Tell Me About Yourself

Telling a story in your cover letter doesn’t mean describing your entire career; that’s what your resume is for. For example, the following paragraph is too long and contains too many ideas that are not only unconnected to the job the writer seeks as a computer programmer, but disconnected from each other:

For nearly three years I have been a student computer technician for Academic Computing Services at Bucknell University. I am responsible for the repair and maintenance of all faculty, staff, and computer lab machines on campus. My duties also include the maintenance of our network and servers. Parallel with these responsibilities, I am also a lab supervisor for Academic Computing Services. I am also responsible for designing and maintaining several of Bucknell’s home pages for the World Wide Web, experience that has provided me with a detailed knowledge of the HTML programming language. In August 2007, I will complete my bachelor’s degree in philosophy. My liberal arts background has equipped me with exemplary communication skills. I have taken several math and computer science courses in my college career. My mathematics background includes trigonometry, statistics, calculus I and II, linear algebra, logic, and discrete math. I have also taken several computer science courses. In these courses, I work with Assembly, Pascal, C/C++, and several other languages. I am currently programming using C/C++ in the Windows NT and Windows XP environments.

Here’s how that rambling paragraph might be rewritten to tell a better story that relates more closely to specific skills:

• Having overseen repair and maintenance of all faculty, staff, and computer lab machines on the Bucknell University campus for nearly three years also qualifies me well for your advertised Help Desk Analyst/Programmer position. I also maintain our network and servers. My experience as a lab supervisor bolsters my management skills.
• The strong liberal-arts background I’ve attained through my upcoming bachelor’s degree in philosophy (August 2008) has equipped me with the exemplary communication skills your organization requires.
• I combine both my HTML programming skills and communication talents in designing and maintaining several Bucknell Web pages for the World Wide Web. I offer a strong math background and the diverse programming skills you need through my coursework in Assembly, Pascal, C/C++, and several other languages in the Windows NT and Windows XP environments.

Stories for the sake for storytelling won’t get you far. Be sure the stories you include in your cover letter will grab the reader.

It’s always easier for the reader to picture you succeeding on the job when you describe a specific situation, and employers are always attracted to numbers that indicate results.

Even if only one paragraph in your letter is in story form, try to integrate the story’s theme throughout your letter and tie the letter together by briefly referring back to the story in your final paragraph. See example letters starting later in this chapter.

Even the narrative cover letter has succumbed to employers’ insatiable hunger for bullet points, which are a nice way to break up blocks of type and make your letter easy to read. Focus-group participants responded well to a sample that included both a story and a bulleted section. It’s also possible to tell a story in bullet form, as in this example:

In my four years as sales manager of a leading medical-supply distributor in Redwood City, I directed the sales and marketing of the company’s line of breathing apparatus. During that time:

• I led the sales team in tripling annual billings, from $3 million to nearly $11 million;
• I contributed to a five-fold increase in company profits, for $150K in 2001 to $785K for the fiscal year ending in 2005.
• I guided a 250 percent increased in the number of accounts in our group’s sales territory.
• The success I’ve had here and elsewhere in 15 years of selling is not a coincidence or attributable to luck or magic. My sales prowess results from a natural ability to analyze a marketing/selling situation and deliver an innovative program that leaves the competition behind.

Use tables as another way to tell a story in a user-friendly format. Remember Mathias Carroll’s Project Supplement Resume Addendum from Chapter 5? An alternative to using the full addendum is to extract three or four storied key projects and use them in the middle of your cover letter, as in this sample.

Do make it as concise as possible.

Employers are not spending as much time as they used to reading cover letters. Ideally, your letter should be about four paragraphs, and one of those should tell a story.

One more type of story you can tell in a cover letter is the future story that address employer needs and challenges and tell how you would address those issues, as in these examples:

When I interviewed Ms. Kirkwood six months ago to obtain information about a career in real estate, she mentioned that the agency would like to establish a Web presence. I’d like to combine my interest in real estate with my knowledge of Web-page design and HTML programming to help you create a Webmaster position in your office. I’ve even sketched out some preliminary ideas on what your Web page might look like, and I’d love to get together and show them to you.

Because I recently assisted in managing one of the convenience stores in your company’s chain, I am well-acquainted with how to prioritize tasks. I oversaw organization of the employee task list. While corporate headquarters provided the basic structure of the task list, I modified it to meet our store’s needs. Now, I’d like to do that for all the corporate stores. Working in “the problem store,” as you often called it, I am certainly aware of the difficulties, and I have some ideas about how to solve them.

I understand that Hanover Information Systems deals heavily in telemarketing and database outsourcing. Maintaining a database can be very expensive for a company, and outsourcing this task can sometimes be more efficient. I am confident that I can help increase the company’s productivity by creating optimal ways to maintain the databases.

While short-term job and career tenures are much more accepted than they used to be, many decision-makers are still suspicious of career-changers and want to know what motivates the change. Their mental question is: “Why should I consider this career-changing candidate over someone who has always been in this field?” Your story must answer that question by showing your enthusiasm and passion for your new career as well as your transferable skills:

At the very instant I read your ad for a Merchandising Specialist, everything clicked. The description of the job became one with my passion, and I knew the match between me and this job was perfect. I’m ready to make my contribution in an environment where excellence is a given. I accept your challenge; I know I have what it takes, can prove it, and am poised to take my mark and go.

