Storytelling in the job search is a recurring theme in A Storied Career, and I’ve presented support for the notion, along with how-to’s, but not a lot of evidence of how well storytelling works in the job hunt. Today’s entry is the story of marketing professional free agent Bryan Lee, who took a “Humaway” workshop with recent Q&A subject Judy Rosemarin

Frying Pan to Fire: Bryan’s Story

The day before taking my “Humaway” Workshop with Judy, the phone rang and it was a firm with whom I was angling for a new position. Could I come in tomorrow to interview? I had that excited/nervous thing going on the whole night. I played the two stories I had drafted for Judy and the workshop in my head as I tried to drift to sleep, but also now played out the interview in my mind.

During the workshop, Judy led us through the elements of a great story — learning to feature characters, drama and dialogue. As my fellow students and I worked our way through our first attempt at telling our stories, you could feel the collective unease and tension rise. This was supposed to be a story to highlight a strength of ours — could it really sound like this? I couldn’t help but think of how challenging it might be a few hours later in the interview. I had moved to churning the butter.

Then something remarkable happened. Following some collective feedback and some pointed but helpful coaching from Judy, we rewrote and then retold our stories. What a difference for each of us! The stories were personal, interesting and most importantly, memorable. From the bank compliance officer to the CFO to the accountant and on, a new “humaway” had been birthed for each of us.

I was exhilarated leaving Judy and the group, and started to feel my story coming together as I dined on a slice and soda.

An hour later, I was seated in my interview with Harriet, the vice president for HR and Louise, one of her staff. Finishing some opening banter, the first question came: “Can you walk us through your resume?” Inside, I took a deep breath and took the plunge. Instead of a dry recitation of my previous jobs and experiences, I said, “I’d like to tell you a story that I think will feature a couple of my key strengths that will help you understand what I can do for your firm and your clients.” Anxiously scanning faces for reaction, I saw a bit of surprise, and a spark between them — they looked at each other, then back at me. Harriet nodded and said, “Sure. Love to hear it.”

My energy rose, and I unfolded the story I had told to Judy, and my workshop pals, only two hours earlier. No notes, no hesitation — just fun. I was engaged, and more importantly, they were engaged. My two-minute story prompted some great follow-on discussion. At the end of an hour, we ended — I had graduated from a “recitation” interview to a pace where I thought my story was in play — and regardless of the outcome to come, I was memorable. Humaway indeed!

You can reach Judy Rosemarin through her Web site, Sense-able Strategies or via e-mail.