The business school at Pepperdine University suggests knowing your audience and knowing yourself, including key strengths, adjectives that describe you, a description of what you are trying to let others know about you, and a statement of your interest in the company or industry the person represents. Armed with that knowledge, the job-seeker can then outline the Elevator Story using these questions:

1. Who am I?
2. What do I offer?
3. What problems can I solve?
4. What are the main contributions I can make?
5. What should the listener do as a result of hearing this?

Example:

1. Who am I?

   I am an experienced financial operations manager with more than 15 years of managerial experience and a track record of leading teams of people who achieve benchmark results. I have an extensive background in operations analysis, training, and managing the performance metrics in an operations environment.

2. What do I offer?

   I offer excellent project-management skills, and I’m a pro at cost savings.

3. What problems can I solve?

   I can implement money-saving projects. I led a project team that came up with new payment programs for people experiencing serious long-term hardships that were impacting their ability to make regular payments on their debts. I suggested the project to the president of our company. My project team designed the requirements for the new programs and the system requirements to support the enrollments. We determined the metrics needed to measure the program’s success, helped design the required training for the program rollout, and handled the actual rollout. Within 12 months, we had saved more than $50 million in potential losses through the use of the new programs.

4. What are the main contributions I can make?

   My background demonstrates a strong record of loyalty to my employers as well as top results and consistent promotions consistently to positions of increasing responsibilities. I can contribute strong analytical, communication, and leadership skills, and can build a strong team of people focused on achieving the organization’s goals.

5. What should the listener do as a result of hearing this?

   Can you suggest any employers who could benefit from my skills and experience?

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Next is a formula that requires researching targeted employers and telling your Elevator Story to someone connected to the targeted employer. It’s adapted from Randy W. Dipner of Meeting the Challenge, Inc.:

1. List target employers. Group them and ultimately define the employer.
2. Define the need or opportunity. That is, what critical issue does the employer face?
3. Identify yourself in terms of a job function or contribution. What do you do?
4. Tell a story that incorporates the benefits - not the features - that you provide to the employer. Prioritize the benefits to identify the single benefit that is the most compelling reason for the employer to hire you. To the maximum extent possible, the benefit should be both quantified and expressed in story form.
5. Develop a statement of the primary differentiation of yourself, which should be the single most important thing that sets you apart from the competition.

Example:

1. Define the employer.

I’m looking to join an organization - like Tornado Marketing - that values an impact player who can help maximize brand productivity. My ideal job would allow me to interact with all areas of the company in all marketing-communications disciplines, from market research to agency management, to sales and marketing.

2. Define the need or opportunity. That is, what critical issue does the employer face?

   Based on my research, I know that Tornado has a major new client that is looking to raise its visibility and build its brand in the banking sector.

3. Identify yourself in terms of a job function or contribution. What do you do?

   I go far beyond advertising, delving into internal communications, sales discussions, and virtually any client interaction. Throughout my career, I’ve continually progressed to take on more responsibility because of my commitment to ensuring the integrity of marketing and collaborating with all areas of the organization.

4. Tell a story that incorporates the benefits - not the features - that you provide to the employer.

   One of the things I am most proud of is the awards program I created to help a former bank client become better known for catering to small businesses and recognizing small businesses for the contributions to the economy. I managed all aspects of program including communications, securing an independent judging panel, instituting an impartial judging process, and overseeing public-relations strategy and tactics. I created a media strategy around the program and winner announcement in local markets. The program generated 2 million media impressions in first year and experienced an increased response of 25 percent in second year while reducing the budget by more than 30 percent. And internally I then used the results of this program to create a brand new look and feel for the bank’s marketing communications. I was recruited for this opportunity because of my successful management of the Leadership Awards program.

5. Develop a statement of the primary differentiation of yourself, which should be the single most important thing that sets you apart from the competition.

   While my specialty is brand-building, I’m the complete package. I help clients increase awareness, favorability, and ultimately sales by employing a variety of marketing communications disciplines, including market research, program development and management, advertising and public relations. I’ve been successful in my career because I’m passionate about what I do, am extremely energetic, and have the ability to be both strategic and tactical.