I became a chiropractor because of my desire to help people and make a difference. I strive to do the same with my writing. As a health professional with significant health/medical writing and publishing experience, I have a wealth of skills and talents to offer in the Staff Writer position you currently have open. I am eager to put my attributes to work for you at Healthy Body magazine.

My successes have been frequent and consistent since I joined The Buenger Corporation 10 years ago when it was a $90 million company. I played a key role in the organization’s growth to $1 billion. However, I’ve progressed as far as possible. As a result, I’ve decided to take on new challenges in a growing firm like yours that could benefit from my large-corporation experience.

It’s very difficult to explain in a resume such situations as relocation, extended family-leave time, sabbaticals, illness, disability, unemployment, travel, returning to employment after business ownership, and other employment gaps. The cover letter lends itself much better to these situations, but they represent another area for careful handling. You don’t want to tell stories that raise more questions than they answer. Nor do you want to call undue attention to an issue that may not be important to the employer. Certainly, do not belabor the special-situation story:

When I took maternity leave from my high-powered consulting job with Accenture, I expected to be gone for just a few months. Little did I know that giving birth to a child with autism would not only take me out of the workforce for six years to attend to my son’s special needs, but that it would inspire a whole new career passion as a special-education teacher. Now returning to the workforce with an education degree, I want to combine the communication skills honed through my past consulting experience with the knowledge I’ve gained as the mother of a special-needs child. I’m well prepared to design and deliver instruction, meet each child’s special needs, and ensure that my students reach their full learning potential.

Examples:

I enjoyed your recent informative presentation at St. Leo College and was so impressed with your knowledge of trends in pharmaceutical sales. Your talk inspired me to research Hoechst Marion Roussel further. I discovered that my professional demeanor and sales talents would be an excellent match for the world’s third-largest drug company. Noticing that Hoechst streamlined its labor force in 2005 demonstrates to me that you emphasize quality rather than quantity, a philosophy that aligns directly with my characteristics. I’d love to tell you more about how my solid academic performance, work ethic, drive, organizational skills, and strong interest in the pharmaceutical industry demonstrate my ability to attain outstanding results for your company.

Back in January, before I relocated to the Bay Area from Ohio, I wrote to you about the possibility of employment with your dynamic company. You generously took the time to reply with an extremely kind letter. You said that with my qualifications, I should have no difficulty finding a job. Having felt such a warm rapport with you from your very nice letter, I thought you might like to know that I’ve completed my relocation and am ready to enhance the success of a company like yours.

Stories that tell how you are uniquely qualified for the targeted job comprise another category of cover-letter story.

Tell stories that demonstrate your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP, an advertising term that refers to the one thing about a product that makes it distinct from all others. Express the one thing that makes you more qualified for this job than anyone else. Your USP story should answer the employer’s question: “Why should I hire this person?” Fotr example:

I’ve played semi-professional tennis for many years, so I am aware that the equipment a tennis player uses is extremely important. Through my international experience, I have learned that - like the game itself - the tennis industry is highly competitive industry. Improvements can give a company an edge over its competitors. I am convinced I can provide that quality and competitive advantage because I’ve done the same during my current position as Marketing Director. I knew that the quality of my employer’s marketing department drove the firm’s success, so I ensured top-notch performance.

My commitment to building the Hialeah School of Arts as an institution is exemplified by my having contributed to my community as an arts educator, where I have witnessed firsthand that creative learning environments in which the arts bring people together, stimulate feelings and emotions, and generate dialogue. I have seen the arts encourage, empower, heal, and restore neighborhoods, communities, and schools, rejuvenating them and bringing them to life.

In my last two editing positions, a 30-gallon trash can in my office has been the destination of 90 percent of the press releases I received. I could write a book or teach a course on how not to write a news release or mount a publicity campaign.

A participant in the focus-group research for this book commented that the storytelling cover letters she observed in the study offered “concrete examples of their attribute and skill claims instead of just throwing out the descriptors they think a prospective employer will want to hear:”

Six years in restaurant management have taught me every facet of the industry. Through these years our family-owned and operated company has expanded from a single unit to a nine-restaurant chain. Having been brought up in the business, I’ve dealt with a diverse array of individuals. I have developed, among other attributes, strong entrepreneurial, interpersonal, and motivational skills, which will contribute to a fruitful and profitable partnership with your company.

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My background in sales comes from two summer internships in which I progressed from sales representative to assistant sales manager in the telemarketing department and was hired full-time the next summer as the manager. This experience, coupled with my education, is a surefire asset to your bottom line. My creative and aggressive nature will benefit your company significantly, and I know that I will generate the results you are looking for.

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As marketing vice president for GenYX Network, I demonstrated my strategic ability when I successfully positioned our company as a leading Internet-based global distribution firm. I have consistently contributed my marketing management skills while motivating team members, fine-tuning marketing plans and goals, and juggling multiple projects.

