The disparity between expectations of gender equity at work and the reality is stark. Studies show that male VC’s and founders remain unaware of sexism within startups, while their women employees report massive barriers. What makes workplace discrimination so insidious? It’s often perpetrated by well-meaning people who do not recognize the potential harm in their behavior.  
To help our Fellows and startup managers feel equipped to promote gender equity in the workplace we are sharing these first-hand accounts and recommendations from some of our Fellows, with 1-3 years of work experience, and Team members, with 3-10 years of work experience. There is no perfect solution, but listening and learning is a good place to start.

Our experiences 

“When I was early in my career I was offered a promotion after weeks of being with the organization. A colleague suggested to me that it was because the founder and CEO ‘liked brunettes,’ of which I am one. I stammered and exited the conversation quickly. I doubted whether or not I had earned the promotion on the merits of my work (I had).”

When a coworker says something that you find sexist or denigrating—especially when it’s someone that you have a generally positive relationship with—you can make a point to discuss it with them later. Take some time to gather your thoughts, and then ask them for coffee or to go on a walk. Share with that person that you were upset or frustrated by their comment, and then explain why. In this case, you might say something like, “I was frustrated when you implied that I got a promotion because of my looks. I work hard and perform well, and your comment made me feel like my efforts aren’t valued. That’s a really common thing people say about women, and even if you were just kidding, those type of comments contribute to sexism at work.” It can be painful to receive this kind of feedback, so even when you’re really angry, still try to be gracious. It might seem unfair (and probably is!) but it is an effective strategy for creating small changes while avoiding miserable workplace tension.

———

“Unlike the men in my office, I am regularly cut off, interrupted, or ignored if I try to speak.”

Attention dynamics around the workplace, but especially in meetings, tend to center men or masculinity. Being supportive of women or femmes in the workplace means redirecting attention when necessary. Sometimes it can mean that someone else is taking credit for a woman’s work, sometimes it means that men are getting more airtime, or sometimes it means that women aren’t getting the appropriate recognition they deserve. While occasionally they’re very clear, a lot of the time these dynamics are really subtle, and it takes consistent practice for men to learn to notice them and then to learn how to make corrections in a way that feels professional but still helpful. For men to be allies to women in the workplace, they need to challenge themselves to first notice those dynamics, and then intervene when it’s appropriate. But while being a good ally can mean making an active intervention, sometimes the best thing you can do is sit back and listen or give someone else the floor.

 ————–

“In the first few weeks of my first real job out of college, I introduced myself to a male colleague who I knew I would be working with occasionally. After a few minutes of chit chat, he said, ‘So why did you take a job here? Bored of spending your dad’s money at home?’ I was so taken aback that I reverted to my awkward giggle (a sound which only escapes my mouth when I’m in very awkward or inappropriate situations). After finishing my weird giggle, I straightened up and said, ‘actually, my studies in college directly relate to this job and I’m passionate about it.’ My colleague shook his head and accepted my answer without missing a beat. We had a good working relationship following this encounter.”

It can be difficult to fight your body’s involuntary response to uncomfortable situations. More than anything, it’s important not to “giggle away” sexist behavior and offensive remarks. Women don’t need to be genial when they are offended. Being firm and secure in yourself is not the same as being aggressive or unlikeable. Think about how you might respond to an offensive remark and practice how you will stand your ground. If your mind is prepared, your body will be too.

————–

“Reality hit the moment I stepped outside of my workplace to speak at a tech conference. At the networking event, I was asked out to drinks four times. Three of those times, men specified that this was a ‘no talk about work’ outing when all preceding conversations involved only professional discussions about work and the IoT tech industry. Multiple people asked for my business card, and two of the follow-up emails I received were about going out on a date sometime. I had shown up at an industry event, given a talk that I was proud of, and at the end of the day all of those men looked at me and saw an object, not a colleague.”

Know that it’s ok to speak up and let someone know when they’ve crossed a line. If you don’t speak up at the outset, and the offending party gets bolder with what they say or do, it’s never too late to put a stop to it. You’re not at fault for attempting to diffuse with politeness, nor were you “leading them on” by maintaining a level of professional courtesy. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

————–

“My new manager was a good person, but he did not listen to me and my coworker because we were female. He called me ‘kiddo’ and ‘young lady.’ He made inappropriate jokes. I struggled because how was I, a 23-year-old woman who had been working at this company for only 6 months, supposed to approach a 40-year-old white male who was brought in to save the company?”

Your manager is likely unaware of how his comments make you feel, so it is important to address the issue head on. Pull him aside and let him know that, while you appreciate the professional relationship you two have, those nicknames make you feel singled out and appear unprofessional to your coworkers. It will be scary to approach someone who is much more senior than you, but it’s important to practice advocating for yourself whenever necessary.

————–

“At a Demo Day at a prestigious Silicon Valley accelerator program, I had countless men comment on my appearance, calling me pretty or cute (uh, thanks?). One man insisted my business card was fake because I was ‘too pretty to be full stack,’ other men asked me technical questions, as if to prove I actually knew what I was doing. One man brought me a flower, introduced himself, asked for my contact information, and just left. One older man approached me and said, ‘I don’t want to hear about what you’re doing, but I would like to dance with you.’ I also met an older male developer from another demoing company who would not leave me alone once he realized I was a developer, even when investors were trying to speak to me. My CMO eventually had to interfere.”

