Side of the Mic

Newsletter - Stop Gatekeeping Yourself From Opportunities You Deserve: The Job Description is a Wish List

What if the biggest barrier between you and your next opportunity isn't your experience, your degree, or your resume?

What if it's the way you're reading the job description?

In this episode of Side of the Mic, Alex takes a closer look at the pressure job seekers feel to meet every requirement before they even consider applying. The popular “60% rule” says you should apply when you meet roughly 60% of the qualifications, but Alex takes the idea a step further: the real question isn't whether you can check every box. It's whether you can make a credible case for what you already bring, what you can learn, and what makes you different.

We'll shake the tree on the idea that job descriptions are contracts, unpack the difference between essential qualifications and preferred qualifications, explore transferable skills, and talk about why being a learner can sometimes matter as much as being an experienced doer.

You'll leave with a practical way to read job descriptions differently, identify evidence you already have, communicate your transferable skills, and decide when a stretch opportunity is worth pursuing.

Because sometimes the opportunity isn't asking, “Can you do everything?”

It's asking, “Can you contribute, learn, adapt, and grow?”

And that's a different question.

Your boss is not your project. The relationship is.

And the goal isn't to teach listeners how to “handle” difficult bosses. It is to help them become better at reading priorities, translating their work, communicating strategically, challenging appropriately, and protecting their own agency.

The four takeaways:

1. Managing up is not sucking up. It is relationship navigation across a power difference.

2. Your boss's behavior contains information. Learn the pattern before deciding how to respond to it.

3. Translate your work instead of assuming your work speaks for itself. Connect what you're doing to the priorities your manager actually cares about.

4. Adapt your communication without abandoning your identity. Flexibility is not the same thing as becoming fake.

And the central question listeners should leave with:

“What does my manager need to know, understand, or trust about my work and have I actually made that visible?”

That is a much better question than:

“Why is my boss like this?”

We expect people to “be professional.”

But…who actually taught them how?

Who taught you how to disagree with your boss? How to ask for clarification without feeling incompetent? How to recover after making a mistake? How to say no professionally?

Because you don't have to know everything to be professional.

You need to know how to navigate what you don't know.

Side of the Mic: I'm not here to tell you what to think. I'm here to give you something worth thinking about.

In this episode of Side of the Mic, Alex (SoBizze) shakes the tree on one of the biggest assumptions in the workplace: that professionalism is common sense.

Maybe it isn't.

Maybe some of what we call “professionalism” is actually a hidden curriculum. Unwritten rules, expectations, behaviors, and workplace norms that people are somehow expected to know.

Alex explores what happens when people are evaluated on skills nobody explicitly taught them, why asking questions can actually demonstrate professional confidence, and how career adaptability can help us navigate environments where the rules aren't always obvious.

Is it the professor's fault? The student's fault? The system's fault? In this piece, I unpack the messy middle of accountability. We'll explore why "failing" isn't a badge of honor for an educator and why "blaming the ATS" isn't a job search strategy. Learn how to shift from a victim mindset to a solution-focused mindset. Whether you're in the classroom or the waiting room for an interview.

There is so much misinformation on the internet right now. People are terrified of the ATS. The Applicant Tracking System. Everyone believes there is a highly sophisticated AI robot just instantly rejecting their resumes.

I ask them, "Okay, what ATS is that company using?"Silence. Nobody knows the name of the system, but everybody has a hack to trick it.

I’m not saying ATS doesn't exist. It does. But we are spending so much time trying to bypass a system instead of controlling what we can actually control.

Stop overcomplicating your bullet points. Stop repeating the exact same things on your resume that you already put in your cover letter. Instead, focus your energy on understanding the position. Add context to your documents.

The goal of a degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Doctorate) is to prepare you for what comes next. But students don’t know what they don’t know.

That’s where accountability comes in. You have to be willing to listen to advice that might contradict your favorite TikTok career influencer.

LinkedIn Article

There is a difference between being busy and being dependable.

That difference matters in classrooms, workplaces, families, organizations, friendships, and relationships. It matters because people are not just remembering what we say. They are remembering whether we follow through, whether we contribute, and whether we help move things forward when things are not convenient.

Lately, I have been reminded of that in conversations with students, colleagues, and peers. As an educator, career coach, and PhD student, I have had a full season of teaching, learning, advising, and reflecting. And through it all, one message keeps showing up: accountability and responsibility are not old-fashioned ideas. They are essential life skills.

Responsibility means doing what is expected of you in your role.

Accountability means owning your actions, your choices, and your follow-through.

Those two things sound simple, but they shape how people experience us. Too often, people stay stuck in the past and use it as a reason why things cannot change. The past should be understood, respected, and learned from. But the past should not become a permanent excuse. Remembering what happened is wise. Living there is limiting.

Growth requires more than memory. It requires ownership.

