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Stories are Important
When employers interview job candidates, they do not want more data — they want them to tell their stories. They don’t want long and involved tales; they want short, engaging, and compelling stories that tell them why they should hire this candidate. Telling a story adds the color, context, and realism to help an interviewer appreciate the skills and experience a job candidate brings to a job. So, if you want to increase your chances of landing that great job, learn to tell your story because stories make you memorable.
Why does Penelope Trunk, career consultant, put “Tell a Story” as her first step in Acing a Job Interview?
Listen and Learn
Road Trip Nation helps students define their own road in life by giving them an opportunity to go out and listen to successful people’s stories. Students learn a lot about the people they interview because those interviewees share interesting and honest personal narratives. One of the best ways to learn to tell your story is to listen to other people’s stories and to analyze the elements that made the story meaningful and memorable. Listen to at least two of the stories below and *fill in the chart on your student guide.
- Warren Brown: Owner of Cake Love listened to the voice in his head to find and follow his passion.
- Trelise Cooper: Fashion designer battled through her fear to design and sell her own creations.
- Pam Gaber: Founder of Gabriel’s Angels embarked on a journey of self-discovery to help herself and others.
- Morris Reid: Legislative Advocate enthusiastically worked his way up from “purse” duty to personal assistant to the US Secretary of Commerce.
Compose Your Story
Every story we tell gives people an insight into who we are. Stories are revealing. So, before you tell your story, it’s a good idea to figure out a few stories that emphasize the qualities you have that will help you to excel on the job. Is it resilience, courage, persistence, creativity … ? Remember that the interviewers do not want to hear your life story. They don’t want a list of your accomplishments; they can get that information in your resume. They want to hear about the specific moments in your life where you made a difference. If you want to show how you used your problem solving skills, you might tell a story like this one:
Last year I got an internship in the marketing division at XYZ newspaper. I arrived on the scene filled with energy and enthusiasm, but the morale of the news team was anything but optimistic, and for good reason. Subscriptions were dwindling and advertisers were pulling their ads and moving them to the Internet. There was talk of lay-offs. I knew the newspaper had a lot to offer the community and I wanted to help. Fortunately, I loved technology and I had experience blogging and tweeting. I thought we could use these electronic tools to bring in new readers. I talked to the director of marketing and asked him about getting some of the featured writers to start blogging and twittering. He thought that was a good idea and so he had me work one-on-one with two feature writers to build blogs and start tweeting. Once the other reporters saw the positive response from blogging and twittering, they were willing to try it. Over a couple of months, we began using electronic media to support and extend the printed-paper. The paper picked up readership and the reporters found yet another way to reach and build circulation. *Write down at least three ideas for your story. Using one of your ideas, write a short draft of your story. (about 100 words)
Practice Your Story
Once you have spent some time writing out your short 1-2 minute story, the best way to develop and improve stories is simply to tell them to someone. There is something in the telling and retelling of stories, researchers have found, that allows us deeper understanding and a better memory of the events and lessons. The better the storyteller understands and believes in his/her story, the better the listener will connect and find meaning in the story. Ask someone to listen to your story. *List 3 people you would like to tell your story to.
He who tells the stories rules the world. — Hopi Proverb