If you are getting harassed or feel uncomfortable around certain coworkers or clients (or anyone in a professional setting), it’s often best to let them know how you feel directly. Still, there may be times where you need to lean on someone you trust. Don’t feel like you have to take on the whole world and act like everything is ok when it’s not! Getting an additional opinion on the situation and asking for advice is a very smart way of trying to right the situation. And if all else fails, and the treatment/harassment continues, bring it up to someone you trust at work (whether HR exists or not) and ask for their help in addressing it.
The biggest piece of advice as far as feeling comfortable in such a space is to befriend any other women working there. Just having a woman who you share your thoughts and feelings about your work environment with makes an enormous difference. Even if she’s not working directly with you, it always helps to have someone who understands your point of view.

Beyond Women’s History Month

Whether you’re a woman or a man in the workforce, it’s likely that at least one of these anecdotes resonated with you. It’s important that we keep sharing our experiences. It’s even more important to reflect on these experiences to help others learn and be prepared to fight discrimination of all kinds in the workplace.
Also, to note – if you identify as a woman, it doesn’t mean you get to say and do anything you please! Keep it professional and remember that maltreatment and harassment can originate from anyone and can be directed at any person, regardless of gender. Think about the type of inclusive workplace you’d like to be a part of and make sure that you are doing what you can to create it. Backhand comments, snide remarks, and jokes made at the expense of coworkers can all create toxic environments, so even if you don’t “mean” to harass someone, you may be doing it without even realizing it.
Do you have a piece of advice you would like to share with the Venture for America community? Drop us a line here.

Special thank you to Hannah White ’16 and Leverege for their contributions. 

Written by Hetali Lodaya ’14

There are just a few months left in the school year—do you know how you’re going to make the most of your summer vacation?

If you’re hunting for summer internships, you’re not alone—almost 40 percent of college students will have at least one work experience before graduating.

Use these tips to get the best summer internship you can!

1. Ask yourself: What do you want to learn?

Ditch the stereotypes of coffee and copies. A good summer internship gives you an amazing opportunity; get away from the distractions of class, clubs and more to build skills in a focused way. To make the most of this chance to gain experience, start your search by asking yourself this basic question, so you know the purpose behind your summer internship: Do you want to build a particular skill, like coding or financial analysis? Are you interested in learning more about a particular field, like medicine, education or nonprofit work? Do you just want to see what it’s like to work full time? Tailor your search accordingly.

2. Use your networks and available resources.

Once you know what you’re looking for, talk to anyone and everyone with connections to companies or workplaces that you think you might have an interest in. Have you tried college career services, family, friends and school alumni, sorority sisters or past supervisors? Ask for email introductions, reach out on LinkedIn and talk to friends who have previously done particular internships. People who have done this before can likely also point you to resources relevant to your search. For example, many nonprofit and social entrepreneurship-related jobs and internships are listed on specialized sites like Idealist and the B Corp Jobs Board.

3. Do your research — and know employers will, too.

Before writing an application or going for an interview, make sure you do your homework on an organization — who works there, what’s the mission and vision, what do they seem to really prioritize or need? They’ll be looking you up, too — you want to make sure that your online presence, from Facebook to LinkedIn, is in a state where you’d be comfortable with a future boss seeing it. If you write articles or keep a blog around topics relevant to your desired internship, get those updated and in a central location.

4. No position description? No problem!

Some organizations, particularly startups, non-profits or small companies, may not have formal internship programs or positions listed on their websites — but that doesn’t mean you can’t work there! Set up an informational interview with someone at the organization and ask about internships, or send along a resume and cover letter explaining what you think you could contribute. You might have to hustle a little harder to get in the door, but you might end up getting even more responsibility and experience if you’re working on a small team.

This applies to both getting the internship and getting paid. If an organization offers you a substantial internship opportunity but is unable to pay you, many colleges and service organizations have stipend funds that you can apply for. You never know unless you ask!

5. Don’t be afraid to get in deep.

An internship is a great time to learn a lot about how an organization works and try different things. At the same time, don’t be shy about really digging in deep to a particular subject matter and skill and owning a project. When interviewing, ask about what the expectations are for your work — can they name one or two substantive projects that you’ll be heavily involved in? If it sounds like they have a plan for you that is more directed than flitting from department to department, that’s a good sign. You want to be able to leave your internship and point to something substantive at your company that wouldn’t have existed without you and to skills you’ve learned that you could apply right away in another work setting.

Full-time work is a great chance to focus in — take advantage of it by finding an internship that will be really meaningful. Happy hunting!

Ah, resume crafting in the age of the internet. So many genuinely useful resources (like, ahem, Office Hours); and so many terrible resume templates floating around, waiting to lead you astray.

There’s a narrative about startups that says edgy, experimental applications will get you noticed – that you should save the simple stuff for the corporate jobs. As a nonprofit that wades through thousands of resumes every year, we’d like to personally dispel that myth.

So if your resume.docx looks more like the homepage of fontspace.com, go ahead and X out, take a stretch break, and let’s talk clean and simple formatting. And if you want more information on accessing the coaching, skill-building, and support you need to accelerate your career, learn more about our Fellowship. 

Why simple formatting?