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Author, speaker, and consultant Marisa D’Vari suggests starting the Elevator Story process by writing down three key points about your product (you, in this case) and telling stories about how these points will benefit an employer.

Here’s a story-based variation on a formula suggested by Certified Professional Virtual Assistant Jean Hanson:

1. Who am I? (introduce yourself)
2. What field or industry am I in?
3. What position am I in and what position do I want to be in? In what capacity do I serve or want to serve?
4. What is my USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? What makes me different from the competition?
5. A brief story that illustrates the benefits that employers can derive from my skills, based on my proven accomplishments.

Example:

1. Who am I? Hi, I’m Thad VanIderstine.
2. What field or industry am I in? I’m a strategic operations executive in the cable-TV sector.
3. What position am I in and what position do I want to be in? In what capacity do I serve or want to serve? I want to add value to an organization in a senior position by being involved in many facets of operations and how strategy translates into increasing the bottom line.
4. What is my USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? What makes me different from the competition? A successful manager must be able to provide valuable feedback in timely fashion while allowing employees to be independent and coaching them on both their strengths and opportunities for development. I’ve been a successful manager because I lead by example.
5. A brief story that illustrates the benefits that employers can derive from my skills, based on my proven accomplishments. For instance, when I was asked to manage a field project, one team was struggling to get the program off the ground. One of the issues they had was the ability to effectively manage outsourcing. So I showed them how to take charge of meetings with the outsource vendors, hold them [meetings] less frequently, and ensure that everyone was accountable. The result was the successful management of the program, and my gaining the respect of the team, rather than potential resentment for my taking over the project. Senior management recognized the entire team for launching the program.

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The following roundup of formulas suggested by experts should provide food for thought for the method that works best for you in planning and outlining your Elevator Story. Remember that in a job-hunting situation, the listener’s tacit question may be “Why should I (or any employer) hire you?”

This framework for planning your Elevator Story is adapted from Tony Jeary, author of Life Is a Series of Presentations:

1. Define your audience universe.
2. Define the content or subject matter of your story.
3. Define your objective.
4. Define your desired image or style.
5. Define your key message and build your story around it.

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My determination and ability to connect people with resources that produce results is my greatest attribute. For example, my first retail management position involved an independently owned start-up pet store in Sausalito. My goal was to establish a profitable business within a two-year timeframe. I hired and developed a knowledgeable and trained team of employees, researched the market to properly merchandise the store, connected with the community to make it an enjoyable shopping experience and develop loyal customers, and initiated procedures to manage expenses, shrink, and inventory. The result was a well-established community pet store that grew into a $1.25 million a year business. I also have a strong sense of equality and thrive on the experience of learning from and leading a team. I enjoy setting goals and empowering others to achieve their goals. I am fearless and persistent when it comes to connecting with the people who can make a difference and asking them for what we need to complete a task. I have excellent communication skills and a keen eye when it comes to grasping the big picture and finding those who will contribute their talents to creating success.

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I started playing fastpitch softball when I was 10 years old. I have missed a ball in the field, struck out at the plate, and even been injured during a game. However, I love softball unconditionally because I have discovered elements of my life that I truly treasure from simply playing the game. I have learned the importance of being a team player as well as communicating effectively to execute the game plan. I have established leadership qualities by leading by example and motivating others to be the best that they can be. Most importantly, softball has taught me that only dedication and devotion toward your goals brings success; therefore, hard work and patience is the key to being successful.

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Because the preceding stories have their roots in childhood, they are especially heartwarming and emotional. But of course, most Elevator Stories will come from professional experience, as in the following examples:

I have worked with my father in our family business since well before I turned 18. My father and I own a company that specializes in diverse business fields, primarily property development and hydro-engineering. We branched into hydro-engineering mainly because I had such a fascination with renewable energy. I expressed this interest to my father and our team of engineers, and I was given the “greenlight” to set up a company and do some research. After two years, our company obtained all necessary approvals from the government, and our first mini-hydro project was on the way. Sri Lanka has two monsoon seasons and a central region of mountains, which is the perfect recipe for generating hydro-electricity. The project began operation in September 2004, and by now it has become one of the most profitable subsidiaries in our establishment. The confidence and the experience that I’ve gained provide me with strength and guidance for my future endeavors.

