Recalling Your Best Stories

The first homework assignment that I give job seekers that seek me out for individual coaching is to make a list of at least 20 accomplishments that they are proud of from their past. This includes events from their childhood, school, sports, community service and work. I ask them to brainstorm a list over a two week period. The first step is just to make a list. The next step is to write a paragraph or two about two or three of the accomplishments. They can start at any point that they can remember. What I look for is why they consider it an accomplishment. What was fun about it? What was their role? What did they do the best?

I am always surprised at the change in demeanor with the job seeker. They start feeling better about themselves and their condition. As we dig deeper into their work history, we start to see a pattern in the accomplishments that they really enjoyed and where they are likely to do their best work. This exercise helps us to “power up” their resume by highlighting their top work achievements.

Most resumes are loaded with tasks and duties, sometimes summary statements that lump accomplishments into a single line. These “old school” resumes often start with the word “Objective:” and they are the most boring resumes you have ever seen. It is your accomplishments that will get you hired, because they position you as a problem solver instead of a role player.

If you have one of these “old school” resumes, you can use it to backtrack through your work history to recall your accomplishments, year by year, including how you got the job and why you left. The first step would be to simply make a list. This can take awhile, if you have 20 or more years to recall. At the end of this process you should have a master resume, which will be useful for tailoring your current resume. Keep it in a safe place, you will be referring to it and improving it as you conduct your job search.

www.ourexperiencecounts.com has an exercise in our free Job Search Planning Kit called "Your STaR Worksheet".  STaR stands for Situation, Tactics and Results. It is a method for distilling your achievement down to 3 or 4 sentences describing a career success. As you build your inventory of STaRs you are preparing your self to interview well. Instead of a rambling description of an example where you solved a difficult business problem, you will have a 30 second, cohesive response that ends with a question. Is that the kind of skill that you are looking for at this company? If you give a concise example, you have time to turn the question onto the interviewer and get more information regarding the needs of the hiring company.

If you need more help to get your memory going you can use the 12 questions from the book by Peggy Klaus titled “Brag: How to toot your own horn without blowing it.” Peggy gives the following 12 questions to her clients to get them talking about their accomplishments:

1. What would you and others say are five of your personality plusses?
2. What are the ten most interesting things you have done or that have happened to you?
3. What do you do for a living and how did you end up doing it?
4. What do you like/love about your current job/career?
5. How does your job/career use your skills and talents, and what projects are you working on right now that best showcase them?
6. What career successes are you most proud of having accomplished (from current position and past jobs)?
7. What new skills have you learned in the last year?
8. What obstacles have you overcome to get where you are today, both professionally and personally, and what essential lessons have you learned from some of your mistakes?
9. What training/education have you completed and what did you gain from those experiences?
10. What professional organizations are you associated with and in what ways… member, board, treasurer, or the like?
11. How do you spend your time outside of work, including hobbies, interests, sports, family, and volunteer activities?
12. In what ways are you making a difference in people's lives?

More information on Peggy’s methods can be found at http://www.bragbetter.com/questionnaire.htm

Once armed with an inventory of accomplishments you can use the information to beef up your resume. Earlier I referred to “Objective” as “old school”. What I recommend is that you title your resume with the position that you are targeting. The next line with what sets you apart from everyone else with that title. And here is where your top accomplishments come in; you offer proof of your expertise by detailing 3 to 5 of your top accomplishments. The top of your resume is the most important part and this is where your top accomplishments will help you land the interview and your stories will enthrall the interviewers and help you land your dream job.

Categories: Resumes & Cover Letters, Job Search Help, Job Search Coaching