Are you eyeing that coveted promotion at work? Do you want to advance in your career and take on more responsibilities? Being ready for a promotion requires more than just wishful thinking — it takes strategic planning, hard work and a clear vision of your goals . In this article, we will explore the steps you need to take to position yourself for a promotion and stand out as a top candidate in your organization. Understanding the Promotion Landscape Leylaynr/Getty Images Signature Before getting too deep into the specifics of being ready for a promotion, understand the landscape of promotions within your organization. Each company has its own criteria and processes for evaluating employees for advancement. Familiarizing yourself with these can give you a significant advantage. Research Your Company’s Promotion Policy Jacob Lund Start by reviewing the employee handbook, which typically outlines the company’s promotion policies, providing valuable insights into the criteria and...
Private equity law expert Joe Tillman has a passion for creating opportunities for others. It is what has carried the California native’s career more than a decade and even led to him walking away from a stable career as a lawyer. Tillman’s initial exposure into law was not engraved in his upbringing. He admits to growing up in humble beginnings in Perris, CA, and not having access to people who worked in law or other professional spaces. It was not until his final year at California State University San Bernardino, where he would obtain a bachelor’s degree in finance, that his professor introduced to him the idea of pursuing law. “At this time, I did not have the $1,500 that it took to take an LSAT prep course. And he basically got the College of Finance to write me an impromptu scholarship so they could pay to get my LSAT prep course paid for,” Tillman told AFROTECH™ in an interview. “So, he was one of the few people that was willing to put his money where his mouth is. I took the...
Melissa Pennington is leveraging the advancements of technology to improve her work in human resources (HR). Exposure To Human Resources The Queens, NY, native carries more than two decades in the sector, which she was first introduced to as a high school student. She took a Myers-Briggs personality test, which suggested she consider a career in HR. She was unfamiliar with what it entailed until further research. “I remember thinking, ‘What is that?’ The more I explored, the more I realized how perfectly it aligned with who I am,” she told AFROTECH™ in an email interview. “As I grew into my career, I started to understand the impact HR could have — not just as the department dealing with policies or consequences, but as a true catalyst for positive change.” Pennington’s focus in her work would settle on nonprofits and medium to small-sized businesses. This was inspired by her grandmother, who moved to the United States in pursuit of the American dream. She owned multiple beauty...
When you start a new job, Human Resources (HR) explains pay, benefits and assists with orientation. HR also helps navigate complications regarding a coworker’s behavior or certain elements of work benefits . However, the list of what you can’t and maybe shouldn’t discuss is much longer than what you can. While some HR reps may be friendly, confiding in HR or expecting them to take your side will lead you down a road of disappointment. It can still be tricky to figure out what’s safe to share and how to protect yourself . Is HR really on your side? Here’s what you can, can’t and maybe shouldn’t discuss. What You Can Discuss Outside of serving and preserving the company, HR is responsible for educating employees on company policies and procedures. It’s how they ensure that everyone contributes to a safe environment where the best work can be done. Along the lines of work, there’s also job performance, which HR tracks for business and development purposes. Any concerns raised during...
Business coach Precious Azuree is helping Black-led organizations measure their impact. Precious Azuree Group The Houston, TX, native has been leading her own coaching business for more than a decade. The pathway nearly fell into her lap upon graduating from high school as a self-taught web and graphic designer and blogger. Quickly gaining a reputation for social media marketing, many began to reach out to Azuree for her services, which evolved into the launch of the Precious Azuree Group, originally established as a project management and branding agency. “I was working with influencers, helping small business owners develop their brand identity, monetize their brand, build out their teams,” she told AFROTECH™ in an interview. Through her business, she worked with a myriad of clients which included Stacy Ike Inc., earning them over $100,000 in brand deals, as well as Essence Festival, AT&T, Pantene, and Regal Cinemas, on social media strategics that enhanced their brand engagement...
The current job market is an interesting space to navigate. From identifying the correct position to aligning with the potential salary, searching for a job is likened to an Olympic sport. However, the resume is one tool that can determine the success of the job search. And building a resume can come with a ton of questions and unknowns. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Talent Infusion (@talent.infusion) How long should your resume be? Are all of your past experiences relevant to your work? What format should the resume be in, and do you include references on the document? Because of the different opinions about listing references, many job seekers don’t have a clear idea of what to do. AFROTECH™ is here to bring that sense of clarity to the situation. Your resume walks in a room before you do, and having a qualified and curated list of references could be the catalyst that pushes you over the edge. Check out these four resume tips from Indeed that will help remove the...
Stephen A. Smith knows his worth. The ESPN sports journalist and host of “First Take” is currently signed to an annual $12 million deal with the network that will be intact until June 2025. As previously shared by AFROTECH™, his salary includes an $8 million yearly salary and a $4-million-per-year production contract. Furthermore, with talks of renegotiations on the table, it has been rumored that Smith is seeking a $100 million contract to remain with the network for an additional five years. Recently, he addressed those rumors during a taping of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” on Max. He was asked by Wallace, “Your ESPN contract is, what we’re told, up next year and the word on the street is, you want something in the range of $100 million for five years. True?” While Smith did not confirm whether there was any truth behind these numbers, he did confirm he is looking to be paid his worth. “I’m not getting specific as it pertains to numbers, because only a fool discusses his own...
