Reasons to hire me #2: You need help telling your story in job interviews.
Creating the narrative of your life is, to my mind, always important in interviews. When we’re talking about people who are “older” (i.e. not straight out of college), or who have done different things, or are switching career, or simply transitioning in some manner or other, telling your story in a way that connects with your interviewer and her goals is crucial. You want to tell your interviewer a (true, obviously) story about yourself, and your experience, and your interests and goals in a way that makes his ears perk up with delight.
For example, if you’ve gone back to school at a later age, and maybe even before that, you had taken time off from work, due to unforeseen circumstances, you’re going to have to explain the gaps in your resume in a manner that indicates your stability, commitment and passion. You’re going to have to craft your narrative, according to your goals and the goals of your industry in order to make it valuable to that industry. This is especially true if you’re not 23, for example, and maybe you took some time off from the work world, maybe you moved around, or lived overseas, or started a small business that didn’t work out. Corporate America loves to say pretty (branding) phrases about how important it is to think outside the cubicle, but that’s advertising. In real life, corporate America is extremely suspicious of people who have done anything even slightly outside the box. And some of that is simply resentment: oh you got to enjoy yourself, picking fruit in Israel, or teaching street theater in Bombay, or whatever, while I was sitting in this damn cubicle paying my dues??
True story: After graduating law school, I briefly returned to TV news. (Don’t judge me. I needed cash. The cats refuse to work. Sallie Mae doesn’t allow you to barter services.) It doesn’t matter which network this was, but times had really changed. When I had first started working at the channel in the late 1990s, there was no human resources; I networked an interview with the DC bureau chief, and we had a great talk about news, and he hired me on the spot. I had a blast. But in 2007, suddenly I had to go through HR. Suddenly, I had to explain my experience and life choices (i.e. law school) to a woman who, I’m sure was very competent, but had no personal hands-on TV experience. She had never cut a package, or sat on an assignment desk. Maybe you’ve already guessed this, but this woman and I did not become BFFs. This woman was not my biggest fan. But, my friends were, at the time, pretty much running the network so she hired me back. I can’t tell you what show I ended up working on, because you’d immediately know the host’s name, but suffice it to say, the host was so unpleasant that I felt that the HR woman really got the last laugh. (P.S.: Stockholm Syndrome is real and no joke.)
Crafting your narrative is difficult for many reasons, not least because most of us are still trying to process what we’re doing right now, fer Chrissake, so sitting down, face-to-face, with a stranger, while under pressure to sell because you desperately need a job, and having to convince that stranger as to the value of your (unique, chaotic) experience is extremely intimidating. Especially when you yourself are probably still trying to convince yourself! It took me years to be able to craft an intelligent, linear narrative, out of my multi-layered backgrounds.
Today, I know how to spin a narrative that covers the range of my abilities, experience and interests in a way that immediately demonstrates to my listener that yes, I know what I’m doing; that I’m committed to this company; that I share your business mission, and that I have the unique experience that your company needs to achieve those goals. But this took me years, and cost me quite a few solid opportunities.
So, if you’re at a cross-roads in your career, and trying to promote yourself in interviews, but feeling tongue-tied by even the thought of questions about your life, relax. You can do this. Shoot me an email at carlotazee@gmail.com. I’ll help you craft a narrative, and afterwards, you’ll practice it on me, flushing all of the hostility out of your system, so you can go forth and triumph.