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The direct functions of my position in the U.S. Navy closely parallel the requirements of your advertised position. I single-handedly managed, tracked, and reported the hospital’s financial position including accounting for income statement and balance-sheet items. I also gained valuable experience in preparing quarterly and annual budgets for the 30-department medical facility.

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Diverse professionals comprised the environment in my last workplace, BeautyGem. What I found to be most productive for the operation was to use my unique ability to bridge gaps to develop cooperative working relationships with the staff. I used a judicious mixture of solid interpersonal skills, adaptability to others’ needs, and a good sense of humor. I worked hard to deploy these traits with supervisors and colleagues to build an efficient and cohesive office operation that became recognized as highly competent and customer-service oriented.

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As a workshop teacher/facilitator and teaching artist for the Lincoln Center Institute for Aesthetic Education program in New York, I consistently applied the philosophy and practice of aesthetic education to my teaching and curriculum development. I have thus created a body of work that is a successful woven quilt of artful investigation, academic enhancement, and integrity in teaching and learning. I have proven my ability to create well-structured units of study that facilitate reflection, integrate all of the arts as teaching tools, engage all learners, remain consistently funded by local arts and state agencies as well as school districts and educational organizations, and enjoy considerable success.

In the last entry, I noted that focus-group members weren’t too keen on the cover-letter samples they’d be shown with stories that tug at the heartstrings. So, what kinds of “heartstrings” stories are effective? Those that make a more positive connection between the job-seeker’s heart-tugging experience and his or her ability to do the job as in these samples:

• A particular strength of mine is establishing rapport with patients, often perceiving nonverbal cues that communicate how they are feeling. I am then adept at motivating them to manage or even overcome their dysfunction. I will always remember my 88-year-old patient, Dottie, and the way she smiled with tears in her eyes after my therapy enabled her to write a letter to her first great-grandchild.
• Through my experiences, I have gained a deep conviction that improving the quality of early care of children is the best way to improve society. The care that children receive in these early years is pivotal to whether they become pro- or anti-social. The program I developed provided 60 children with appropriate guidance, nutrition, safety, and unconditional love, and had a lasting impact as they developed into adulthood. A much higher percentage of them than is typical for that population are now college bound.
• The world of insurance doesn’t seem like a breeding ground for the kind of compassion you need in a counselor, but for me it was. When I was in health-insurance claims, a family had lost its home during the Christmas holidays. They lacked the funds to cover their benefit premiums, and their coverage was about to be cancelled. I came up with a payment plan. I also put the father’s disability claim on the fast track and collaborated with co-workers to send four big boxes with wrapped Christmas presents to arrive on Christmas Eve.
• As the coordinator of a tutoring program for disadvantaged youth, I have developed my ability to motivate and make a difference. I helped a little boy, Jeremy, improve his reading and math grades from F’s to B’s. The same enthusiasm and persuasive skills that aided me in recruiting 115 new volunteers for service projects this year make me a valuable asset for your organization.

Emotional stories can be extremely effective, but they must be handled with kid gloves. While some employers might be touched by the examples below, focus-group participants did not find stories with a “negative” element to be enticing. One participant said, “None of these conveys a positive experience [that] would transfer to their employment and make them a better worker:”

I can make a valuable contribution to Maplewood Children’s Hospital, based on my past experiences. As a child I spent a lot of time in hospitals, and I vividly remember my feelings in response to the environment. I would like to ensure that children feel as comfortable as possible in an otherwise scary situation.

While working in a summer internship with the Red Cross in Rwanda, I was exposed to human suffering far worse than anything I ever could have imagined. It is out of the sensitivity I acquired toward the misery of oppressed people that I decided to dedicate my career toward trying to ease suffering. That is why I am writing to you about the social-worker position you currently have available.

Recently I have spent many long hours at the bedsides of my two brothers, who were both hospitalized for lengthy periods for separate traumas. I thus have personal experience with both short- and long-term patients and the problems they endure while in the hospital.

Continuing the list of stories you can tell in a cover letter:

• Stories — for new graduates — of how your education has prepared you for the targeted job.

New-grad stories don’t have to be about just your classroom education, but your extracurricular activities, leadership experience, sports-team membership, internships, work-study jobs, and the full spectrum of your college experience, as in these examples:

Having dedicated a substantial section of my undergraduate thesis to examining tradable permits as a way to regulate carbon emissions, I share the Sierra Club’s concern about global warming. As a recent graduate, I am looking to apply my knowledge in the real world.

As a student majoring in accounting at the University of Miami, I have gained significant knowledge in the accounting field. I understand that Baldwin wishes to hire someone who can develop an information system to track sales and inventory. I have developed several information systems related to customer orders using Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, and Visual Basic.

My recent experience and my classroom knowledge as an accounting major will benefit your company. As director of finance for an organization of 60 individuals, I functioned independently to reconcile bank statements and accounts receivable, billing accounts receivable, prepare accrual journal entries, generate financial statements, create an incentive program, and establish a computerized accounting system. Just as I achieved these goals effectively, I will be productive, proficient, and accurate for your company as well.

