Gerrit Hall’s article, The Relevance of Storytelling in Your Job Search, was not exactly epiphanic for someone like me who has been immersed in job-search storytelling for several years now.
But Hall did mention a rationale for job-interview storytelling that was new
to me. Job-seekers who respond in story form show they care more about their own work history, Hall says, than those who fail to deploy stories.
Hall contrasts these sample job-history summations:
“I was an intern for a while, then I started working as an assistant, and then I did some work as a manager…”
vs.
“I started working for ABC Company as an intern, learned a lot about the company, and was quickly promoted to an assistant position. After I sold the most units in one quarter, I was again promoted to manager, where I lead 15 people in the department.”
Of course, the job-seeker could likely tell an even better story than the second example indicates, but even as is, that summation is more compelling than the first.