Unless you’re an experienced graphic designer, your resume does not need to look like it was created by a team of creatives. For the average job seeker, trying to get too fancy with formatting nearly always backfires. Too many fonts and styles can render your resume confusing and hard to read – and most importantly, it can distract a busy hiring manager from absorbing the content.

It should be the experience on your resume that makes you stand out, not your wacky font choice. And no matter how unique your resume template seems, the hiring manager scanning through hundreds of PDFs will probably have seen that precise design half a dozen times by the time they get to your file.

So keep it simple, make it easy to skim, and let your qualifications do the talking.

The basics of formatting

1. Pick one (simple!) typeface, and stick to it.

A typeface is a set of fonts (like Times New Roman or Comic Sans), and a font is a specific weight and size of that typeface (like 12pt bold Helvetica). Only use one typeface for your resume, and stick to just two sizes: one for the bulk of your experience, and one to emphasize section heading names and/or your name. If you’re not sure what typeface to choose, stick with Times New Roman or Helvetica – and whatever you do, don’t get too quirky. Free internet fonts are almost never your friend.

When it comes to size, readability is key. For the body copy, a font size smaller than 11pt will be difficult to read in print. When in doubt, stick to 12pt.

This goes for color, too – sticking to all black is always a safe bet.

2. Keep it to one page – seriously.

Unless you’ve been in the workforce for decades, there’s no reason for your resume to creep onto a second page. It’s a pet peeve for the resume reviewers on the VFA Team, and we’d bet other hiring managers feel the same way. Be succinct, and only include the information that matters for the specific role to which you’re applying. More on choosing content here.

3. Watch out for HTML formatting.

If you copy/paste text into Word or Pages, the formatting can get a little wonky, and it can also be hard to fix. Make sure to always right click and select “paste and match style” – that way, you’re stripping the formatting from the beginning, and won’t run into weird, seemingly unfixable errors down the road.

4. Align elements carefully to make your resume look neat and professional.

When you’re right-aligning or indenting information – like date ranges for different roles, or employment locations – use tabs instead of spaces. Spaces won’t align things precisely, and will be harder to edit when you’re trying to change the content of your resume down the road.

Likewise, the bullet points that describe your experience should align throughout your resume. Make sure they’re consistent.

5. Keep readability in mind when changing margins and line height.

For a primer on readability, check out this article from Baymard Institute, a UI research lab.

The basics:

• A line height greater than exactly 1 will make your resume more readable. 1.15 is a good place to start.
• While you might decrease margins to fit everything onto one page, margins below 0.75 or 0.5 inches will make the the line length of your resume too long, and therefore less readable.
• A shorter line height to line length ratio will also make it harder to skim. Try reading your resume out loud. If you ever lose your place between lines, you can bet that will be a problem for the person reading your resume.

Structuring the content of your resume.

1. Don’t include an objective.

An objective about the type of opportunity you’re looking for signals to an employer that you’re focused on what you want, not what you could do for their company. Plus, the objective in this case should be pretty clear: landing this one specific role.

2. Put your experience in reverse chronological order, but make sure the important details are near the top.

Not sure what’s relevant? Think about it like this: if a hiring manager only scanned your resume for 20 seconds, what would you want that person to see? That you have great social media experience, or that you majored in religious studies?

In general, if you’re a year or two out of school and have some solid work experience – or if you’re a recent graduate, but gained excellent experience during college – de-prioritize your education by moving it below your “work experience” section.

3. Group related items in easy-to-skim clusters.

The proximity of elements on your resume tells us how related they are. If it’s difficult to tell whether one block of text is part of one section or the next, increase the space between sections. If the bullet points corresponding to one work experience bleed into those of the next, increase the spaces between blocks.

4. Consider where you want to place emphasis.

Which parts of your resume do you want a hiring manager to notice first? If you’re proud of the place that you worked but think your position was less impressive, bold the name of the employer italicize your job title (to emphasize employer over your position). If the reverse is true, switch the formatting. Whichever choice you make, stay consistent throughout.

5. Avoid making infographics about your competencies.

Making the claim that you’re “9 stars” skilled at InDesign but only “6 stars” skilled at Excel 1) doesn’t say as much as a more robust experience section could, and 2) tends to highlight relative deficiencies more than it proves strengths.

Finally, some nice details we DON’T frown upon.

If your section section headers need more emphasis than a slightly larger size, you can try small caps or a slightly increased tracking (tracking is the space between letters—to change this in Word, go to Format > Font > Advanced > Character spacing). Choose to use some of these details, but not all.

A bullet is a nice way to separate information, like your phone number and email, or the first line of your address from the second. (Ex: Venture for America • 40 W 29th St. • New York, NY 10001.)

And when you’re all done?

1. Proofread, then get a couple friends to proofread, too.

Nothing says “worrying lack of attention to detail” like a typo on your resume. Don’t let it happen to you.

2. Export your file as a PDF.

Not everyone will have Word, Pages, or whatever program you used to create your resume installed on their computer. Exporting as PDF guarantees that the the recipient will see your resume as you intended them to see it, with formatting intact.

The 2017 Innovation Fund, our annual crowdfunding competition, has officially launched! You can find all of the Innovation Fund participants here. Read on for the story of Wanderlust Box, a subscription box for gifts from around the world, created by Bethany Stachenfeld ‘15.

