I’ve written many times in this space about using story to communicate persuasively to employers to get jobs. But the inner stories we tell ourselves also color the job search. When I was teaching at the college level, I had a student who insisted she had no skills. Nearly four … Continue reading
Category Archives: Storytelling and Career
Yes, Hiring Decision-Makers Want to Hear Your Story
More and more career coaches and experts have joined the chorus touting the use of story in job-search communications. What’s more unusual is to hear from hiring decision-makers — employers, recruiters, and the like — who want to hear job-seeker stories. I am convinced that most do; their desire to … Continue reading
OMG, My Book Is Available on Kindle
Just a tiny indicator of how the book market is changing, a couple of days ago, I got TWO queries in one day from folks wanting to know if books of mine were available as ebooks/Kindle editions. I didn’t think Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel … Continue reading
Sympathy vs. Empathy and Shaping Your Career Brand with Your Story
Dana Leavy presents an interesting perspective on career storytelling in What’s Your Story, Morning Glory? Building the Story Behind Your Personal Brand. She suggests both knowing the bigger narrative behind your brand, as well as the smaller stories that inspire it. Here, Leavy connects empathy vs. sympathy to telling those … Continue reading
Stories-in-the-Job-interview Ebook
UPDATED 2020: This post was originally about a deal on a PDF copy of the 16-page e-book: Stories in the Job Interview: A How-to Guide to Creating and Using Stories to Stand Out in the Job Interview. At this writing, the book is 99 cents on Kindle. This post is … Continue reading
Intern Videos, LOTS, Company Narratives, Job Journaling, Personal Branding, Sales Stories: A Career-Storytelling Roundup
Here are some recent dispatches from the world of story in job search and career. I have to appreciate the language at Intern Sushi, a new site that “gives interns and companies a multimedia platform to tell their stories.” That platform consists of “one-minute videos and digital profiles, interns and … Continue reading
Be Selective When Choosing Stories to Tell in Cover Letters
Anna Marie Trester is a sociolinguist who recently made the point in her eponymous blog that as researchers, she and her colleagues bring special skills to crafting resumes and cover letters. I was pleased to note her support for telling stories in cover letters. Here’s what she said in her … Continue reading
Stories to Instill Pride in New Employees
During my PhD program, I tried to latch onto the term “organizational entry” to describe, in part, my field of research. Organizational entry is the term used in academia to cover there activities surrounding bringing new employees into an organization. Though the term is much more commonly applied to what … Continue reading
A Parable about the Hidden Job Market: Guest Post by Robert McIntosh
Bob McIntosh (pictured) is a Career Trainer with “a tenacious appetite for learning and staying abreast of the latest job-search trends, and disseminating that knowledge to jobseekers of all levels.” He shares an interest in storytelling in the job search. He was kind enough to submit this parable. A risk … Continue reading
Some Employers Offering Opportunities for Job-Seekers to Tell Their Stories
As a refreshing change from the periodic articles that declare “the resume is dead,” Rachel Emma Silverman’s No More Résumés, Say Some Firms merely notes that some employers are turning to methods other than resume screening to initially evaluate candidates. These methods include LinkedIn profiles, a job-seeker’s Web presence, and … Continue reading