I have written about several story structures that job-seekers can deploy — especially in job interviews — but also in resumes, cover letters, and other job-search communications.

Let’s review:

• Traditional Situation (or Problem or Challenge) > Action > Result (SAR, PAR< CAR) structure
• Steve Denning's Attention > Desire > Reasons structure
• Gerry Lantz’s What’s at Stake? structure
• Lesley Morgan’s Feel … Felt … Found Blueprint
• Bill True’s Negative to Positive structure
• Rebecca Ruby’s Venn diagram
• Dick Gaither’s Who, What, Why, Where, When, How + Results structure

Every structure I’ve come across has been basically the same; it’s just that their originators use different words and nuances to describe them.

If they’re really all the same, why do I keep writing about them? Because not everyone can relate to the same structure. If you’re a job-seeker having difficulty grasping how to tell stories in your job search, perhaps the classic Situation —> Action —> Result doesn’t do it for you, but one of the others will.

Here are two more that I recently encountered and have framed in terms of job-search accomplishment stories:

From Mary Morel on the Flying Solo blog, in turn taken from Ros Jay, author of How to Write Proposals and Reports that Get Results:

• Position: In what position or role did you find yourself in a past or current job?
• Problem: What issue or problem did you encounter?
• Possibilities: What options did you have for solving the problems? What avenues did you consider?
• Proposal: Which option did you choose to solve the problem?

This structure leaves out perhaps the most important element, your results; be sure to tell prospective employers the outcome or results you obtained.

• Dramatic issue of consequence to the audience: What situation or problem did you handle in a past or current job that is directly relevant — or of consequence — to the job you’re targeting?
• The story’s movement: How did you move toward dealing with the problem and handling the obstacles along the way?
• Fulfillment: What resolution did you achieve? (Tell this story in a way that your audience, the prospective employer, will experience fulfillment because he or she will picture you solving the same kind of problem for his or her organization.)