Make a strong impression during your job search
Telling a personal anecdote can be a powerful way of creating a lasting impression. You do not need to be extroverted or become a professional speaker to develop a good story.
Q: I have gone through numerous job changes during my career and know how to find employment, but I could improve my introduction and interviewing skills. I would describe myself as an introvert and dread talking about my background. How can I improve my interviewing skills?
A: Making a good introduction and answering interview questions is often related to selling. If you cannot readily talk about what makes you unique, it could add to your discomfort. It sounds like you are lacking a strategy in talking about your background. Keep in mind that introductions and building rapport during an interview can be more intriguing than just talking about your accomplishments.
Telling a personal anecdote can be a powerful way of creating a lasting impression. You do not need to be extroverted or become a professional speaker to develop a good story. The key is to spend time thinking about your achievements and experience at work that will highlight your skills.
If storytelling is new to you, start by using a couple of examples to emphasize the points you want the interviewer to remember about you. One way to begin is to reflect on your previous jobs that show how you accomplished a task, for example, how you solved a problem or delivered excellent customer service.
Sharing personal anecdotes is also a good strategy when encountering “weakness” questions during an interview by conveying how you handled past challenges. The power of using stories is to highlight your positive attributes, abilities, skills, and personality that set you apart from others.
To prepare for using a good story, think back to times in your professional life where you hit some home runs, the successes that impacted your career. Of course, successes are fun to talk about, but life is full of challenges. So, during those times of significant obstacles, give yourself credit and talk about your skills to cover them successfully.
In the book Lead with a Story, Paul Smith uses questions that will help you recall stories that have meaning for you. Here are a few questions to consider:
• Think of the people you admire the most. What did you learn from them that made you admire them so much?
• What are the moments in your career from which you learned the most important lessons?
• What was the most challenging problem you have ever solved?
Write out your stories, practice them first, and then narrow down the points you want to convey to avoid rambling. It is a good idea to always be ready during a job search to talk about how your skills and abilities can help an organization — stories make them more personal and memorable in a good way.