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You can expand on your Elevator Story in networking situations in which you have more time to talk about yourself such as when you are visiting the office of a prospective member of your network or having lunch with a contact. It’s also an effective response when you’re conducting an informational interview, and the interviewee turns the tables and starts asking questions about you. This longer version is typically one to three minutes long and contains more about your background, qualifications, and skills.

Obviously, you don’t want your expanded Elevator Story to sound memorized. But you are, after all, talking about yourself, so the material is not hard to remember. It helps to write it out first - outline form is fine; then read it over a few times, and practice saying it without reading or memorizing it. Practice it in front of friends and members of your network, too. It’s not a big deal if you forget a detail as long as you remember the main points you want to get across. Here are some samples, which range from about 300-400 words. Remember that the point of composing such stories is not for them to sound exactly the way they are written. But writing them will help imprint them on your brain so you can tell them with the natural ease of a storyteller:

My desire to become a businesswoman began at a young age. I can clearly remember many summers of my childhood, the kind of summers that couldn’t come quickly enough and that seemed to last an eternity. I would set up shop in front of my house, ready to sell lemonade to the neighbors or the occasional UPS man. A colorful sign and decorated table would adorn my roadside booth to entice customers. After a while, I became bored with just the lemonade shop. I wanted to draw in my peers, so I began to collect Happy Meal toys during the year. When summer came, I would fill up my red wagon and tug it along to the shop to sell nifty gadgets and toys in addition to the lemonade. Eager for a change and the excitement of something new, I passed along the lemonade shop to my younger sisters and decided to move onto other avenues. My best friend Ashley and I opened up “Maggie and Ashley’s Place” - another business endeavor, this one providing jewelry services. We bought bead boxes and filled them to the brim with multi-colored thread and an assortment of beads. On the inside cover of our boxes, we had a log to record orders, determine the price based on the thread and number of beads used, and provide an estimate as to when the orders would be completed. We also started to use the computer technology that we learned about in school to design and print out our own business cards. Looking back, I’m amazed at the precision, quality, and detail I gave to these businesses, attributes I continue to strive for to this day. From brainstorming ideas and seeing them through to fruition, I found excitement and vigor in pursuing my dreams. Over the years I’ve learned to never give up and if something isn’t working out, to forge a new path to make it my own. I truly admire Eleanor Roosevelt for saying that “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams,” and I plan to see to it that I never stop dreaming of bigger and better aspirations.

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Even the most intriguing Elevator Stories often lack an important element — a request for action. Here are some action items that can be appended in various situations:

At a career fair: “I’d like to take your business card, as well as leave my networking card and resume. Would it be possible for me to get a spot on your company’s interview schedule?”

In a networking situation: “What advice do you have for me? Can you suggest any employers I should be contacting?”

Cold-calling an employer: “When can we set up a meeting to discuss how I can help your company?”

Telephone or e-mail situations: “May I send you my resume?” (For in-person situations, you should always have resumes handy.) If your resume exists in electronic form on the Internet, you can say: “May I refer you to my resume on the Web at [insert Web address here]?”

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You could stick with a fairly basic structure and a simple Elevator Story and see where it takes you. Or you can begin your story with a conversational teaser or “hook.” If you add this element of intrigue — a story — the ensuing conversation has even more potential. Let’s look, for example, at how a conversation might go that starts with an intriguing story:

Networker #1: Hi, my name is Tom Jacobsen. I was born a lucky Arkansan. Networker #2: How so? Networker #1: Because I was born on July eleventh, 7-11. I have been fortunate enough to meet two presidents, Reagan and Clinton, and the richest man in the world, the late Sam Walton. I am also blessed to be part of a good family with one brother and three sisters. This family has instilled in me strong values, which were reinforced by volunteer work in my church and community. Trustworthiness and honesty are my defining characteristics. Quiet by nature, I am the “strong silent type.” Far from boring, I have a great sense of humor, and even own a goose. I intend to achieve my goals through hard work.