Through my internship with Blue Cross-Blue Shield I’ve fully deployed my marketing skills. I conducted a research study on the motivational behavior of the charitable donors by using communication skills and several business software programs. I have also successfully filled a local grocery store with campus faculty to participate in Celebrity Baggers during my first month as an intern.

As a computer lab assistant I gained invaluable hands-on experience in computer software problem-solving and was promoted to assist professors in coordinating and implementing technical software seminars. My effective interaction with the faculty led to my selection for a highly prestigious position as co-teacher of a university class designed to orient first-year students with college life. I took full responsibility for the theme, syllabus, class discussions, and lectures.

My resume shows that I’m a college student, but I am not a typical undergraduate. I am a highly motivated self-starter. I established a house-painting business to contribute to my college costs. As rush chairman of my fraternity, I was motivated to make my organization the best. While only eight new members were initiated the year before I took office, 22 new members pledged when I held the position. Nationals recognized this accomplishment when we received a special award for recruitment.

• Stories that describe how well you fit in with the organization’s culture, values, and mission.
  Robert Frey, who describes himself as a “fact-based storyteller” teaches successful proposal-writers to “kiss the customer’s mission” (where the customer in this case is the employer), meaning to show you understand the employer’s mission and can demonstrate how it relates to what you can bring to the organization.

  In addition to my undergraduate background in business and sales, I have interned with the Sheraton St. Augustine, where I played a key role in selling the five-star hotel’s accommodations to journalists and tourists from all over the world. Add to that experience my understanding and appreciation for the sport of golf, and you have the perfect addition to your golf-equipment sales team.

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  I’ve spent considerable time researching companies by talking to happy employees. From that research, I know that Stocks Unlimited is a great company to work for, with a friendly environment. It’s an organization in which I know I can contribute my skills and talents to their full potential to benefit the firm. I am impressed with your company values; you treat customers the same way you would want to be treated, and I would be proud to part of your team.

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  I am excited about your agency’s mission “to conserve, protect, and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people” and I am more than ready to assist those “who work to save endangered and threatened species; conserve migratory birds and inland fisheries; and manage offices and field stations.”

• Stories describing long-term interest in, knowledge of, and admiration for the organization you’re targeting.

Handle this type of story carefully so that it is framed in terms of how you will benefit the employer — not how working for your long-admired employer will fulfill your career dreams. Also be careful about “preaching to the choir;” don’t tell the reader things about company that he or she already knows. Employer-admiration stories could include your experiences as a customer of the organization such as in the first two examples:

As a seasoned cruise traveler and worker in the hospitality industry, I am well aware of your company’s outstanding status as an industry leader. My education and experience in marketing, customer service, sales, information systems, Spanish language, and worldwide travel equip me to enhance the success of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

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I have long been an avid consumer of Volkswagen’s automobiles. I have a passion for the cars VW produces, and I know I can infuse this same energy in everything I do for you. I would be thrilled to contribute my automotive-design talents to your organization.

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More samples of company knowledge/admiration:

I have been both an admirer and enthusiast of Birnbaum Investments’ many subsidiaries and its ongoing quest to introduce new products that both diversify and capture various aspects of the tourist industry. Birnbaum appears to be the company for future innovation in tourism in Barbados, and I know I can contribute to its continued success.

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Having been previously employed at Walt Disney World, I completely understand that customer satisfaction is the main priority in achieving success in the theme-park business. An organization that prides itself on effective recruiting and retaining, training, and managing its employees is best equipped to cater to consumer needs in today’s competitive arena.

Parkerson Products’ commitment to hiring the best candidates is likely the reason for your first-rate reputation. I am convinced that I am the candidate who can contribute to Parkerson’s continued success. That’s the reason I am applying for the Product-Development Manager position that you advertised on Monster.com.

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Having studied Pinnacle’s achievements with admiration, I am aware that success at Pinnacle depends on the trainer’s ability to convince seminar attendees to enroll in in-depth training programs. I’ve used my talent for holding an audience’s attention to successfully sell household items every summer during my college years. Each summer, I surpassed my sales of the summer before and achieved the highest sales of any collegiate salesperson during the summer just passed.

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As a life-long animal lover, I was touched and inspired to read about VetMed’s recent success with medications to alleviate arthritis pain in dogs. I am extremely excited that, as a soon-to-be graduate in biology from the University of Tennessee, I am about to make my mark in the world of veterinary pharmaceutical research. I would most like to contribute to the research and development team at VetMed.

This type of story can be quite effective as the opening paragraph in your cover letter by grabbing the employer’s attention immediately:

What person interested in working in the rental-car business wouldn’t want to bring motivation and talent to the industry leader? My family is extremely brand-loyal to your company, never having even considered renting from any of your competitors. I am very interested in working in this industry, and that’s why I’m applying for your manager-trainee vacancy.

• Stories that reveal your personality.
  These are stories that inspire the employer to want to get to know you better and thus call you in for an interview. They could demonstrate your sense of humor, your work ethic, your compassion, or simply your humanness. They paint a meaningful picture of who you are:

  I am a builder. I don’t mean with hammer and nails, although I enjoy that kind of building, too. At my last employer, I built three organizations that filled specific niches within the parent company. I defined the departments’ roles, hired and trained more than 300 team members, and then built the capability. I found it equally rewarding to improve those organizations by adding systems and processes so the teams were recognized for their contribution. I applied my creativity, leadership and ability to navigate complex and abstract problems.

