Ebony Minds, an Ohio University student group focused on educating others about what Black people, specifically women, face on a daily basis, held a professional development workshop Tuesday evening. Marcquis Parham, assistant director of the Career and Leadership Development Center, taught the workshop with a focus on resume building.
“I feel it’s important to open up as many opportunities for individuals to be aware of the resources that are available here on campus as well as be aware of the large alumni network, before you leave the university, that are here in support,” Parham said.
During the event, Parham gave insight on Handshake, LinkedIn, resumes and curriculum vitae, or CV. Parham emphasized how important Handshake and LinkedIn are for reaching out to alumni and potential employers.
“(My biggest takeaway) tonight was basically just how important LinkedIn and Handshake actually are … You realize just how important networking actually is and how helpful it can be in your future,” Yaria Locust, a junior studying psychology and African American studies and Ebony Minds’ philanthropist, said.
Parham explained to the attendees the difference between resumes and CV. He told students they can put all their achievements and involvements on their CV and also discussed how important it is to pick and choose items on a resume based on the job or internship being applied for.
President of Ebony Minds Deja Pulley, a junior studying marketing, found the information about a CV versus a resume extremely helpful when navigating what to put in her resume. This thought was popular among most attendees.
“My biggest thing was I thought I had to delete stuff from when I worked in high school,” Pulley said. “I used to work at a job, (so) I deleted it because I didn’t think it mattered, but I can always put that in my CV.”
Parham revisited many times during the event how important networking is. He quoted a statistic that at least 85% of jobs are filled by referrals. Ebony Minds treasurer Nia Boyd, a freshman studying biochemistry, said the networking aspect of the event stuck out to her.
“My biggest takeaway from this meeting was that now I have an administrative person that I can network with. Nowadays, networking is very vague, and I am trying to put myself out there more to network with different people because you never know who somebody else knows,” Boyd said.
Parham taught the attendees much about professional development and encouraged all students to reach out to him for help and information. Pulley also encouraged anyone interested in joining Ebony Minds to check out Bobcat Connect or its Instagram. It has many other events coming up this semester, including trivia nights, yoga and brunch.