Let’s look at another example:

Networker #1: Hi, my name is Aleksandra Auersperg. I propagate teamwork and believe that brain share is key to success. Networker #2: What does that mean? Networker #1: I thrive on the synergy created by a team working well together, sharing, encouraging, and supporting each other. For example, back home in Slovenia, teamwork was everything - a value that basic to life. All my previous work has been in a team-driven work environment. I very much believe that two ideas are better then one, and two people will attain much more then one individual person.

And one more:

Networker #1: Hi, my name is Barney Joiner. You might think I’m a pimp, but I’m not. Networker #2: That’s good to know. Networker #1: I have the PMP credential - which can be pronounced “pimp” - but it’s actually Project Management Professional. I’m results-driven, and offer a master’s-level education and a proven track record in project leadership, product development, project initiation and execution, and exceptional client management.

The concern, of course, with an intriguing story is that you’ll sound corny or hokey. And, in fact, chances are you will. I’ll admit that when I first researched these Elevator Stories, I found them very corny. But they work - by hooking your conversation partner into learning more about you.

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Hello, my name in Andy Fellows. I’m an entrepreneurial marketing professional with more than 15 years of uncompromising accomplishments in multiple facets of building, marketing, and operating highly successful academic product sales businesses. I attained a 170 percent increase in 12 months by expanding the academic market for software through direct sales to universities worldwide, channel partners, and publishers, as well as by implementing solid prospecting strategies to cultivate new business opportunities and broaden the customer base.

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Hi, I’m Kimberly Jackson. I’m a customer-service professional with a solid background in administrative management and technology support as well as experience in public relations for internal and external clients, team-building, technology training, quality assurance, contract negotiation, and event planning.

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Hello, I am Ed Kendall. As an international marketing consultant, I realized more than a 50 percent increase in overall profitability and $500,000 in new revenue through directing Euro conversion in four countries while simultaneously improving client relationships and controlling project costs.

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Hi, I’m Sandra Dinkleman. You might be interested in knowing that I recently stabilized a highly chaotic operational and customer-service situation by taking control and implementing new heightened customer-service standards and collaborating with staff members to improve the company image and boost the morale of my employer’s staff.

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I’m Janet Singleton. I like to think of myself as an accomplished organizational-development professional with more than a decade of experience in project leadership, needs assessment/definition, resource identification, and process/change facilitation. I took the initiative to improve medical benefits and develop systems for handling benefits-enrollment data after being recruited initially to set up an HR department for a company that has grown from eight to 25 employees.

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Hello, I’m Cynthia Bee. I’m a licensed industrial engineering professional with eight years of experience in medical diagnostic manufacturing and personal products manufacturing and additional five years of experience in logistics.

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Hi, Jack Burnham here. As a diligent, quantitatively skilled achiever, I’m equipped, through my master’s-level training in taxation, to play a key role in your organization’s tax research, analysis, and planning. I also have expertise in interpreting tax code, regulations, revenue rulings, and case law, as well as preparing tax returns for corporations, partnerships, individuals, estates and trusts.

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Hi, I’m Jenny Swade. I’d like to use my newly minted MBA-education to apply organizational-development theory and practice at a growing firm. I can particularly contribute strong analytical, quantitative, research, and planning skills, along with solid leadership, interpersonal, and people-management capabilities. I enhanced my company’s pricing competitiveness by assessing and selecting vendors for new systems.

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Hello, I’m Jim Swing, a brand-new MBA and an accounting professional with three years of hands-on experience in multiple aspects of accounting operations.

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Hi there, I’m Tim Tejera, but you can call me a technically proficient, enthusiastic new computer-science graduate who possesses comprehensive, practical knowledge of the latest hardware and programming technologies along with expertise in multiple software applications. I might look like a college kid, but I accelerated time-to-market for embedded software by 25 percent by using appropriate software quality tools, improved debugging methods, and timely personnel training.