Getting out of the box

We all love traveling, but what is it about traveling that we really enjoy? What makes us want to spend hard earned money to get on a plane and go somewhere new?
For me, it is discovering the differences between cultures and seeing how all people satisfy the basic human needs in various manners. We all eat junk food, but our tastes vary enormously. We all buy pets, but we love different animals. We all fall in love, but we express it in different ways. We all play, but we enjoy different types of games, sports, and guilty pleasures. How are we so similar, but still so different?
I travel at every opportunity I have, but while working in San Antonio for the last couple years I haven’t had many opportunities. I’m busy with my life here, and traveling is both time-consuming and expensive. I have begun to feel at home in my community, but also disconnected from cultures abroad. I would love it if somehow foreign experiences would come to me, so I could continue to feed my wanderlust without having to uproot my life.

Wanderlust Box is a way of grasping new explorations and stories, without having to make the trek. My goal is to understand how various cultures use different strategies to satisfy the same basic desires, and then share the tools that make those experiences possible with you. You may not have time to travel as much as you’d like, but you can still treat yourself to a foreign experience when it’s sent to your door. You can play with a new toy, taste a new flavor, appreciate local art, and try out natural remedies and massage tools.  

What’s in the box?

Wanderlust Boxes will be sent out each month, stuffed to the brim with gifts handpicked from around the world. They will contain a variety of snacks, art, games, natural remedies, and other unique items delivered directly to your door from foreign cities around the world. The components of the box seek to answer the question of how experiences are different in different cultures.  
I’m choosing a couple different themes to focus the contents of the box around. The Romance Box explores how love and relationships can be experienced with music, scents, treats, and massage tools from around the globe. The Play Box embraces that we all have fun in different ways, and is stuffed with items you can enjoy alone or with friends, like board games, sports equipment, toys, and ingredients for debauchery. The Traditional Box is the highlight reel of both, plus surprise items that are worth sharing. For all of the boxes, the question I will try and answer is: What can we only find in this part of the world?
No box will be like any other box, so you can always expect a surprise!

Beyond the Box

Of course it’s not possible for me to replace your own travels, but rather to augment your wanderlust. There is an endless wealth of new information and, frankly, it’s impossible to do everything by yourself. I’d love to connect people with ideas they’ve never known about before, and inspire new trips and connections around the world. Message me if you have any ideas and inspirations for places and presents based on your own travels!

The 2017 Innovation Fund, our annual crowdfunding competition, has officially launched! You can find all of the Innovation Fund participants here. Read on for the story of Pollo Con Leche, a full-service production company that creates branded films, created by Jonathon Galpern ’14 and Austin Crouse ’14.

Satisfy your video craving. 

This all started by accident. Early in our fellowship, I got to know Jon, my co-founder, through movies. We went with our friend Katherine up to the Prytania Theatre, a one-screen, 100-year-old cineplex in uptown New Orleans. First flick we saw? Boyhood. Then we saw Birdman. Then we debated (and still do) which is a better movie (they’re both perfect). Since then, we’ve been kicking around script ideas and talking about making the leap into filmmaking ourselves.
 
We both worked at startups. Jon was working at Iconic, a healthy protein drink company that grew from just a few shops in the city into a national brand. I was and still am at 4.0 Schools, a non-profit education incubator that invests in new education ideas. We constantly saw ideas die on the vine because they didn’t have a compelling story. Even in my niche, education, I’m consistently surprised by how much a clear story can elevate a nascent idea.

So, last year, when our friend and fellow Fellow Billy Schrero asked us if we were interested in filming a gig for his company, it all clicked. There was a way to combine our love of movies with our work in startups. We took the gig and, from there, have been referred from client to client, learning the videography trade as we go. It’s been organic, it’s been fun, and, most of all, we believe it’s necessary. That’s why Jon and I are starting Pollo Con Leche.

Here’s what we do

We’re a full-service video agency with in-house creative, production, and post-production. We believe video is one of the most expressive, engaging, and educational storytelling tools we have. Used effectively, a video can breathe life into a startup and help clarify it’s brand, intentions, and potential. New Orleans boasts a rate of business startups 68% higher than the national average (The Data Center 2017) – there are many brand stories to tell and be told for years to come. Unfortunately, a lot of startups in New Orleans aren’t using video at all. They don’t know how.

But we do, and we’re constantly getting better because we love doing this work. Every conversation with a client to unearth their story, every draft of a script, every second of editing… It’s always teaching us something and propelling us forward.This passion is returned in kind by our clients – check out this testimonial from one of our first clients: “The staff has been more than impressed by your work and is already discussing future projects with you. Y’all are making me look good!!”  
 
 
We want to make more brands look good and tell more engaging stories. That’s why we’re a part of VFA’s Innovation Fund. The support helps us reach and serve more companies in the Crescent City as we hone our craft. We’re humbled by the support we’ve already received and fired up about the clients we’ve already been able to serve. We have the exciting opportunity to tell some amazing stories in New Orleans, and we can’t wait.
 
 

The 2017 Innovation Fund, our annual crowdfunding competition, has officially launched! You can find all of the Innovation Fund participants here. Read on for the story of Emile, the app that helps you become a morning person, created by Charlie Molthrop ’14 and Nazli Danis ’14.
This post was originally published by Charlie Molthrop on the Emile Blog.
 
