Three dispatches from the world of story and job search/career …
I stumbled across a blog I’m surprised not to have found before, Figuring 
Out Fulfillment, which describes itself as “a storytelling project about finding a career and finding yourself.” Providing a nice set of prompts, bloggers “Margaret and Bill” offer the opportunity for readers “to share where you find yourself in your career today and how you got there.” It doesn’t appear that many readers have told their stories, but Margaret and Bill blog fairly regularly, sometimes about story and career.
Bud Bilanch suggests weekly journaling to help your career advance. He offers these three prompts:
- What did I do since the last time I’ve written in this journal that really moved me toward my corporate career success? Be specific. Describe not only what you did, but why you think it moved you closer to your corporate career success. You’ll want to continue doing this type of activity.
- What did I do since the last time I’ve written in this journal that hindered my progression toward my corporate career success. Be specific. Describe not only what you did, but why you think it hindered your corporate career success progression. You’ll want to stop doing this type of activity.
- What could I have done since the last time I’ve written in this journal that would have moved me close to my corporate career success if I had done it? Describe not only what you failed to do, but why failing to do this hindered your corporate career success progression. You’ll want to start doing this type of activity.
I could do without the “corporate career success” phrase, but I support career journaling. If nothing else, journaling helps track accomplishments so you have them ready for your resume and interviews next time you’re in the job market — or for raise/promotion conversations with your boss.
The quandary of how to make a resume more storied comes up in a piece on smart resume risks by Sean Weinberg. I couldn’t agree more with Weinberg when he says, “A story … gives the reader or interviewer an understanding of why the facts are important or relevant to the position you are applying for.” But the example he gives is pretty tepid and not especially storied.
The job-seeker, Weinberg says, might list the following fact:
University of Prestige. Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Years Attended: 2005 – 2009*.
The “story” that supposedly illuminates the fact, Weinberg says is:
Coursework included the following electives: “The History of Web Technology,” and “Online Journalism.” Won the “Forward Thinking National Award” on my final paper predicting the growing popularity of social media.
I don’t find that to be much of story or to go beyond what most people might list under education. The phrase “the following electives” adds wordiness, and the word “my” is a personal pronoun that shouldn’t be used in a resume. The national award lacks credibility if the organization granting the award is not named.
So, bottom line, as is often the case, I love the support for using story in job-search communication, but I’d like to see some much better examples.
*By the way, I would never suggest that a job-seeker list a span of dates for college; instead, list just your graduation date (unless you didn’t graduate).