a team of 10.

For me, success looks like financial freedom, work/life balance, a "fun" job with travel, and peace. Figure what your triggers are.

3) Stop taking career advice from people who haven't had thriving careers.

I purposely share resume editing, salary negotiation, and interviewing tips because that's like Level 0 of a thriving career. Getting a new job is also NOT a signal of a thriving career.

Some components of a thriving career =
1) Focused on relevant, impactful, and measurable (RIM) work
2) Buy-in within your organization
3) Strong network
4) Actively recruited by competitive companies

A career coach should be coaching you on how to achieve the above.

4) Learn how to sell yourself. I.e., what do you do better than anyone else?

The answer is not: “I work hard.” “I solve problems.” “People know they can rely on me.” If that’s what you do better than anyone else, you may not be as good at your job as you think you are. Sorry!

5) You may be paid less than your YT peer because they negotiated their salary, and you didn’t. 😱

6) Which reminds me: always negotiate your salary. Even if the offer exceeds your expectations.

I've had recruiters from various industries confirm that you should *always* negotiate their first offer.

7) Be willing to move to cities where the money resides, especially while you’re young.

8) Always be applying and interviewing for jobs, even when you’re gainfully employed. It's actually easier when you're gainfully employed.

9) Don't wait until you're fed up with a job to start planning your next move.

Often, this puts you in a position where you accept the first job offer and not the right job offer.

10) Never quit a job for superficial reasons like being passed up for a promotion.

Y'all be wyling with this one. You are not "proving" anything by quitting – they'll just hire someone else while you're unemployed.

Collect your coin until you figure out a game plan, please.

11) Regardless of what other people say, $100K really isn't a lot of money for an experienced college graduate (3-5 years of experience) in 2021.

Don't argue it's unrealistic if you've never asked for it.

12) You’re not going to get promoted for doing your job. "I do my job well, so I should get a raise."

This is a common misconception I hear from a lot of Black women. You're fulfilling the obligations of the job, why would that necessitate a raise?

13) Don’t pop up at the end of the year asking for a promotion or raise. You should be having these conversations all year.

https://t.co/fyEkK6AzrN

Here are three things you should do in 2021 to guarantee you get a promotion + more money at your job.

\U0001f9f5
— Simone B. (@simonembanna) December 14, 2020

14) A $5K raise is negligible after taxes. Go big or go home!

15) Speaking of raises, the best way to get a substantive raise ($15K+) is to get an offer from another company.

16) The most you can ask for in a manager is that they’re supportive. It’s not their job to chart out your career path for you.

17) Want to take your career into your own hands? Study what problems are facing your company/department and propose to fix them. With a real proposal and investment.

Also, determine and then fill your skill gaps. Need a PMP cert? Go get it, and make them pay for it.

18) If you don’t want to be sociable, become an engineer (no offense to my engineers). But you cannot be successful in business and be anti-social. And that's regardless of your color.

19) Don't compare yourself to your peers, especially publicly.

This is never a good look. 0/10 do not recommend.

20) Facts > feelings, always and forever. People can argue your feelings, they can’t argue facts.

Never make a case based on "feelings."

"Get out your feelings and get in your bag." - Marlo Hampton (2019)

21) Closed mouths don’t get fed.

22) Don’t have casual conversations about race if there's a chance you might be offended by what you hear.

23) HR won’t fix shit.

24) Stop going to your parents for career advice. The game has changed since 1990.

25) All skin folk ain't kinfolk.

26) You don’t owe your loyalty to anyone, regardless of how good they’ve been to you.

People who actually care about you will never be upset if/when you do what’s best for you.

27) Being respected > being liked.

28) https://t.co/h0BCq2WZfq

The worst roles you can assume in corporate America as a Black woman are the roles of:

1. The \u201chardworking\u201d employee
2. The \u201creliable\u201d employee
3. The \u201cacquiescent\u201d employee
— Simone B. (@simonembanna) November 12, 2020

A thread of career advice that Black women won’t want to hear but need to hear.

🧵

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A thread of career advice that Black women won’t want to hear but need to hear. 🧵

More from Life

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A thread of career advice that Black women won’t want to hear but need to hear.

🧵