  I admit it. I’m a psychology geek. I have always had an interest in where our behaviors, thoughts, and personalities come from. Since I can remember, I would be in the library sifting through the philosophy and psychology shelves. I am an enthusiastic learner and problem solver. I am patient and compassionate and tend to make others feel at ease. I don’t judge people based on their successes; rather, I see trials and past experiences as an opportunity for growth and empathy.

  I would describe myself as a consistently positive person. My friends sometimes ask me how I can be so energetic. I’m proud of my efforts to pursue my dream of being a clinical dietitian. As you can see from my resume, I changed my career to become a dietitian. I had an interest in food and nutrition since I was a little girl and helped to develop recipes for patients who required food restriction. I strengthened my interest in clinical nutrition as I learned about the field on my own. When I found how clinical nutrition therapy functioned as a preventive medicine, I decided to become a registered dietitian.

  I once read that experience working in an insane asylum or as an animal trainer or juggler provides the best background for working as a graphic artist at a design firm. Frankly, I haven’t had any of those experiences, but I thrive on the pressure of a fast-paced and intense environment and can juggle several projects simultaneously. My fresh and innovative design skills, along with total Macintosh and PC proficiency make me the graphic artist you’ve been looking for.

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  In your opener, you can also introduce the idea that you will be revealing more of your personality in the letter:

  A resume can tell you only the bare bones of my story. This letter is to help you get to know me.

• Stories detailing problems you’ve solved for your employers:

  My analytical skills have contributed to my ability to solve challenging problems. At FoodAmerica, for example, sales quotas were not tied to financial objectives. I applied my creativity to devising a sales-forecasting system in which order files could be integrated with shipments and invoicing files, and SAS reports could be prepared each morning. I arranged for SAS reports to be e-mailed to each sales unit so all parties could see the sales status daily, ensured that the system tied sales quotas to financial objectives, and added a trend projection expert system to forecast which products would not make their objectives. This report contributed significantly to the successful startup of the Mighty Macaroni product line.
  

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  As a consultant at Connor Associates, I have proven myself as a team leader. For example, when the mainframe computer crashed last summer, and we lost months of crucial data, I motivated team members to pull extra shifts to duplicate the work in just a few weeks.
  

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  My broad-based background enables me to adapt well to building client relationships. In my current position, for instance, I identified and resolved customer issues with a computer manufacturer, resulting in a $1M contract. Not only did my company win the contract, but its management expressed the organization’s satisfaction by providing excellent word-of-mouth promotion of our services to its subsidiaries.

• Stories describing other accomplishments and successes. The story of your past performance shows that you are the best value choice for the employer because you’ve achieved the same kind of results the organization seeks, says Robert S. Frey, Senior Vice President at RS Information Systems, Inc. (RSIS), whom I interviewed for this book. Tell stories that vividly show how you’ve made a difference for your past employers:

  In my most recent music-industry position at BMG, I maintained $1 million project budgets and helped boost the record sales of artists such as Clay Aiken, Taylor Hicks, and Carrie Underwood. With great efficiency and productivity, I can oversee budget creation and negotiation for video and photo shoots, hire creative staff, and function as the liaison among artists, their management, and the label.
  

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  My immersion into the world of business and finance at Global Financial Advisors has prepared me for business consulting. As a rising adviser who regularly cold-called CEOs and owners of successful Atlanta corporations to persuade them to meet with me, I banked my success on the ability to think creatively, conceptualize on many levels, and communicate crisply. I effectively explained the value my firm could provide and demonstrated my competency in tax, legal, insurance, and investment realms. I helped clients understand complex ideas in simple terms, motivated them to action, and then collaborated with a team of Global associates to implement our ideas.
  

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  I have proven my ability to attract and keep customers through the excellent feedback and comments I’ve received from guests, many of whom have come back and requested me as their server. I’ve also demonstrated my ability to up-sell by producing total meal sales 15 percent higher than 80 percent of servers and increasing my sales by 20 percent in the past three months. I also won an award for highest beverage sales for a server.
  

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  While at Winona State University, I completed numerous programming projects and sharpened my leadership and interpersonal skills. I demonstrated these skills by organizing the 2005 Annual Programmers Dinner, which nearly 300 people attended.

• Stories that depict your motivation, enthusiasm, and passion for the job you seek. Words such as “passion” and “excited” jumped out at a focus-group participant when evaluating this sample letter. “These are things an employer looks for in a candidate,” the participant said. “You don’t want to hire someone that is simply there to do a job. You want them to have a desire and motivation not only for the position, but to help the company grow as well — and using those words depicts just that.”

  While completing my degree in media communications and technology last year, I cultivated a true passion for video work that I would like to contribute to Southeast NewsVideo.

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  Every morning I kick off the sheets and leap out of bed — thrilled to greet my new day and eager to engage all the challenges I will encounter. I can imagine the many challenges you face as the market leader that could benefit from my performance-management expertise as your Product Support and Training Manager.