Almost a year ago, Naz and I joined the VFA accelerator in Philadelphia with Emile, a chatbot that uses text messages to help you accomplish personal goals. After several iterations, Emile still helps you accomplish personal goals, but we do it in a single targeted way: We help you become a morning person.
Already sold? You can support us on Indiegogo and get a year of Emile here.
“I’m skeptical. Please explain with an excessive amount of gifs,” you say? We thought you’d never ask!

Why is it that whenever we set out to have a day like this:

It ends up like this:

It seems like we always have way too much to do every day.

And most of it is far from gratifying.

As the day goes on, the tasks just seem to mount.

So by the time you get home from work you’re basically like:

Leaving little time or energy for “me time.”

If only you could wake up earlier.

You could have your me time in the morning!

Not gonna happen?

Well, what If I told you…

There was a totally new way to fix your sleep habits for the better…

It’s called Emile.

(pronounced eh-MEEL)

And it’s already helped a lot of people take back their mornings.

Emile is an automated sleep coach that helps you shift your sleep schedule earlier.

With goals, check-ins, reminders (and gifs!):

Here’s how the Emile habit loop works:

Support our Indiegogo campaign today to get a full year of Emile! So you can finally be a morning person.

And treat yourself to the morning “me time” you deserve!

We’ve exchanged more than 50,000 messages with our beta testers to understand how Emile can make new habits stick. Our next chapter is to launch Emile as a subscription product that helps even more people take back their mornings. We want to thank the VFA community and our beta testers for all the support so far, and we look forward helping even more people treat themselves to the sleep and me-time they deserve!

The 2017 Innovation Fund, our annual crowdfunding competition, has officially launched! You can find all of the Innovation Fund participants here. Read on for the story of Bridge the Media, a tool for the well-rounded news reader, created by Pamela Taylor ’16.
 

It’s time to bridge the media

We all have a friend who returned from Thanksgiving in shambles because dinnertime discussion with the family took a wrong turn. The friend who was just trying to enjoy her sweet potatoes, but felt obligated to confront her aunt’s offensive comments about Radical Islamic Terrorism. The friend who, despite her best efforts at staying informed on current events, was unable to properly articulate her disagreement because she was not fluent on all sides of the topic.
At some point during our middle school education, we were taught the key to conducting quality research: consult multiple sources. Yet as adults, how often do we do this when consuming information about current events? If you’re anything like me, the answer is “not often enough.”


The recent climate around politics and media has brought to light that this country’s information dissemination system is broken. Fake news is feeding lies into the minds and hearts of the unknowing. The insularity-perpetuating algorithms behind our news feeds are disillusioning our reality. Digital publications’ reliance on advertising for revenue encourages clickbait.

Here’s how it works

Flabbergasted by the many problems, the Bridge the Media team has set out to solve one: journalistic bias. Our team is building a Google Chrome Extension that encourages online news readers to break their internet bubbles by recommending articles from alternative standpoints. By simply hovering over a headline, readers are presented with an article on the same topic from a different angle.
But our aspirations don’t stop there. What if we could build a digital bridge between other types of divides that exist in our nation and world? What if we could build a platform that allows news readers to navigate freely across online publications without hitting pay walls?

The Bridge the Media team knows that if Americans are exposed to viewpoints we might not otherwise see, we can build greater empathy for people who are different from us. By better understanding why a person subscribes to a certain ideology or supports a specific policy, we can engage in more thoughtful discourse and make better decisions for our country.
It’s easy to forget the biased underpinnings of our media outlets, especially when we are surrounded by friends who agree with our beliefs. But in order to truly stand up for what is right we must diversify the sources from which we read our news.  

Here’s how to help 

We are incredibly grateful for the support we have received so far, and look forward to expanding our Bridge the Media toolset with you. Please share Bridge the Media with your friends who can’t help but defend what is right at Thanksgiving dinner, and their aunts too.

 

We all know someone who graduated dead set on a startup career — that girl down the hall who spent college attending hackathons, working strategic internships, networking with local entrepreneurs, and generally getting her foot in the door.

But if that’s not you – if you came to your interest in startups later in the game, couldn’t work unpaid internships, or for some other reason didn’t gain startup experience during college – don’t despair! Even if your resume lacks all explicit startup experience, it doesn’t mean startup jobs are outside of your grasp. But it does mean you’ll need to be strategic about how you present yourself.

Every year, we evaluate droves of resumes from college seniors and recent graduates, and we’re pretty good at spotting candidates who seem equipped to excel in a startup environment. Here are the do’s and don’ts of taking your undergrad experience and crafting a resume appropriate for a startup role. And if you’re interested in being part of a network of like-minded, motivated entrepreneurial individuals who work on a variety of assignments, solve significant business challenges, and are given the autonomy to own projects, check out more information about our Fellowship.

THE DON’Ts: here’s what not to do when crafting your startup resume.

DON’T focus on academic achievement.

It’s great if you took your studies seriously and excelled in college. A strong GPA can show hiring managers that you know how to focus and work hard.

But for the most part, college courses don’t translate directly to startup work. If you focus too heavily on academic work — by highlighting papers you wrote or specific courses you took, for example — it can come off as though you don’t know what startup jobs are like, and what experience is valuable.