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I’m Valerie Obermarle, a creative outside-the-box thinker who approaches strategic development with innovative vision, high ethical standards, unsurpassed work ethic, and ability to communicate effectively across management levels and disciplines to build highly effective cross-functional teams.

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A college student or new graduate might add the following to the basic structure.

Hi, my name is ___________. I will be graduating/I just graduated from ____________________with a degree in _____________________. I’m looking to_____________________.

These bare-bones structures don’t tell much of a story, though, and are not terribly memorable, so consider adding meat to the bones of your Elevator Story with additional details about your background and what you can offer, as in the examples that start below and contrinue with upcoming entries:

Hi, I’m Joe Fredericks. I’m a versatile project/program management executive with 15-plus years of leadership and business management expertise gained from positions of increasing responsibility in both the U.S. Navy and the private sector. I recently reduced my employer’s costs by 35 percent through leading a hardware and software redesign of the access control system, which also resulted in improved performance, increased reliability, and additional features.

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At its most basic level, the Elevator Story’s structure is:

Hi, my name is ___________. I’m in the _______________ field, and I’m looking to_____________________.

The last blank would be filled in with your current career aspiration, whether it is to stay within your field and move up or move into a different career. Here’s a slightly more embellished example: Greetings.

My name is Indra Ghee. I’m an accomplished, published, senior-level scientist with 12 years of experience in molecular biology.

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Wide variation exists among experts as to the ideal length of an Elevator Story. Some experts say as few as 15 seconds; others say up to three minutes. There’s no reason, however, that you can’t employ both short and long versions. Different situations, after all, may well call for diverse approaches.

An Elevator Story is a story-based introduction of yourself used in situations where you are meeting a lot of people and probably not spending a great deal of time with any one of them. The trick is to make your introduction so intriguing — by using story — that people will want to spend more time talking with you. The speech also might be incorporated into an initial phone conversation with a prospective new member of your network.

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By now the Elevator Speech is a fairly well-known tool not only for job-seekers but also for organizations and individuals with products and services to sell. Authors of numerous Internet articles on the Elevator Speech offer speculations on the origin of the term - ranging from the notion that we often run into important people in elevators to the more common explanation that the Elevator Speech is a clear, concise bit of storytelling that can be delivered in the time it takes folks to ride from a building’s top to the bottom in an elevator.

Whatever its exact origin, the Elevator Story is an exceptionally useful and versatile tool in numerous situations:

• Events designed specifically for networking.
• The casual networking opportunities we encounter nearly every day - the kids’ soccer games, plane flights, waiting in line to buy tickets, and on and on.
• Career or job fairs.
• Cold calls to employers.
• Cold calls to absent employers: Rita Fisher of Career Change Resumes suggests that leaving your Elevator Story in the form of a voicemail message virtually guarantees that the employer will call back. Hint: Assuming your story is sufficiently compelling, call after hours when you know for sure you will get the employer’s voicemail.
• Opportunities within your own company to talk with higher-up honchos, let them know you’re doing a great job, and position you for promotion.
• Job interviews where the Elevator Story can provide the answer to at least two common interview queries: “Tell me about yourself” and “Why should I hire you?” (Upcoming in Chapter 7: Storytelling in the Interview).

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The often misunderstood art of networking is all about establishing relationships so that you can enlist support and comfortably ask for ideas, advice, and referrals to those with the power to hire you or advance your career. Storytelling provides a wonderful way to build these relationships because of story’s ability to instill emotional investment. Tell a good story to new network contacts you meet, and they will care much more about your success than if you had simply listed facts about yourself.

The new chapter that starts with this entry introduces two primary ways to integrate storytelling into your networking activities:

• Developing a brief introductory speech to succinctly tell network contacts who you are and what kind of work you seek. This speech is usually referred to as an “Elevator Speech,” but for our purposes in this chapter, let’s call it the Elevator Story. You may want to develop multiple versions of this story to have ready for various situations.
• Enlisting an “advisory board” of network contacts to review and critique the stories you use at all points in the job search.

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.

