The Wizard's New Job
Candidates think I'm Glenda the Good Witch. They're always wanting the inside scoop to land job offers. I tell them, “you’ve had the power all along my dear.” Dorothy clicked her heals and made a few friends on her way back to Kansas. You’ve got to tell your story if you want to land a new work home.
People are hiring people they want to go to happy hour with.
Gone are the days when people hired people they want to go to lunch with. Our professional and personal lives are merging – and not just because of COVID-19. Thanks to a generation shift in the workplace and advancing technology, work and colleagues are more accessible than the traditional 9 to 5.
Interoffice bonds and company culture are two key elements that make up a company’s identity. Recruiters, hiring managers and leaders will protect their external employer brand but what has an even greater impact on the bottom line is the internal employee brand. How much employees value their employer is reflected in their work output. I tell my corporate clients to make sure they’re investing internally in order to attract and maintain top talent.
To add your voice to a company’s internal employee brand you’ve got to land the gig. You land the gig by giving life to your resume through storytelling. Humanize yourself and use your background to find a shared connection with your interviewer. Part of being a good storyteller is knowing how to lay the story foundation, building to the climax and ending on a relatable note.
If you’re new to storytelling, let me lay out the yellow brick road to success - use the STAR method.
Situation, task, action, results. The situation is the backdrop to your story – it sets the stage and is a great time to find commonality with your interviewer. See if they have found themselves in a similar predicament. The task that you were assigned and action you took to complete it is when you dive into your statistics – giving the interviewer insight into how you operate within a team. Results show your interviewer what they should expect if you were to come onboard.
Results are not the end of the story. It’s time for the RATS method (STAR backwards). Review, assess, tweak and solidify. Hindsight is always 20-20. Discuss how you would’ve operated differently based on the lessons you learned, where you succeeded and your shortcomings.
Pull in your audience to brainstorm how you could tweak or change your strategy or actions to deliver even better results. This lays the groundwork for comradery and gives your interviewer a chance to see how you would fit within the team’s dynamic and culture. Lastly end by solidifying your next move – chances are the same situation will come up again, but now you’ve got a solid plan.
While everyone else is reiterating their resume stats, you tell the story behind the bullet points.
Learning to communicate effectively and to tailor your message based on audience will go great lengths in launching and advancing your professional career. You've got the brains. You've got the heart. Now, have the courage to tell your story and you'll land somewhere over the rainbow where (career) dreams really do come true.