When to ignore this rule: If you’ve taken classes that feel unambiguously relevant (mechanical engineering for a mechanical engineering job), or if you’ve worked on projects for a class that have real world outcomes (developing an app or planning a large event, etc.).

Don’t focus on experience gained during high school (unless you’re a first-year or sophomore).

For those of you applying for your first college job or internship, feel free to skip this bullet point.

As for the rest of you – even if you were the valedictorian, squash captain, and founder of the Latin club, don’t feature this information prominently, if at all. It gives the impression that you haven’t done anything of note during your years in college.

High school experience can be included if you held a relevant job or internship – but it should be a complimentary couple of lines, not the full story.

Don’t overdo it on the jargon.

Most of the hiring managers you will encounter have had retail, food service, and/or on-campus jobs, just like you. If you dress up your barista job with startup jargon past the point of recognition, it will seem at best a little silly, and at worst dishonest. Either way, the hiring manager will probably have a pretty clear sense of what your job was actually like – you won’t fool anyone.

If you did work you’re proud of, you should be able to communicate that work in straightforward language.

Don’t rely on a list of vague character traits.

Are you detail-oriented, a strong analytic thinker, and great at working in teams? Excellent! But anyone can make those claims, so it’s super important to back them up with experience. Work experience, or a rigorous class project, are better than a list of courses taken – no one will be impressed by your analytic thinking skills if your only proof is an A- in Logic 101.

A rule of thumb: if you can’t think of a single action you’ve taken to demonstrate a given trait, don’t include it on your resume. And consider how you might add it to your work repertoire.

Don’t focus on super common skills.

There was a time when being “proficient in Microsoft Word” was a rare-enough skill to deserve its own line on your resume. Not so now – basic computer skills won’t get you very far. If you spend space on your resume listing skills that nearly all recent graduates possess, it could indicate that you’re lacking in the kinds of experiences and skills that would elevate you from the rest of the candidate pool.

The Dos: here’s how to you tailor your resume for a startup.

Do demonstrate that you’re willing to do the gritty work, and that you don’t have a sense of entitlement.

Sometimes working for a startup means doing data entry for a month. Sometimes it means answering hundreds of support emails, or putting in dozens of hours of work for an event that ultimately falls through. Most hiring managers want to find someone who has a great attitude, even when the work is tedious. If you’ve entered numbers into a spreadsheet, scheduled thousands of appointments, or answered a huge volume of customer questions, all with a great track record, that’s something to note and quantify if possible.

Do showcase your ability to take initiative and solve problems.

Have you ever gone above and beyond—not just done your job, but improved the way your organization does business? Take a moment to think about any problems you solved at work. Let’s say the cafe where you made coffee only took cash, so you did some research, talked the owner into investing into a card reader system, and helped implement the new tool. This might not seem like a sexy resume item, but it shows your ability to identify a problem, take ownership of it, and improve the situation—a trait most busy startup employers would love to see in their new hire.

Do prove that you’re adaptable.

You probably know by now that startups often require their early hires to wear a lot of hats, and to pick up new skills on the fly. If you were hired to do one type of work but ended up seriously expanding your realm of expertise – say if you were hired to re-shelve books at the library, but on top of your normal responsibilities, you developed a student reading series – this is worth mentioning. It will show you’re a team player who won’t say no to learning a new skill or experimenting with something outside of your wheelhouse.

Do demonstrate that you can work independently.

At a startup, your manager may not be able to spend a lot of time coaching you, even if they want to. Lean companies are generally low on staff members and high on urgent tasks.

If you handled something without much or any oversight, make that clear. Did you plan an open mic at the cafe where you work, all by yourself? Singlehandedly onboard a new hire? Manage social media for the restaurant where you waitress, sans help? These things show your ability to work autonomously – a surprisingly rare and super desirable startup trait.

Do show that you have leadership potential.

Take a look at the experience you’ve listed, and think about whether or not your responsibilities shifted over the course of each job. If you started out with basic, entry-level tasks, any by the end your manager trusted you to close the store at night, take cash to the bank, or interview and train new employees, that kind of growth is worth noting. It shows that you did more than just get by – you earned the trust of your employer. To a hiring manager, a long line of employers trusting you in the past looks like a strong indicator of your future performance.

Do support your achievements with numbers wherever possible.

We’re big fans of Laszlo Bock’s simple formula: Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z].

• Start with an active verb (check out 185 great options here)
• Quantify what you accomplished
• Provide a baseline for comparison
• Explain how you achieved that result

Plain and simple, numbers add impact. Try to include information like the size of the company or student org, % growth or change related to your actions, or any related dollar amounts. Also, be sure to put the numbers into context. Is x% good? Is it the best in the history of the org? What’s average?

If you’re still feeling like your resume doesn’t adequately convey who you are, don’t stress — a resume is only part of the application. Read our tips for writing a great cover letter here.

The 2017 Innovation Fund, our annual crowdfunding competition, has officially launched! You can find all of the Innovation Fund participants here. Read on for the story of Revival Chili, the living entrepreneurship classroom that serves up the best chili in the nation, created by Jordan Robarge ’15. 

