Write Step Resumes, LLC

September is International Update Your Resume Month, so naturally, I’m gonna spend the next 30 days talking about resumes.

I’m not jumping right into your resume rewrite, though, and neither should you.

Before you change one word on that resume, figure out your job target.

See, when you lack clarity, it creates confusion. Then, you start overthinking and get stuck.

Pull 3-5 job postings you would genuinely consider and ask these questions:

+ Are these roles at the right level?
+ What problems would I be expected to solve?
+ What responsibilities keep showing up?
+ What qualifications do they consistently ask for?

This is big because most of you have been working 10, 15, 20+ years and probably have enough experience to tell several different career stories. We need to decide which one we’re telling in the resume, and be damn good at it.

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P.S. I’m offering free 30-minute resume audits all month. Bring your resume and your job target, and we’ll figure out what needs work.

You can book right from my site.

“I was on vacation all this week. Now I am having heart palpitations at the idea of going back to work tomorrow.”

I posted this text from my client almost 6 months ago.

She was ready to GO. But we didn’t rush the process just because she was miserable.

We took some reflection time, retargeted her search, upleveled her resume, built the networking strategy and worked the plan.

Today, I got this:

“I just accepted a new position with a 15% increase. I am so excited… My updated resume for the win.”

BABY. 🙌🏾🙌🏾

And the timing couldn’t be better because September is International Update Your Resume Month.

So for 30 days, we’re talking about resumes, job search strategy, the mistakes, the overthinking, the AI foolishness, and all the stuff that keeps experienced and aspiring leaders from showing just how good they are on paper.

If your resume isn’t getting any better while you complain about that job every Sunday night, September 1st, we getting to work.

I dropped the 🔗 in the comments for ya or you can check my bio for the website.

Your resume sounds like AI. Your interview answers sound like AI. Your LinkedIn sounds like AI.

Somewhere in all that “optimization” foolishness, your actual human voice got lost.

We’re giving you the tea on how to use AI without letting it shrink the personality, judgment, and perspective that make you YOU today on LinkedIn at 4 PM CT / 2 PM PT.

Y’all pull up. This conversation is well overdue.

You ever get so tired of job searching that you start lying on yourself?

You start deleting leadership experience, watering down your accomplishments, and applying for jobs you know damn well you’ve outgrown.

Don’t get me wrong, you can 100% decide that you want less responsibility, fewer direct reports, or a different pace. But dumbing down your experience until you barely recognize yourself doesn’t make your career story more believable.

You don’t need to erase your career to make someone comfortable hiring you. Learn how to explain why the “switch up” makes sense now.

Meet me in the DMs so we can map out a clear reason for the pivot, a resume that supports it, and the confidence to sell it without spiraling or playing small.

Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do for your career is let Sunday be Sunday.

If you’re spending today mentally responding to emails that haven’t been sent, defending yourself in conversations that haven’t happened, or assuming the worst about the coming week…you’re letting the overthinking and spiraling win.

Close the laptop.

Put the phone down.

Let Sunday do what Sunday was meant to do.

Connect, breathe, rest, and reset. That’s it!

Everybody says they want to “move into leadership,” but it’s clear they don’t know what that actually requires.

Simply doing your job well isn’t enough. You still have to be seen as someone who can think beyond tasks and responsibilities.

Grab your resume right quick. If you see terms like
“responsible for…” or “supported…” or “assisted…” all over the place, you’ve got work to do.

You may have all the experience in the world, but what you’re doing is positioning yourself as the help, not the leader.

It’s critical that you demonstrate your talents in making decisions, taking ownership, and making an impact.

When hiring teams don’t see/hear clear examples of how you influenced outcomes, led people, or improved/produced results, they won’t trust you to perform in that leadership seat at the table.

DM me if you need help marketing yourself and speaking like you belong there without overthinking it.

If you’re applying for bigger roles using smaller language, you’re making it easy for companies to underestimate and underpay you.

Managers often still think like individual contributors and get down in the weeds about tasks and responsibilities.

They get caught up in explaining or summarizing their experience. Many also assume their job title will do the heavy lifting.

Directors know leadership goes beyond simply having direct reports. They give context and document their influence and business impact. Most importantly, they understand why their work matters.

There’s a shift in the reader’s perspective when they read:

“Implemented a new software system.”

…versus

“Cut manual processing costs $1.2M annually, leading enterprise-wide system implementation impacting 3,000 employees.”

You gotta think, talk, and act like you belong there right now.

If you’re ready to stop operating beneath your level and start embodying the senior leader you truly are, we need to be on a Zoom call before the month is out.

When you stop making every “no” mean something negative about your worth, the more confidently you’ll show up for your next interview.

One of the quickest ways to lose confidence is to confuse a hiring decision with your value.

Instead of assuming they rejected you as a person, consider it as a business decision. Nothing more, nothing less.

As a corporate recruiter with 20+ years of experience, I had to say “no” to some amazing candidates every single day.

We could only hire one person at a time. Best believe I stayed connected and revisited their applications with the next opportunity.

No doesn’t mean never. It’s just not right now.

If you’re ready to stop overthinking rejections and start building a strategy that prepares you for that right-fit role that’s 100% coming, my DMs are always open.

Juneteenth hits a lil different when you’ve spent most of your career feeling like “the only.”

I remember being the only Black person on the team. So, that often meant I was the only one code-switching at the meeting or the only one wondering if my true self would be considered “professional enough.”

Freedom is about not feeling like you have to shrink, mask, or perform to earn a seat at the table.

Today, I’m rooting for every Black professional still learning that they don’t have to trade their authenticity for opportunity.

Just do you, boo. Hell, they’re going to talk about you and complain regardless.

Happy Juneteenth. 🖤

P.S. If you’re tired of shrinking and tap dancing for opportunities that should’ve been yours in the first place, let’s talk.

My client was laid off after 21 years with the same company.

Just 4 years shy of early retirement.

As you can imagine, the fears came fast:

❌ I’m too old.
❌ I don’t have a degree.
❌ I haven’t interviewed in over 20 years.
❌ Nobody is going to hire me.

After taking a week to process the layoff, review finances, and figure out benefits, we got to work.

The client had experience in two areas: Senior IT Support and OT/PLC Programming.

So instead of trying to be everything to everyone, we built 2 targeted resumes and 2 targeted strategies.

Here’s what’s we didn’t do:

🚫 Apply for every job under the sun.
🚫 Rewrite the resume for every application.
🚫 Spend all day on LinkedIn.

The client spent about an hour a day on LinkedIn and submitted only 34 applications total.

Waiting was the hardest part.

The client had recruiter screens. Then, crickets.

There was even some ghosting, ignored follow-ups, and weeks where it felt like nothing was happening.

Most people panic and abandon the strategy. But, we kept pushing.

Exactly 70 days after starting the search, the client accepted an offer from the company where they completed the only in-person interview they had.

This client had no degree, is 45+, and worked for 1 employer in 20+ years.

A tight strategy and differentiation were key.

I’m chatting with Andrew Seaman and sharing how job seekers can separate themselves from the pack and capitalize on their unique value.

It’s going down tomorrow, June 18th at 11:30 am EST on LinkedIn’s Get Hired Hotline.

Tag a friend and meet me there!