Brandon J. Middleton-Pratt is lending his law expertise to the tech ecosystem. He currently serves as a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and is a board member at DivInc, a nonprofit that empowers underrepresented founders. His trajectory was not a linear one. He initially pursued a finance and marketing degree at the University of Denver while playing on its basketball team, he says. Upon obtaining his bachelor’s in 2003, he decided to move to Los Angeles, CA, to pursue a career in entertainment instead. Though that did not pan out for long, he made appearances in the films “Coach Carter”, “Rebound,” and “The Longest Yard.” The pivots of life would then lead Middleton-Pratt to play basketball overseas in Spain and Cyprus after receiving an offer from a sports agent. He then experienced a crossroads, which would determine if he would return to Los Angeles. A call from a mentor with an opportunity in the energy field finally brought him back to the states. “A mentor of mine...
“There are two types of personalities when it comes to self-marketing. There are the Master Ps in business, who will market his products to absolute strangers at every single moment of his day. Then there’s the other 75% of people who have glossophobia , fear of public speaking. You may be in the latter group. You were never the artist in the ‘80s and ‘90s who would have a box of CDs or cassette tapes in your car, ready to have a mobile distribution destination in every parking lot nearby. The idea of walking up to someone with a postcard, a brochure or a clipboard is out of the question. You might be OK putting marketing material on people’s windshields, but you’d rather drink a jug of beet juice instead of encouraging people to come to your vendor booth. You know you need to sell a product. Likewise, you know the only way for someone to find out about your product is to actually search for that target demographic and share your pitch. But fear of rejection will make you avoid eye...
Some years ago, Maurice Kuykendoll was simply an attendee at the AFROTECH ™ Conference. Now in its eighth year, he will approach the annual tech affair as an official speaker on the Executive Stage. It’s not lost on him that when he attended the conference, he was responsible for global expense management at insurance company Prudential, with one of its largest expenses being technology. During the transformation, he notes how vital the event was to his leadership development. “I was transforming my team simultaneously, so it was an area of development for me,” Kuykendoll said in an interview with AFROTECH™. “So, a couple of days at this conference, where there’s Black people, and they know all about technology, I was like, ‘I’ll go and see if this can be one of the things I put on my calendar every year to make sure that I am developing this essential part of what’s going on in the world.’” After sitting in many rooms alongside founders and talking to them about their latest...
Auntie. Unc. These nicknames came out of nowhere, and they’re not coming from your actual nephews and nieces. Birthdays are flying by, but you still feel the same age as prior years. Weird times. Photo credit: Polina Tankilevitch You may already know that starting a retirement plan early on means you’ll be ahead of the game, but it just seems like retirement is so far away. According to recent data from the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances , 45.6% of families are not investing for retirement. Whether you’re in the 54.4% who do have a retirement plan or not, the birthdays are going to continue regardless. Or, maybe you’re one of the few who decided to start trying to figure out the retirement savings “magic number” to strive for while Gen Z and Gen A have already assumed you get senior discount breakfasts and an AARP magazine subscription . Can You Survive On Social Security Benefits While Working? Instead of worrying about gray hair on your head ( or other places )...
As a business owner, bracing yourself for potential setbacks is a matter of survival. It’s necessary and a great business practice that allows you to plan for the future. In the meantime, you’re able to work towards that goal and stay abreast of everything else. Add in politics and you have some new possibilities to consider. You might be wondering what politics has to do with being a business owner. However, the ways in which certain taxes and tariffs waiver directly impacts business profit. No matter your party preference, politics have the power to impact how your business functions. And with steady success and growth being the ideal goal, there are steps that you can take now to ensure they come to fruition. Will the upcoming election shake up your business? Here’s how to get prepared now. Will The Upcoming Election Shake Up Your Business? The short answer is mostly likely, but educating yourself on policies is what will empower you to make the right decisions for your business....
For many individuals seeking new employment, one of the most stressful aspects of a job hunt is nailing the interview . Your in-person performance before your potential employer could make or break your chances of being hired, and provides you with the best opportunity to sell yourself on merit, personality, and knowledge of the field. But, in order to do all of that, you’ll first need to answer a few common interview questions that you should expect when applying for most roles. These questions range from simple yes or no answer sets to more elaborate inquiries into your work experience and employment history. While the most common interview questions are designed to give your employer a full picture of your personality and capability, some can be quite tricky to traverse. That challenging aspect doesn’t bode well for those already anxious about the job application and onboarding process. That’s where we come in with the following list of the most common interview questions, in...
Ventris C. Gibson is upholding the legacy of Harriet Tubman while stepping into a significant and historic role. Career Journey Born in Roseland, VA, but raised in Washington DC to parents with six children, Gibson showed great ambition early on. Upon graduating from high school, she enlisted in the Navy and worked as a traffic controller. However, she did look to pivot briefly into journalism due to her strong interest, but that did not pan out because school had a two-year waitlist. She remained with the Navy working in air traffic control, and upon completing her service she hoped to secure a role with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “At that time, President Carter had imposed a freeze on hiring federally. Thus, I went to VA (Veterans Affairs) to see what my benefits were as a veteran, and they pretty much asked me if I wanted a job because I was an African-American, female, Vietnam-era veteran. I said, ‘Sure,’ while I was waiting for FAA to call,” Gibson told...
Ambitious people can be notoriously independent, but most figures who’ve made it to the top couldn’t possibly have achieved their goals alone. Instead, political leaders, monarchs and even company CEOs have relied on teams of mentors and experts to guide them for centuries. Historically speaking, just because advice comes from a confidant doesn’t mean it will be good, but that’s why it’s so important to go over some good questions to ask a mentor when you think you’ve found your match. Like with therapy, your first connection might not be the perfect fit, but that doesn’t mean the right mentor isn’t out there waiting to guide you to new heights. Good Questions To Ask A Mentor That Might Help Outside The Workplace Most people seek out mentorship in hopes of securing their dream job, but the experts you connect with can have valuable insight that can transform your personal life too. Make it a priority to ask questions about them in the vetting process, such as why they decided to...