• Stories describing specific projects you’ve led or collaborated on, including results:

  More than five years of high performance in retail banking and the direct-investment industry in a recently emerging market — Vietnam — has provided me with exceptional experiences and strong connections with decision-making officials in the private and public sectors. Leading a small team to reorganize a Vietnamese bank virtually from scratch, I was apprehensive over the overwhelming challenges, yet excited to exercise my leadership skills. The result exceeded all expectations; not only did we stabilize the bank, but we also managed to raise $2 million in equity. After completing the successful reorganization, I earned a promotion to deputy managing director, the youngest manager in the Vietnamese banking industry.

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  I have demonstrated my aptitude for client management and relationship building by successfully rebuilding a damaged relationship with a major financial institution and creating the flagship office for this global engagement team. In these capacities, I have consistently proven my ability to mold a diverse team of experts to form cohesive plans and successfully complete projects.

Stories of early interest in your career path and determination to reach your career goal. A participant in cover-letter focus-group research conducted for this book said that the following sample “creates a vivid picture in your mind and leaves a memorable impression with the reader:”

One of my most profound memories as a young child was the day I first flew on an airplane. I was traveling with my family to California, and I still remember the feeling of excitement as I held my mother’s hand and climbed the stairs into the immense red, white, and blue plane. That was my first of many flights on Delta, and I have never forgotten it. I am interested in fostering that same excitement in others by working for Delta as a training instructor.

More samples of early career interest:

• Six years ago when you hired me for my first job, I wonder if you realized that the experience would inspire my career. I want to thank you for giving me that first opportunity to explore retail, not only because I enjoy the work so much, but because I’ve learned enough to know that I want to make a long-term commitment to this field.
• You would have to look far and wide to find someone who could bring as much enthusiasm and creativity as I could to the position of assistant creative director of StoryDance. Ever since I attended StoryDance’s performances as a young child, I’ve had a vision of the kind of creativity and energy I could add to the program. I carried that vision all the way to college, where I majored in theater and minored in dance.

Unlike resumes with their clipped bullet points, cover letters offer the job-seeker much wider latitude to tell stories because letters are quite compatible with the narrative form. You can engage the employer, make an emotional connection, show results, and become instantly memorable by writing at least one paragraph in the form of a powerful story. Not all employers read cover letters (about a third don’t), but those who read, do really read the letter, unlike the resume, which they almost always skim.

• Enelow, W., & Goldman, S. (2005). Insider’s Guide to Finding a Job. Indianapolis, IN: JIST.

• Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink! The Power of Thinking without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown.

• Kraft, C. (2004, Nov. 9). Don’t just tell what you did, tell how you did it!. Gladiator newsletter.

• Quintessential Careers: Resume and CV Resources for Job-Seekers

• Ryan, L. (2005, Feb. 22). Multi-story resume, higher profile. Business Week Online.

• Whitcomb, Susan Britton, (2003). Resume Magic. Indianapolis, ID: JIST.

Here are sample story-based resumes and addenda to give you a better idea how to use storytelling in these documents:

• Walter Dietz Story Resume
• Sean Patrick Story Resume Addendum: Leadership Profile
• Wesley Edwards Story Resume
• Zhang Li “Story-Lite” Resume followed by Executive Performance Highlights Addendum
• Mathias Carroll Projects Supplement
• Georgia Lutz Bio Addendum

With some career experts predicting that traditional resumes may be on their way out, readers may question the notion of the storytelling resume. Citing online recruiting expert John Sullivan as well as Allan Schweyer of the Human Capital Institute, Deborah Dib prognosticates that “within a few years most companies who are hiring or recruiting online will use e-profiles in place of the traditional resume. E-profiles allow access to information that is sorted and easy to use.” Dib’s finger is on the pulse of those who predict that paperless recruiting will become the norm. While the resume may disappear from the online job search and morph into new forms and spin-offs, it will still be used for mailing, networking, and interviewing. No matter what form the resume takes, expert wordsmithing will still be required, Dib notes, “to compose keyword-rich online profiles and resume builders, and to develop compelling success stories for interviews.” A focus-group participant agrees, stating that “in the business world, there will always be a time and place when candidates will need a quick, concise, easily accessible summary of their skills. I think technology will continue to streamline the job application process, and resumes will adapt accordingly but never go away completely.”

It’s also just possible that the current business trend toward storytelling will move the resume to a more rather than less narrative form. As businesspeople recognize the power of storytelling and eschew emotionless data, PowerPoint presentations, dry analytical facts, and terse bullet points, they will be drawn to story-based resumes. As A Whole New Mind author Daniel Pink warns, “minimizing the importance of story places you in professional and personal peril.”

Employers and recruiters express a constant concern about finding candidates who are a good fit with their organizations, who will perform, and get results. Given that they fret about the ability to predict candidate performance before hiring, they should welcome information in the resume that helps them to get to know more about the candidate rather than less. In fact, it is not decision-makers’ distaste for rich information that is driving the current trend toward standardized profile forms that enable employers to compare apples to apples; instead, it is the revolution in Internet recruiting and job-hunting which has inundated employers with too many resumes to deal with. But as Pink points out, we have a “hunger for what stories can provide - context enriched by emotion, a deeper understanding of how we fit in and why that matters.”