Atkinson, Cliff: Free story-building templates and resources, as described in the book, Beyond Bullet Points (Although the book is about PowerPoint presentations, the templates and resources can be useful for any kind of story-building).

Bronson, P. (2002). What Should I Do with My Life? New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Christensen, G. J. (2004, December). KSAs: It’s More than Just the Resume. HireViews.

Denning, S. (2001). The Springboard. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Denning, S. (2004). Squirrel Inc.: A Fable of Leadership through Storytelling. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Denning, S. (2005). The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gargiulo, T. L. (2006). Stories at Work. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Han, P. (2005). Nobodies to Somebodies: How 100 Great Careers Got Their Start. New York: Portfolio.

Maguire, J. (1998). The Power of Personal Storytelling. New York: Tarcher/Putnam.

Neuhauser, P. C. (1993). Corporate Legends & Lore: The Power of Storytelling as a Management Tool. Austin, TX: PCN Associates.

Simmons, A. (2006). The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through Storytelling. Cambridge. MA: Basic Books.

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

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Ability

Ability to be organized and perform efficiently and proficiently in a fast-moving production environment under short deadlines: As an in-house attorney at SouthComm Communications, I excelled for more than three years in fast-paced environment in which production against tight deadlines was critical and directly impacted the company’s bottom-line sales and revenues. My job was to execute as many leases and other real-estate agreements as possible while limiting the company’s exposure to risk. Cell sites could not be constructed to offload heavy-traffic areas without an executed lease, so the company depended on my organizational skills, proficiency, and rapid turnaround during contract negotiations. While speed was essential, I also succeeded in striking a balance between achieving business objectives and minimizing the company’s liability.

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Skill

Skill in working independently on a wide variety of complex issues and make quick decisions with a high degree of accuracy at various stages of review simultaneously: I have great respect for the value of working independently without supervision to increase the productivity of the entire department and company. As a contract attorney, for example, I perform all work independently during each stage of document review. Law firms hire me with the understanding that they will not have to oversee my work because I produce quality output. They also depend on me to proficiently perform all assigned functions of my job with minimal supervision of staff attorneys and partners.

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Here is the first of several examples of partial KSA stories (A full KSA statement is about a page to a page and a half for each question asked).

Knowledge

Contracts: I have extensive experience with contracts and expertise in contract interpretation. The Salvation Army selected me to lead multimillion-dollar contract negotiations on corporate-wide benefits between the Salvation Army and healthcare providers. I also specialized in contract law during more than three years as an in-house attorney for SouthComm Communications, Inc., where I reviewed, negotiated, and managed contracts. My contract interpretation skills are highly relevant to a Patent Attorney-Advisor’s work because of their applicability to interpreting and analyzing statutes.

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The KSA, an acronym for Knowledge - Skills - Abilities, is a close cousin of the resume used primarily in government hiring and is another aspect of career-marketing communication in which storytelling can play a positive role. It’s common to be asked to complete a KSA document, typically consisting of 3-6 KSAs, for government jobs and sometimes for non-government positions as well. I include KSAs in this chapter rather than in the section about resumes and other career-marketing communication because the process for composing KSAs is very similar to the process described above. These documents provide an opportunity to memorably elaborate on the skills that distinguish you from other candidates, and you can do so with stories. Jay Christensen, co-author of On-the-Job Communications for Business, the Professions, Government, and Industry, encourages his business-communication students to write stories about career experiences that enabled them to achieve the knowledge, skill, or ability they are being asked to describe. With a KSA, you can develop a story, using the story-development frameworks in this chapter, to illustrate the knowledge, skill, or ability the employer requires you to demonstrate. The KSA, Christensen notes, “is the story of some part of the [job-seeker’s] work experience lifestyle.” As with most stories used in job-search communication, KSAs should include results and quantification where possible.

In upcoming entries will be examples of partial KSA stories (A full KSA statement is about a page to a page and a half for each question asked).