Who we are

Chili is our food, it is our passion, and it is our way of life.
People often ask, how did you get a name like Revival Chili? Well for one, we prepare some of the best chili in the nation. But, the name isn’t just about the food; it’s about the people that create it.  Revival Chili is about the chili, the people, and what it all means.
The food simply put, is amazing, and this isn’t your lazy slow cooker recipe. We DO NOT just throw some ingredients in a crock-pot and call it a day. At Revival Chili, we go the extra mile every damn time. Every ingredient, from the meat to the veggies, and the spices that tie it all together are meticulously crafted. Designed so that from the first bite to the last scraping of the bowl, you just can’t get enough.
All of these flavors are combined and work together in the pot to push the flavor and overall, create something amazing. We ALWAYS look after it, nurture it, and show it a lotta love. If you haven’t tried our classic beef or vegetarian three bean, then friend, you just haven’t tried chili. But the thing is, we don’t just apply these ideas to the chili – we also apply them to our employees.
 

Our mission

Revival Chili is dedicated to employing some of America’s most overlooked citizens: ex-offenders.
Many people think that when a person leaves jail, their life starts fresh, but for most returning citizens this isn’t the case. Roughly two-thirds of the 650,000 people who will be released this year will find themselves unemployed and back in jail within the next 3 years. Sometimes these individuals put themselves back in jail simply because they are looking for a warm place to sleep. We want to change that trend. 

Revival Chili is on a mission to hire ex-convicts and help them master their skills with food preparation, handling money, customer service, inventory management and so much more. We are teaching them how to get back on their feet, manage their time and finances, and find housing – things that many of us take for granted.
We want to change the perception of ex-convicts because they are some of the best damn employees we have ever worked with. We take that commitment one step further though. It is our pledge to help those dedicated employees start their own business in Pittsburgh and beyond. We empower our employees with living wages, professional development, and entrepreneurial spirit. In turn, they help spread the great Revival Chili vibes and create a community, a family, a lifestyle.
 

A way of life

Great chili and empowering people are just part of our philosophy. But chili is also a way of life, it brings people together. I remember my family dinners where we ALWAYS had enough leftovers to feed our town. My parents were always thinking of someone else when they made the chili. That is what has stuck with me because chili is best prepared and shared with large groups. Just as all the ingredients are brought together in the pot, the same is true of everyone around the table.
Even during college, chili was always bringing my friends together. My fraternity devoted two days every year to chili. Just the process of cooking chili and eating it brought all the brothers together. These times created some of the best college memories. That feeling of nostalgia for family and brotherhood is why Revival Chili is about bringing people together.
So how did we get a name like Revival Chili? It’s simple really, we are on a mission to bring great food and empowering people together. Create a living entrepreneurial classroom for an underprivileged group. Serve up the best chili in the nation and help our society, one bowl at a time.
 
 
 

 

The 2017 Innovation Fund, our annual crowdfunding competition, has officially launched! You can find all of the Innovation Fund participants here. Read on for the story of Interim Apparel, the T-shirt brand that helps you show the world what matters to you, created by Sherouk Omara ’16. 
 

The Spark

Like everyone else in America and around the world, I got sucked into the election cycle. Most of the time, there’s a lot I can tune out because I already know who I’m voting for. However, there was a lot of negative rhetoric about Muslims, Latinos, women, and other marginalized groups this time around (even more than usual), triggering what I can only call a spiral of hate. As a Muslim woman, sometimes I can’t help feeling a little helpless. What do I do?! I march, I give money.
As a self-proclaimed hermit, I figured it was about time I venture further out of my shell and do something a little more public. So the idea came to design shirts that stand for what I believe – promoting diversity and inclusivity for everyone in every way.
Meet Interim Apparel.  (I’ll let you guess what the name means)
 

The Flicker

I’m sure some people will see this and think, “Hmm, that’s nice, but they’re just shirts. So what?”.  It’s like the hijab – so what? And yet, the amount of attention that women who wear hijab receive is not because of the scarf, it’s because what people perceive that scarf to mean. What’s so special about a black glove and a raised fist? What’s so special about a flag or an anthem? What’s so special about these tees? 
It’s what they symbolize.
Clothes are natural conveyors of opinion, and many people look for ways to express certain beliefs. When they go out, they want the world to know where they stand on certain issues, events, and causes. We know some of these people. We are these people. Heck, some of them backed our Indiegogo campaign!

We’re starting with shirts because they’re powerful, and our vision is to soon expand beyond that. Let’s celebrate and promote our differences because that’s what we love about our country, and what truly makes America great.
 

Eternal Flame

We set a fixed campaign because we told ourselves, if not enough people bite, it’s back to the drawing board. We aim to be more than just another clothing company. We want to be known for our values and beliefs and have our products reflect that. Our designs mean something important, and the great thing is that each person has a different interpretation of them. There’s a purpose to each design – it’s not just cool, it’s thought-provoking.
I think it’s important for everyone, but particularly marginalized groups, to know that we support them, we care, we’re going to fight, and there is such a thing as ethics in business. There’s so much potential for what we can do with Interim Apparel.
We’re just one part of a huge network of groups, causes, businesses, and people who wake up every day and say, “I’m going to do something to make our country better.” 
In light of that, I’m happy to announce that 25% of the profits from every shirt ordered during the campaign will be donated to the International Rescue Committee.
Visit Interim Apparel’s Indiegogo campaign to pre-order a tee and sneak a peek at the newest design we released today!
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr6hewFxqY0

The 2017 Innovation Fund, our annual crowdfunding competition, has officially launched! You can find all of the Innovation Fund participants here. Read on for the story of Hometeam, the athleisure streetwear and accessories brand made for your city, created by Alyssa Gill ’15. 

