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Searching for new ways to ace your job interview? Telling a compelling career story can be a game changer. All you need is a well-crafted story that is engaging while explaining your previous work history. The best part is, you don’t have to be a world-class writer or a professional storyteller to come up with an outstanding career story. All you need to craft a compelling story is to know what you need to say and how to say it.
1. What is the origin story?
Instead of starting your story by telling the interviewer that you are interested in your field, start by describing the reasons why you are interested and how that interest came to be. Share a few personal details about the reason why you step into this career path. Explore your life and create a list of relevant events that have led you to this path and describe how these stages are linked.
2. Identify and share your personal experiences
Once you are done describing how you became interested in the field, next you can talk about your personal experience. Describe your goals, accomplishments and transitions throughout your career. This would in turn help enlighten the interviewer about your career trajectory, establish follow-up questions and assess how well you can present yourself during the interview. As you develop your personal narrative, think of people and events that helped you accomplish your goals leading to who you are today. Before you touch on this subject, you need to conduct some self-reflection and career research ahead first to ensure the job you want is aligned with what the employer is looking for.
3.Describe the stories that fit the job
Identify your key strengths that match the job position and provide relevant examples of how you can fully utilise your strength in a professional setting. This is a great opportunity for you to describe to the employer on how you can do the job based on a couple of specific examples that suit their needs.
4. You are the person that writes his/her own destiny
Strive to present yourself as a proactive individual, the decision maker, acted and succeeded. Try to avoid retelling past moment that strikes as self-pity to get employers to be sympathetic to your cause, instead, tell a story that inspires confidence.
5.Understanding the outcome of your story
Right at the end of your story, reinforcing your point is crucial so you can link back to the point you were trying to make whether it’s about your accomplishments, relevant skills or your work values. It’s also important to describe each job has supported your career goals and how you prompted to leave your previous job to pursue new opportunities.
Here are some additional tips:
- Be brief unless the hiring manager desires a longer response where it should take you two or three minutes to tell your story.
- Be strategic when it comes to addressing specific dimensions or qualities that the hiring manager is looking for in a candidate. Emphasise on skills that are aligned with the organisation’s mission, values and core competencies. Work values such as motivation, creativity, leadership, communication, teamwork, critical thinking, integrity and adaptability are essential in your story.
- Plan what you are going to say to minimise the risk of you going blank or off-topic in an interview and practice in moderation.
- Be memorable by showing your excitement when sharing your story. Unique stories that convey emotions is what draws people’s interest and memorability.
- Ensure your story always end with a positive note even if you are given a question that comes up as negative or a challenge.
What is your secret recipe for creating a compelling career story? Leave us your thoughts on the comment sections below. Head over to Jobstore.com and unveil your next job opportunity.
You Jing is a content writer who writes career and lifestyle contents to inspire job seekers and employers alike on their journey to work-life balance, empowerment and transformation in their career path.
Reach me at youjing@jobstore.com