How I Improved My Salary by 5x in 5 years

Back in 2012, I was hit with the perfect storm. It was as if God was throwing rocks at me so that I could eventually avoid the boulder.

Being poor is indeed the hardest job in America.

Table of Contents

Here are the five unfortunate events in no chronological order:

The (then) girlfriend broke up with me for her abusive ex. Her number one concern is that we would always be financially broke.
My credit card bounced. That moment when the cashier rings you up and nothing happens. You let them know to run it again and nothing happens. You go home mad and make the call to the credit card company. And you finally realize that living paycheck to credit payment wasn’t going to work any longer.
I received 2 Cs in Graduate school (the death sentence). It plummeted my chances for a decent starting salary. I had to leave those high dreams for a job to pay over $90,000+ in student loans ASAP.
My crummy car with AC troubles gets hit by another car. I still needed to go to work to pay for all the bills even though they were at fault. Insurance takes a while.
My wisdom teeth had to be taken out all. Instead of stretching the experience over the year, I did it all at once with no local anesthesia (or any other drug) since it was a lot cheaper. My dental insurance didn’t cover it. It was painful.

Hit after hit

It was a trying period of my life.

I shared all of this because I know you. It’s been a trying season for your entire life.

We shared the same experiences. We don’t come from money or any wealth. When grandma passes away she doesn’t leave any cash or any assets. There’s the funeral debt that someone has to shoulder. And people fight over that. There is no Daddy or Mommy bailout plan. They’ve been struggling before you were ever conceived.

You read, hear, and see the stories of success. You cringe because you know that’s not your story. I get it. While it might not make sense today, your story is not over yet.

Don’t give failure the satisfaction of conquering your spirit. At least not today, not this week, not this month, not this year, and definitely not until you are dead.

Never Put a Period Where God Placed a Comma

So how did I turn it around?

I grinded out 2-3 months of sending my resume to every corner of the globe. You know the drill upload your resume to answer 1 hour of the same resume follow up questions. I didn’t care about the salary as much as I wanted to get my foot in the door. I even considered doing Firefighting. Just about any profession, even stripping (though I couldn’t dance like Channing Tatum).

I took my resume to FSU’s Seminoles Bright Futures College Job Fair. The large convention center was filled with fresh-faced, polished sophomores (even freshmen) seeking internships, interviews, and job placements. Like some Wonka Factory lottery, they were winning jackpots of opportunity, starting salary positions, externships and etc.

As a quasi-introvert, I delved inwardly and tried to project like I was one of them. Those kids with 2.5 parents who were college graduates themselves with their lawyers on retainer. Five hours later, it was over.

No Opportunities

I asked one of the ladies for feedback. She was highly reluctant (she could get sued for this). However, when I hit the IDGAF mode, my street smarts kick in and I get very persuasive. Hint: Be your true self, that’s how God made you. Your innate gift can work for you.

She told me that my three-page resume was trash. It didn’t make sense. The job experiences weren’t cohesive. And most of the information was buried.

She was right.

I had McDonald’s, Mall security, Best Buy, Night staff on Campus, Administration on Campus, Military, and etc. I was applying for Accounting with no background instead of an incomplete Masters with no self-confidence. 3 pages of fluff and some misspelling and maybe 10pt font. I narrowed it down to 2 pages, and it was still terrible.

Revamping my Resume

I went back home. Salty AF and a bit misty because my ego/pride and money were depleting, I went online for answers. The same energy that I put into finding free movies online and/or free cartoons, I used the momentum and found all the available information. To be honest, I was pissed.

Turns out, I needed the no-nonsense approach.

I was poor not weak willed.

5 Things You Need to Revise ASAP on Your resume

No addresses. They don’t really need this information. It makes it hard to discriminate off of geographic location. And you need a job so apply any and everywhere. Besides too much personal information makes this document very creepy, especially for women in my opinion.
Professional summary at the top. Most hiring managers read through resumes on their lunch breaks. They don’t give a damn about you personally. They are swamped so think as if you have 60 seconds to leave an impression. Higher-level information like years of management, aspiration, industry language, etc.
Experience before Education. On average, no one cares for the school you went to. Focus on relevant experience since you will have to be taught on the job. Your last three jobs will suffice and collapse timelines if you worked for the same person. So instead of an entry for each job position, used the last one and increase the time. It’s a sleight of hand that isn’t criminal but merits explanation later if need be. For example, Secretary in 2012-2014, Audit Staff in 2014-2018, Audit Senior Staff in 2018 to present. Just use Audit Senior Staff (2012 – present). Only designate the change if you are classified as management. Role changes are normal on the way to the top. Add bulleted points for each position. Think sales percentages or hard value-added numbers. Wow, the people.
Limit garbage. Stop saying proficient in word and excel especially when you have type-Os to indicate otherwise. Keep your narrative concise and to the point. Extra fluff is just extra fluff. You can’t fool everyone and eventually, they will figure out that you aren’t that proficient in a lot of the stuff you claimed. Your typing speed is not useful. You were in a band is not necessary information. You did gymnastics and won the gold in your division is unnecessary for nursing.
Finally, know the lingo. Instead of simply uploading your resume as a potential employee on Indeed, use the company view so you can see the resumes of your competition. Understand what’s lacking in your resume. This is why others are getting callbacks and hired before you. This is a great way for undergrads to gauge what the industry is looking for as well.

So What Happened Next?

Got the resume down to one page. Shoutout to Desirée Seymore Nero, CPM, FCCM of NeroConsuling. She spotted me and gave me the entry-level shot.

Keep it high level and focused. I took my first job at $23,000 before taxes. Held it for 6 months. Updated the resume. Took the next job for $32,000 before taxes. And when they started that 6 months was too short of a time window, I applied for a job out of state. They called me back. I was hired to start at $64,000. I was promoted annually. My current salary is well over $100,000.

I was able to nearly quintuple my salary in 5 years.

My path is different from yours. My skill set is likely different from yours. However, after 5 years of reviewing resumes for free, I can tell you 1. People don’t read their own resumes enough and 2. Many young black millennials are underemployed based on how they represent themselves on paper and interviews.