Even if you’ve used storytelling to describe your accomplishments in your resume, space limitations have likely prevented you from providing much detail. Deborah Wile Dib, a CEO coach with multiple certifications in resume writing and career coaching, is an enthusiastic champion of the concept of resume addenda. Noting that these story-based addenda are “a good read,” she gives them a variety of titles, such as “Critical Leadership Initiatives,” “Marketing Milestones,” “Performance Milestones,” “Key Engagements” (for a consultant), “Career Success and Distinctions,” and “Major Campaigns.” Dib encourages clients to identify their “career-defining accomplishments” and then rank-order the top five that align best with the job-seeker’s targeted employers. For Dib, most accomplishments can be summed up in the phrase “accomplished solutions provider.” The employer, Dib notes, is primarily interested in whether the candidate can solve problems and make/save money. The addendum supplies information - that the more concise resume can’t accomplish - about the challenge the candidate faced and the process used to achieve the result, Dib says. To enhance the storytelling power of her resumes and addenda, Dib sometimes even breaks the cardinal resume rule against using the pronoun “I” in her documents. Also touting the idea of the resume addendum is well-known resume writer and career author Louise Kursmark, who refers to these addenda as “ROI documents,” replete with stories that illustrate the Return on Investment the employer will gain in hiring the candidate. Kursmark’s own special twist on the resume addendum is the Job Proposal, which tells a future story of what the candidate can do for the employer. The proposal presents the candidate’s understanding of the employer’s challenge, a section entitled “My Value” that explains how the candidate is the most qualified person to meet the challenge, and offers a “Proposed Solution.”

Dib cautions that not everyone involved in the hiring process likes resume addenda, and my PhD research bears out that caution. But as long as the employer also has your “story lite” resume, he or she can choose whether or not to review the addendum. Some recruiters in the focus-group research liked the option of being able to obtain additional information from addenda. One participant said, “I like addenda because they don’t get in my way, but if I choose to delve deeper when presenting to a hiring manager, the info is there.”

The addendum can also make an excellent artifact for your career portfolio, as described in the upcoming Chapter 6.

• Boosted sales rate by 200 percent in first year and 400 percent over five years, successfully capturing majority of engineering specification market.
• Revived branch image, upgraded technology and equipment, and re-established company as industry leader by increasing sales dramatically.
• Achieved 95 percent spend capture, 35 percent system operating and maintenance cost reduction, increased order visibility and leverage position, and enhanced supplier relationship management by executing successful integration of business units’ procurement and payables systems and processes.
• Reduced annual consulting costs by $1.4M, streamlined development processes, facilitated rapid turnaround of customer requests, and enhanced internal application-development and application-support capabilities by developing and executing plan to in-source numerous key IT functions.
• Achieved 25 percent call-back rate, 30 percent sales increase, and a reopened revenue stream by executing direct-mail initiative to contact dormant customers to provide name recognition reminder and publish service-option details.
• Saved company $13.75 million - $1.75 million in first year and $4 million annually for three consecutive years - by conceiving, designing, and strategizing to bring branch computer maintenance in-house.
• Saved weeks in project time by instituting structured project-management methodology.
• Increased recoveries from less than 2 percent of paid, to 5.7 percent of paid, resulting in $39.6 million in increased recoverables, by creating “Third Party Recovery Recognition Templates.”
• Reduced customer requests from 500 to 12 within three months by designing and implementing centralized customer task-tracking system.
• Reduced errors, saved time, achieved nearly a 100-percent paperless environment, and saved money by implementing central Web-based database that houses all client data, realizing remarkable return on equipment investment in less than a year.

Presenting your accomplishments in your resume represents a case where it’s OK, indeed desirable, to give away the end of the story first. Tell the Result (R) of your Action (A) first so it catches the employer’s attention. Then, ideally, describe the Situation (S), Problem (P), or Challenge (C) that your Action addressed. Quantify wherever possible.

Note in these examples from diverse resumes that, because of resume space limitations and employers’ preference for conciseness, the Situation, Problem, or Challenge is not always described:

• Produced sales growth from $50K in backlog to more than $31 million in backlog in three years by building high-performance, multifunctional/multi-discipline, sales team comprising professionals from multiple departments.
• Deflected 50 percent increase in electricity costs by designing/installing power factor correction systems.
• Reduced water usage by 80 percent by developing new cooling water temperature control system.
• Led national expansion of single-serve potato chip product — building US volume +33% — by utilizing US volume projections, international test market demands, and available capacity.
• Increased revenue by recruiting, training, and organizing efficient contract staff capable of faster processing time that optimized sales representatives’ performance.
• Began employment as fax runner whose superiors recognized exemplary professional skills and unsurpassed work ethic; promoted to administrative assistant, and promoted again to senior administrative assistant within a year.
• Achieved 36 percent rating increase in customer survey scores by creating and implementing two new staff training programs that heightened levels of guest satisfaction.
• Increased sales revenue by 15 million in one year by assembling dynamic marketing team, coaching team members, and implementing highly effective marketing strategy.
• Reduced unnecessary book purchases by developing Excel spreadsheet book inventory.
• Raised $250K in one evening by coordinating 85 volunteers for school auction/dinner and through sales of 800 silent and 40 live-auction items.
• Facilitated 55 percent increase in customer satisfaction and 50 percent increase in employee job satisfaction by flattening hierarchy from 10 functional areas to just two, guiding employees to redefine their jobs, creating efficient work processes, eliminating redundancies, and eradicating paperwork in organization formerly unresponsive to clients as well as inefficient, bureaucratic, and apathetic.

