I am heartened by how often I come across career experts these days who share my support for using storytelling in the job search. The headline is almost not far-fetched — that I come across one almost every week.
This week it’s Ford Myers, who was kind enough to send me a copy of his new book, Get the Job You Want Even When No One’s Hiring
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Myers describes interviewing as “two-way storytelling,” noting that the job-seeker must tell the interviewer “accurate, relevant stories about career achievements and job performance,” while the interviewer must tell the story of the company, the position, and the fit he or she sees for the job-seeker there. Like many storytelling advocates, Myers points to the beginning-middle-end aspect of stories.
He also contends that accomplishment stories are the job-seeker’s most powerful selling tool. His twist on the well-known Situation-Action-Result story is a series of questions that help the job-seeker develop an accomplishment story:
- What was the problem, challenge, or need [in a past job or other environment]?
- What did you do about it?
- How did you do it, specifically?
- What positive, tangible results did you produce? (quantify if possible)
- What skills did you demonstrate? (list 3-4 skills for each story)
He then provides a checklist of accomplishment-based items to help job-seekers brainstorm their achievements — not dissimilar to the Accomplishments Worksheet on A Storied Career’s parent site, Quintessential Careers.
Myers provides a nice value-added feature for buyers of the book and others who complete a quick, free registration on his site, lots of downloadable worksheets and other goodies. One of the downloads is a worksheet for accomplishment stories.