That is especially true when we work with other people. Shared responsibility means we do not expect one person or a small group of people to carry everything. It means we contribute without needing to be chased. It means we support the mission, not just the conversation about the mission.

Complaining is easy. Solutions require effort.

If something is not working, it is fair to say so. But if we are going to voice concerns, we should also be willing to listen to feedback, consider another perspective, and offer a path forward. Accountability is not about perfection. It is about willingness.

Your career does not have to be something you passively “go through.” You can curate it like a syllabus: choose the core skills you need, add electives that keep you energized, and build in assessments that help you reflect, adapt, and grow.

This episode connects naturally to career adaptability, engagement, and confidence by showing listeners how to design a life and career that is both practical and personally meaningful.

• C - Core competencies. The essential skills, knowledge, and habits that support your next step.

• A - Add electives. The creative outlets, side interests, and joy practices that replenish your energy.

• R - Reflect and reassess. The check-ins, journaling, and feedback moments that tell you what is working.

• E - Experiment and evolve. The small action steps that help you adapt without needing to have everything figured out.

When you combine these four pieces, you create something powerful: a personal syllabus for career advancement.

That syllabus does not need to be formal. It just needs to be honest.

Ask yourself:

What do I need to learn next?

What gives me energy?

How will I check my progress?

What small experiment can I try this week?

This is how we make career development feel less overwhelming and more human.

This is also why creative outlets matter. They are not luxuries to add after everything else is done. They are part of the design. They help us stay engaged, reduce burnout, and remember that we are more than our job titles.

A career that lasts is not built only on effort. It is built on energy, reflection, and intentional design.

So this week, I encourage you to create your own one-page career syllabus:

• 3 core competencies
• 2 creative electives
• 1 reflection question
• 1 experiment for the week
• Then share it with a friend.

Because growth is stronger when it is spoken, shared, and supported.

My Professional Hub via Beacons

RSI helps you:

Build social capital (people who advocate for you)

Increase career adaptability (you learn how to navigate systems)

Create access to hidden opportunities (research, internships, recommendations)

Students

• Bring goals, questions, follow-through, and willingness to learn.

Faculty & Advisors

• Offer guidance, feedback, challenge, and access to academic pathways.

Career Centers & Campus Organizations

• Translate skills, connect resources, and create opportunity-rich experiences.

In this Commuter Chronicles episode, we are talking about what it really means to show up as a job seeker with purpose. Networking is not just collecting contacts. It is building repeatable, strategic, and professional interactions that help people remember you for the right reasons. We will break down how customer service, leadership, relationship-building, and strong communication all work together to help you stand out on paper and in conversation. This episode is for students, professionals, and lifelong learners who want to become more confident, more intentional, and more interview-ready.

#SideOfTheMic #CommuterChronicles #StriveAndDevelop #SoBizze

Control the Scan: Why Your Resume is a Billboard, Not a Diary

In this Commuter Chronicles episode, we are talking about the one-page resume, but not in a rigid, outdated way. This is about strategy. Your resume is not your whole story; it is your first signal. Your application is your details. Your LinkedIn or portfolio is your proof. In this episode, I break down how to control the flow, highlight what matters, and present yourself like someone worth interviewing. If you have ever wondered why your resume is not getting results, this conversation will help you think clearer, write stronger, and build a job search strategy that actually works.

• Ditch the Columns: I know the templates on Canva are pretty. But Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and tired human eyes don't read in zig-zags. Control the flow. Top to bottom. Left to right. Boring? Yes. Effective? Absolutely.

• The "One-Line Header" Trick: Get your Phone, Email, and LinkedIn URL onto one single line under your name. It saves 3-4 lines of precious real estate that you can use for impact.

• The Professional Summary Hook: Don't waste space on an "Objective" that says "Seeking a challenging position where I can utilize my skills." That's filler. Write a 2-3 sentence Professional Summary. This is your elevator pitch. It should make the reader think, "Okay, I need to know more about this person."

The Application Portal: The Receipts

This is where you get to breathe. The online application asks for start dates, end dates, supervisor names, and that random certification you got in Excel back in 2018. Leave the minutiae there. The resume is the highlight reel; the application is the full legal transcript. Stop trying to make the resume do the job of the application portal.

LinkedIn / Online Portfolio: The Story

This is where the one-page resume comes to life. On a resume, you say "Increased engagement." On LinkedIn, you can show the graphic or write a post about the how. Use your LinkedIn Featured section as the second page of your resume without making the recruiter print anything.

Life rarely follows the script we wrote in our heads. Plans shift, timelines move, opportunities change, and sometimes the path we expected simply is not the path that shows up. In this episode of Commuter Chronicles, we talk about building the adaptability muscle, why having a second option is not a sign of weakness, and how to pivot without shame. This conversation is for students, professionals, and lifelong learners who want to build resilience, momentum, confidence, and direction in real time.