See a photo of Rob, his bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, Part 2, and Part 3.

Q&A with Rob Sullivan, Question 4:

Q: What’s your favorite story about a transformation that came about through a story or storytelling act?

A: It isn’t a coincidence that most of my favorite transformational stories are about career changers. After all, these are the people who have the most difficult challenge from a job-hunting standpoint. To make matters more difficult, traditional job search tools like résumés are practically useless because, by definition, a career changer is unlikely to have formal experience.

All of this was definitely true for Jill, a concert violinist who approached me about getting a job in advertising account management. When Jill first applied to Leo Burnett, the company was completely confused. When the interviewers looked at her résumé, they saw that she had played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, and the Moody Blues. It was a great story for a violinist. Not so great for a future advertising professional.

Looking at her résumé, I could only imagine the confusion in the mind of the recruiters who were probably thinking, “This looks great, but we don’t have an orchestra.”

At first, I was a bit confused as well. On the surface, it didn’t seem to make sense. However, after I encouraged Jill to chart her accomplishments in every area of her life, underlying themes of marketing and leadership emerged in almost every area of her life. She was recognized as a leader at age 12 when she began teaching violin at the music school’s request. From there, she marketed herself as a teacher, classroom instructor, musician, and manager of a string quartet. As she described the various marketing challenges, a more focused, enthusiastic person emerged.

Until that point, her cover letter, résumé — even her interviewing style—positioned her as a concert violinist who suddenly wanted to pursue advertising. By tracing her passion, quantifying her accomplishments, and retelling the story, we were able to position her as an accomplished marketer, problem-solver, and strategic thinking—who also happened to be a concert violinist.

After we repositioned her experience, Jill reapplied to Burnett and was hired — just a few short months after she was initially rejected. That’s the power of a great story.