An important technique to enable your reader to interpret your Summary/Profile section as a story is to make it parallel, as though each bullet point is completing the same sentence. This kind of narrative flow helps readability enormously. Imagine that each Summary/Profile bullet point answers the question, “Who are you, and what can you do for our organization?” and finishes an unstated but understood sentence that begins: “I am a(n)…”

Let’s see how this formula works in practice:

• [I am a] Seasoned systems analyst with strong commitment to time and resource budgets, new-business development, strategic planning, innovation, technology trends, customer-service needs, and close collaboration with sales and marketing during development.
• [I am a] Competent problem-solver who resolved sales and shipping issues by creating internal customer-care system and saving 20 percent on shipping; researched and delivered Web conferencing service for sales that saved 30 percent of travel budgets.
• [I am a] Visionary innovator who partnered with another programmer to create pioneering language-learning software that earned national attention; served as lead analyst for revolutionary legal document generating and tracking product.
• [I am a] Technical guru who provided direct support for successful million-dollar negotiation with major print vendor and completed many successful major conversions from mainframe to mini-computer systems.
• [I am a] Strong communicator who was voted best specification writer — with least number of re-writes — by programmers and their managers.

You’ll note that the story-based grammatical structure of these parallel bullet points goes like this: [Adjective] [noun] [connecting words] [phrase describing skill/strength/expertise] [supported by quote, example, numbers]

• Highly motivated sales professional with excellent communications and presentation skills as well as a reputation for instantly developing rapport that produces immediate sales results while paving the way for future sales successes.
• Goal-driven IT operations and technical-support management professional with 15+ years of experience and commitment to delivering high-quality technical service and support to multiple IT customers concurrently.
• Master’s-level professional known for strong analytical and quantitative skills and applying sound research methodologies to assess needs, identify alternatives, and recommend strategies that facilitate optimal healthcare outcomes.
• Dedicated health and education professional who is uniquely qualified to deliver outside-the-box accomplishments in pharmaceutical sales through exceptional ability to synthesize and disseminate product knowledge and contribute immediately to your bottom line.
• Efficiency-driven call-center professional who upholds highest accuracy performance standards and operational effectiveness through genuine talent for motivational, interpersonal teaching and mentoring.
• Accomplished accounting professional and licensed CPA with extensive experience in developing and implementing highly efficient accounting systems that deliver accurate reporting and ensure compliance with established control policies and procedures.
• Accomplished QA professional with 15+ years of progressive experience and proven record of significant, successful contribution in wide range of organizations that previously had no quality standards or programs in place.
• Dynamic B2B/B2C technology marketing executive with exemplary career record of bringing products to market, precisely targeting consumer demographic while maximizing adoption and profitability.
• Conscientious direct caregiver who provides meticulous, fully attentive, individualized nursing care to meet complex array of patient needs by employing nursing process methodology including assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.
• Dynamic professional with strong commitment to women’s sports and proven track record as both competitor and event organizer.
• Highly proficient, multi-faceted professional with demonstrated ability to identify and define needs, formulate solutions, direct and supervise multiple participants, and capably juggle and effectively manage several priorities simultaneously.

• Dynamic MBA-level professional with more than seven years of experience in successful leadership of business and organizational turnarounds that involve multiple, complex dynamics and cross disciplines and management levels.
• PhD-level leader, change agent, and social activist who has developed broad range of programs and procedures that yielded cost effectiveness and maximum utilization of resources and accountability.
• Dynamic performer with background of achievement and success in entrepreneurial and business-development roles that have catapulted bottom-line revenues.
• Multi-faceted change-agent with significant human-resources experience who applies expertise in cross-functional process improvement to achieve meaningful organizational change.
• Entrepreneurial, outside-the-box, critical thinker with strong quantitative and research skills, functional IT skillset, and enthusiasm to deliver on front-line globalization issues.
• Goal-driven achiever with strong organization skills who performs as both versatile individual and team player with ability to quickly assess, comprehend, and manage customer relations while upholding company values.
• Accomplished project-management professional with more than 15 years of experience in capably and creatively delivering operating solutions through proficiencies in business analysis, problem-solving, process improvement, and software development.
• Self-motivated professional with strong financial skills who expertly manages multiple deadlined tasks, including accurate processing and reporting accounts payable/receivable, reconciliations, and payroll.
• Outgoing customer-service professional known for outstanding interpersonal, organizational, and prioritization skills, as well as people-management know-how that consistently elicits positive interaction with internal and external clientele.