Job Search Tips Part 2: Understanding and articulating your value
Chances are you suck at telling your story, and don’t really understand all the value you offer, so I’ll share a few tips based on my own job searches and helping dozens of people over the years tell their stories.
First, embrace the fact that you need help from others to understand your value and tell your story. Even myself, as a former journalist with hundreds of articles to my name, often struggle at telling my own story. I can remember more than a few times, when people asked me questions in interviews about stuff I’m really damn good at and do on a daily basis, where I just went blank as I struggled to explain my approach as it was so second nature to me.
Unfortunately, oftentimes the more expert you are in something, the more natural it becomes and the harder it is to explain.
It’s also difficult for you to understand your value, as you often don’t realize how special you are, so reach out and get help from others to help you understand your value, and tell your story.
It’s no different than if someone asks you, “So tell me about your breathing process,”you’d most likely struggle as it’s just something you do.
It’s also difficult for you to understand your value, as you often don’t realize how special you are. I was surprised when someone told me that a lot of people would want me for something that I never had thought was of value.
Bottom line, reach out and get help from others so you can better understand your story, translate it into easy to digest nuggets, and then improve the delivery.
- Learn about the STAR How approach ( situation, task, actions, results, How) to behavioral interviewing and develop stories so that you can easily tell those stories. The basic structure is:
- Situation: The situation or challenge you faced, and the consequences you faced if you didn’t solve it. The more detail the better. Think about the number of people, dollars & systems involved, along with timelines trying to hit, etc.
- Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation. Were you leading a project, managing a team, overseeing a process, etc.
- Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it. Did you pull a team together, put together a project plan, dig into the data to discover the root cause of an issue, drive across town to help a customer after hours, etc.?
- Result: What were the results of your actions. How much money did you save or earn the company? How did it impact customers, and how many?
- How: How does this story highlight how you’ll be able to help the hiring manager in your new role. You may not know exactly, but the more insights you have about the role, the better you can tailor your stories.
2. Ask your former colleagues, and others that you’ve worked with on projects outside of work, about situations where you’ve shined. Ask, “Why do other people want you on their team? What makes you special?” Chances are you really don’t know,as you just take your skills and personality for granted, so ask others to help you tell your story, and use the STAR framework to both ask and structure their responses.
3. Be your own champion! I understand and sympathize that talking about your talents may not be something you like doing and may go against your cultural mores, but tough luck, you can choose to starve or strut your stuff. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t matter how good you are, if people don’t know what combination of skills, experience and personality make you awesome, they won’t hire you! If you’re not your own champion, who else will be?
4.Practice, and get feedback. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. Not just because you’ll get smoother at telling your story, but the more you tell your story the more you’ll begin to get a sense of what parts of the story resonate in a virtuous circle.
5. Sign up for Toastmasters, and practice telling your stories there. Toastmasters is a great organization for both networking and practicing your public speaking in a warm, supportive and structured environment. Best of all, it’s free for guests, until you sign up to become a regular member. I used to suck as a public speaker, until I discovered Toastmasters and became a very good public speaker.
6. There is no single right way to tell a story, because every audience is unique. Some people want details. Others want the big picture. Some want both the big picture, and the details. What works for one, will be a turn off for another, so don’t despair that your hard work often falls flat, because different people will be listening for different things.
7. Eliminate your previous employer’s jargon from your resume, cover letter and your vocabulary. If people don’t know what the PDM process is, explain it in clear English, otherwise it’s just wasted words.
8. Understand your audience, and reposition your stories to fit their needs. You need to make it easy for them to see how your experiences and skills can fit into their world, even if on the surface they don’t appear similar. Spend some time researching their industry, Web site and etc. and then try to shape your story to match their firm and job description.
Ultimately, telling your story isn’t easy, requires lots of work to refine and will never be perfect so do not to spend too much time trying to craft the perfect story, as you’ll quickly hit the law of diminishing returns. Instead, practice telling it, and then watch/listen to see what parts resonate, what parts don’t. Just remember, you’re going to have to suck before you can get good at telling your story, so just get started telling it. The sooner and more frequently you tell your story, the better you’ll get at it, the better your chances of finding an opportunity will be.
Previously published Tips on embracing reality and yourself so that you’re mentally, financially and physically able to survive, and even thrive.
Coming next: Part 3 The similarities between finding a mate and a job
Part 4: The math behind luck and why persistence is so important
Part 5: Structuring your search for maximal long-term success
