How to effectively tell your career story (for the job you want, not have)
If you’ve just dusted off the resume or maybe just thinking about it to keep your portfolio sharp, before you waste hours of precious time (I know how super busy you are), let me ask you…
What’s the story you want to tell?
This question came up in our gutsy village call held two weeks ago along with some great advice shared on that zoom to our community here: “Villagers: get ready, to get ready!”
Many professionals share the accomplishments that they are proud of and should be. From the last two years alone, I think it’s safe to say we learned how to adapt and stretch in ways we had never considered before. You may have learned a new set of skills, took on a new program, or even immersed yourself in reading or listening to podcasts as the lifelong learner you are.
You’ve grown. You’ve stretched either at an organization or working for yourself. So, how can you take all of your experience, including that learning and growth and focus it on one leading theme, where someone can look your way and say:
He or she would be a perfect fit to lead this effort and get us these results .
Example:
Rebecca would be a perfect fit to lead cross-functional teams in sales and marketing and bring us more business in that investment corner.
Mark would be a perfect fit to lead global cybersecurity operations and keep us secure across the enterprise.
Sandy would be a perfect fit to lead product management in our Latin American market and help us build our strategy.
Having experience in many areas is not the career story you want to tell.
What I’m highlighting here is that if you happen to have experience in many areas, you will shoot yourself down and miss real opportunities if you’re leaving others with eyes glazed over, unsure of what you really want to do.
Before I forget, I want to be sure you know about my leadership audio mini audio course (it’s free) that’s designed to help you own your authority in your career by applying 5 top strategies and it works. It’s based on two decades of leading in Corporate America, (I’m a former Wall St. Executive) and those professionals I coach here at In Our Shoes.
Pick one spot. Choose one theme.
Highlight one professional area that you want to shine and grow further in, and just lead with that career narrative.
That’s your career story.
When people can nail you down to one theme, guess what? They will want to keep reading. They will get to ALL of the chapters in your book, rest assured. You are WORTH THE READ. But you can’t be all over the place. You can’t be spread thin sending too many signals.
Just one blinking green light that screams this is what I do. This is what I’m passionate about. This is why I will get you the results you’re looking for. You can’t fake it. You can only feel it and BE it.
You are not everyone, for everybody.
When you’re focused, you bring focused energy, which brings confidence and clarity and a compelling sense of urgency for others to invest in you and therefore hire you.
Your gutsy action item this week is to take your career story, pick your favorite chapter and slap that on the cover.
That’s how it works.
Now if that cover isn’t of interest to someone because you’re not what they really need, well that’s great news. You’ve just saved yourself hours of hunting down someone who wasn’t a great fit for you as well.
However, I would coach you to still ask, “Who do you know who, may find my work to be a good fit?” Go for it, you’ve got them on the line anyway, right? Who cares!
With guts and gratefulness, keep moving your feet. Remember, you are always preparing for your next opportunity. Yep, even on day one, when you start that new project or role!
All right. I will talk to you soon. Bye now.
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