A resume is a document that chrnonicles your work history and hopefully lands you an interview. It’s not exciting, doesn’t capture your imagination and make you want to set the world on fire. It’s not a great story you don’t want to not put down…but shouldn’t it? You keep hearing about telling your career story but what does that mean? Telling your career story means writing a compelling narrative showing what you do best, illustrates your passion for what you do and what you’ll be bringing to the table, and explains why an employer should want to interview you.
Consider your audience, your new company, and know what interests them, and what they value. Then customize your resume for each new audience to create a connection with them. Like any other story your career story should have a beginning, a middle and an end. Identify a single simple theme which should be what you bring to the table. Don’t ramble keep the information pertinent and relevant to the position you’re applying to. Make sure you are listing your accomplishments not just your responsibilities. Storyify your accomplishments by writing the results action problem/situation/challenge.
During the interview you can add in anecdotes to provide real world proof of what you wrote in your resume and help you make a connection with the recruiter. Throwing in concrete examples helps the recruiter undersand the value you’ll be bringing with you. Make sure your energy and passion shine through. And don’t forget to practice telling your story.