Leading up to Hometeam

As an incoming Venture for America Fellow in 2015, I was excited that the program counts bolstering U.S cities’ economies through entrepreneurship as a core value. I have always been fascinated by the built environment, and actually thought I’d be an architect for years. As a kid, I thought that you could design away blight and crumbling infrastructure.

 
 
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that the intangible things like education and economic development are foundational to a community, which is why my VFA opportunity was a great fit for me after college. The fellowship brought me to Providence where I currently work for a small education nonprofit, gaining exposure to the executive level functions of the organization.
VFA has a growing amount of resources for side hustlers and aspiring founders, several of which I’m glad I’ve taken advantage of – the latest, of course, being the 2017 Innovation Fund. In the months leading up to the crowdfunding competition, I’d been considering starting a small t-shirt business online. With encouragement from a member of the VFA team, I jumped in exactly a month before the campaign launch date, developing a brand and product line in just 28 days.

 
 
Given what’s felt like a lifelong interest in cities and urban landscapes, I already had a few ideas for Providence inspired t-shirts. Wanting to pay homage to the city’s early beginnings, I came up with the idea for a “founder’s jersey” that would be simple yet symbolic. Long story short, I saw opportunity in running with the sports theme.
Hesitant to make just another t-shirt, I started thinking about how my “jerseys” could help build upon the already strong city pride here in Providence. But what if I took things one step further? Lightning struck when I circled back to my passion for urban economic development.

 

The Hometeam Brand

Hometeam makes athleisure streetwear for your city with a mission in mind: to leverage the unifying power of teams to foster city pride, while rallying people around local economic development.
 
The idea is when you rep your city, you can also help it continue to grow.
With this mission in mind, I’m excited to be piloting Hometeam in my VFA city with the launch of the Team Providence line. 10% of campaign funds raised will go towards creating prize packages for health and wellness entrepreneurs (kind of perfect, right?) accelerating their businesses with Social Enterprise Greenhouse – a local hub for social entrepreneurs and a driver of economic growth. In creating Hometeam product prototypes and the materials for the crowdfunding campaign, I’ve proudly enlisted other Providence entrepreneurs including designers, screen printers, and videographers. My goal is to uphold this model as the business scales.

 
 
The Road Ahead – Away Games
I’m confident that the Hometeam brand can have national appeal in a diverse set of markets across the country (around the world?!). Please consider sharing the campaign, or contributing to it yourself so Hometeam can launch in your city beginning Fall 2017. Thank you so much for your support!
 
You can find Hometeam’s Indiegogo page here.
 
 
 
 
https://vimeo.com/206156650

The 2017 Innovation Fund, our annual crowdfunding competition, has officially launched! You can find all of the Innovation Fund participants here. Read on for the story of Passion Over Pay, the book that highlights individuals working on passion projects that benefit others, created by Mark Bennett ’15.

Creating Passion Over Pay

Matthew Lichtash works full time as an environmental consultant in New York City and has spent five years working on climate policy research, carbon accounting, and climate communications. He has degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies, and he’s published work in U.S. News and World Report and The Energy Collective. In his spare time, Matt runs The Carbon Capital, a free website and newsletter that synthesizes climate change concepts into three bullet points or fewer. The sheer scale and breadth of the climate change threat can seem complex; The Carbon Capital communicates key information that helps people take actionable steps towards solving the climate crisis.
Needless to say, Matt is awesome. One problem—not nearly enough people know about The Carbon Capital. On a planet where millions of people are worried about climate change and wish to be better-equipped to take action, more people should be exposed to Matt’s work.
This is the motivation behind Passion Over Pay. We want to do for Matt, and others like him, what Matt is doing for environmentally conscious people everywhere—giving free help for a great cause. Passion Over Pay is a campaign to highlight individuals working on passion projects that benefit others. We want to help promote the initiatives that exist to be helpful. Initiatives that, if given a little more attention and recognition, could benefit countless others who would discover them for the first time.

How it works

The campaign is centered around a crowdfunded book featuring interviews with artists, programmers, makers, and other contributors like Matt that provide value to people. Our interviews will surface the motivations that drive these projects, stories and lessons from how they got started, and the challenges of balancing these passion projects with other commitments.
Additionally, we are using the campaign as an opportunity for anyone to be involved with nominating projects that they feel are worthy of more attention. Our requirements for projects are simple — the project should not be anyone’s full-time commitment, and it should provide a clear value to others.
In our society that glamorizes the sharing economy and peer-to-peer services, passion projects are overshadowed by flashy startups and competitive for-profit businesses. We want to bring attention to the independent initiatives — both to give their creators some well-deserved recognition, and to help them spread the word.

How to get involved

If this resonates with you, head over to our Indiegogo campaign and help us identify incredible projects to support. A huge thank you to everyone who has contributed and been involved thus far. We’ve been humbled by the early response to the campaign, and couldn’t be more excited to keep the ball rolling. Many thanks!