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• Adaptability and transferability of skills (important for career-changers)
• Administrative support
• Analytical thinking
• Areas of expertise
• Certification and/or degree(s)
• Communication
• Computer, technological proficiency
• Cost savings
• Creativity
• Customer/client service
• Consulting
• Entrepreneurial/startup skills
• Indicators of success/good performance/quality
• Interpersonal
• Languages
• Management/leadership/supervision
• Motivation
• Multi-cultural/cross-cultural/international
• Multi-tasking
• Organizational
• Problem-solving and troubleshooting
• Process improvement
• Quantitative skills
• Research, strategy, and planning
• Sales/marketing
• Team player who can also work independently
• Team player/team-builder
• Teaching/training
• Time management/ability to perform under deadline pressure
• Willingness to learn/ability to learn quickly
• Willingness to travel, relocate
• Work ethic/professionalism

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

As a Customer Service Rep for a video-rental company, I once had an irate customer who left three messages on my voicemail in about 10 minutes demanding a call back. I contacted the customer, who was now even angrier because I had been in a meeting when her call came in. I listened to the customer explain that she was upset because she had purchased a loyalty program membership from us, and then several days later, we were giving away the same memberships at no cost. I apologized to the customer and asked her how I could help. She stated that she wanted her money back and she would no longer be a member. I agreed to refund her money. I then bought her a thank you card and enclosed her refund and a free membership to our loyalty program. I also noticed that several times during the phone conversation, she had stopped to yell at her children, so I also enclosed two coupons for free kids’ rentals. I thanked her for her business, apologized for not meeting her expectations, and invited her to bring her children in for a free video rental. I also enclosed my business card and asked her to call me directly if she was ever disappointed in any way while visiting one of our locations. She telephoned me when she received the card and told me that was the nicest thing any person had ever done for her when she was upset with a business. I again thanked her for her business and told her that she was my bread and butter. If she wasn’t happy, then I couldn’t be either!

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.

DECISION-MAKING

When I was a receptionist at a photography company, a man came in claiming to be the father of a student who was there to pick up the student’s pictures. I asked him for identification, and he said that he had forgotten it. Normally, if the student is present with the parent and verifies that it is the correct parent, then we give the pictures to them. That wasn’t the case here. There was no student. I refused to give him the pictures, and he became angry and left. Later that day, a different man came in to pick up those same pictures. This man had photo identification with him, and I told him about what had occurred earlier that day. He told me that his child was being stalked, and that the family had a restraining order against that man. I took the stalker’s image from our security cameras and posted a picture behind the counter that indicated that he was not to have any contact with the pictures of that student. My decision-making skills helped prevent a dangerous situation because he has continued repeatedly to come into the store posing to other employees as the parent of that student.

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.

WORK ETHIC

My stepfather was a role model and a strong influence in my life. He taught me about character; he taught me the tough lessons in life that some people learn too late or not at all. In one instance, he taught me the value of standing up for yourself. When the kids in his family (the “stepfamily”) failed to accept me, he advised me that I would have to take the initiative to learn how to handle situations in which people passively exclude me - that I would have to do something that could get their attention. I soon learned to gather a couple of people and start up a card game or another fun activity to direct the focus on the activity instead of clashing personalities. I later realized that through this process, I had learned creative techniques to influence group dynamics.

In another situation, he taught me the value of hard work. After volunteering to do yard work one day, I got tired of the project after mowing the lawn. Hot, sweaty, and tired, I started to leave before the project was done, and he told me I couldn’t leave. After several hours of pulling weeds, watering, weed-whacking, fertilizing, trimming, and prepping flower beds while my father supervised from his comfortable lawn chair in the shade, I had learned that completing only a portion of a project is not acceptable when completion is expected; that there usually is a lot more work that goes on in the background of a finished product; that there will always be someone in that comfortable lawn chair watching others work - and that I wanted to be a supervisor in life.

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.

GOAL-SETTING

I grew up in a poor, broken home, yet decided that golf was my great passion in life. I creatively used my meager resources to buy golf clubs and later a junior membership for $180 at a local club. Every day for two years, I walked through the woods to the golf course where I would play, practice, and compete throughout high school. I eventually got a job at the club so I could buy myself a few necessities. I wanted to play in college but was nowhere near the player I needed to be to play or even get on the team. So over the summer before college, I worked on my golf game to the point where I won almost every tournament I entered. I spent every hour I had during the day to make myself a better all-around player. I eventually walked on my freshman year and was exempted from qualifying because I played so well in my first outing. Through the years my decision to play golf has influenced every part of my life 100 percent.

I didn’t give up on a dream, and although I am not competing with Tiger, I realized all of the good decisions I made were based on the fact that I loved the game, but better yet, didn’t give up on a goal.

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.

TEAM LEADERSHIP

I found myself applying to my university because my cross-country coach told me not to. He advised me to take the free-ride cross-country scholarship to another school. I reasoned that academics and cross-country would be too much for me to handle there. So I applied to my current university because I felt I could compete comfortably while also excelling in my academics. My high-school coach was not too thrilled. He said, “You are making the biggest mistake of your life.” He went on to tell me that the other college had a better cross-country department, and I would be running with a nationally ranked team. I challenged my coach and told him that with leadership and devotion, any team can be nationally ranked. Of course he laughed at my statement and restated that I was making a mistake.

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Once I enrolled at my chosen school, I saw that my coach had been correct about the facilities and the character of the people on the team. The team members were not motivated, not athletic, and needless to say, lost every race they entered. Three other freshman that had walked onto the team joined me in deciding to change the team members’ attitudes. However, animosity was abundant between the upperclassman and the freshman. While we won races, the upperclassmen felt inferior, causing internal conflict in the team. Regardless, I was determined to persuade the team to mesh well to create unity. Consequently, the upperclassmen quit the team. Still, after winning our state title, we advanced to the national level, where we were expected to compete against the college my coach had wanted me to attend. We won the meet against that school, beating them out of a third-place medal. The moral of this story is that when I was challenged to do the impossible, my devotion, character, team leadership, and tenacity persevered, while also helping the team.

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.

Following are examples of stories that use some of these frameworks:

I have learned that my role is to do work that makes a difference in people’s lives. For the first 20 years, I worked in television news, believing in the people’s right to know. For the past six years, I’ve been in education, helping teachers and their students. My ultimate goal is to be head of a department. (Recognizes a characteristic that has become a career pattern).

I realized I had solid problem-solving skills during my freshmen year after I went to the soup kitchen in Parkersburg to serve food to the less fortunate. I felt that I needed to do something more, so I had an idea that when everybody moved out of the dorms at the end of a semester, instead of throwing nonperishable food away, students could put it in a box, and I would take it to the local food bank so it could feed the poor. I ended up gathering about six carloads of canned and dry food that would have been thrown away. (Describes a skill honed in personal life rather than career).

My leadership skills were called into question by my first evaluation as a district manager. I was rated much lower than I had ever been rated. I realized that, after having been promoted into a new position, I needed to learn a lot more. Determined to never again get a low rating, I learned as much as I possibly could, and this quest for knowledge became the driving force behind my attaining the high rating I achieved for this year. (Describes failure to live up to skill/characteristic and determination never to let it happen again).

Read more of these stories in the extended entry:

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.

Keeping in mind that a successful story must be true and told in context, consider these ideas for story-framing so your collection of stories comes from various perspectives:

• A time in your life when this skill/characteristic was tested.
• A person/event in your life that taught you the importance of this skill/characteristic.
• A time when you failed to live up to this skill/characteristic and decided never to let it happen again.
• A movie/story/book/event that exemplifies this skill/characteristic for you.
• A turning point in your development of this skill/characteristic.
• A story about tasks and job functions related to this skill/characteristic.
• A timeline of how you developed and sharpened this skill/characteristic.
• An example from your personal life (as opposed to career) of deploying this skill/characteristic.
• Patterns that have emerged in your development of this skill/characteristic.
• Results you’ve achieved through using this skill/characteristic.
• Lessons you’ve learned while developing and using this skill/characteristic.
• Ways you’ve applied this skill/characteristic in diverse situations.
• A strength or vulnerability from your past that led to developing this skill/characteristic.

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.