Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career

by Hansen, Katharine

• ISBN13: 9781593576707
• ISBN10: 1593576706
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-04-01
• Publisher: Jist Works

Summary

Tell Me About Yourself shows you how to use the incredible power of storytelling to advance your career, whether by moving up in your current organization or landing a job with a new employer. Echoing the most commonly asked job interview question, Tell Me About Yourself shows you how to answer the question-and all others- in a way that coveys a true sense of who you are and what you can do for the organization. Storytelling is also the key to excelling in other job search activities, such as writing resumes and cover letters, networking, creating portfolios, and developing you personal brand. Tell Me About Yourself takes the reader through the steps for executing each of these crucial tasks impressively and successfully. The book also focuses on on-the-job storytelling that enables you to capitalize on opportunities to advance throughout your career.

Author Biography

Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., associate publisher of Quintessential Careers, is the author of Dynamic Cover Letters, Dynamic Cover Letters for New Graduates, Top Notch Executive Resumes, and A Foot in the Door: Networking Your Way into the Hidden Job Market; and coauthor (with Dr. Randall S. Hansen) of Write Your Way to a Higher GPA and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Study Skills. She is a member of the Career Management Alliance, a Master Resume Writer, and a Credentialed Career Manager. She teaches college courses on writing resumes and cover letters and has critiqued resumes and cover letters for countless students. She blogs at A Storied Career (www.astoriedcareer.com).

Table of Contents

Why Use Storytelling in Your Job Search?	p. 1
How Stroytelling Can Help You Get a Job	p. 2
About This Book	p. 5
Career-Propelling Story Basics	p. 7
The Quintessential "You" Story	p. 9
Starting Places for Your "You" Story	p. 9
Sample Quintessential "You" Stories	p. 10
Summary	p. 18
How to Develop Career-Propelling Stories	p. 19
Formulas for Structuring Your Story	p. 19
Identifying Characteristics to Highlight in Your Stories	p. 21
Story-Framing Devices	p. 22
Telling Stories About Handling Change	p. 25
Drilling Down to Tell Stories About the Other Skills and Characteristics Employers Seek	p. 33
KSA (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities) Statements	p. 39
Summary	p. 40
Using Storytelling in Your Job Search	p. 41
Using Stories to Network with People	p. 43
The Elevator Speech Becomes the Elevator Story	p. 43
Enlisting Your Personal Advisory Board in Reviewing and Critiquing Your Job Search Stories	p. 51
Story Formula Roundup from the Experts	p. 51
Summary	p. 56
Telling Stories on Your Resume	p. 57
Guidelines for Creating a Story-Based Resume	p. 59
Using a Professional Profile or Qualifications Summary Section to Tell the Story of Who You Are	p. 61
Composing Accomplishments Bullet Points	p. 65
Creating a Resume Addendum to Enhance Your Resume's Storytelling	p. 67
Are Resumes Dying?	p. 68
Sample Story-Based Resumes and Addenda	p. 69
Summary	p. 81
Cover Letters That Tell a Story	p. 83
Types of Stories You Can Tell in a Cover Letter	p. 83
Do's and Don'ts for Storytelling Cover Letters	p. 96
Sample Story-Based Cover Letters	p. 100
Summary	p. 102
Portfolios That Tell a Story	p. 103
The Portfolio Explained	p. 103
Developing Stories Through Portfolio Preparation	p. 106
A Web Portfolio Makes Your Story Accessible 24/7	p. 107
Using Your Print Portfolio to Tell Your Story in Interviews	p. 109
Linking Interview Questions to Portfolio Artifacts	p. 110
Summary	p. 116
Interviews That Tell a Story	p. 117
Using Stories in Behavioral Interviews	p. 118
Return to Alphabet Soup: Examples Using the Story Formulas	p. 119
Not Just Stories, but Stories Well Told	p. 126
Storytelling for Traditional Interview Questions	p. 127
More Examples: Typical Questions and Storytelling Answers	p. 133
Storytelling for Situational and Future-Oriented Interview Questions	p. 158
Compose Your Stories in Writing Before the Interview	p. 161
Summary	p. 164
Telling Stories to Communicate Your Personal Brand	p. 165
Writing Your Story-Supported Branding Statement	p. 166
Examples of Story-Supported Branding Statements	p. 169
Personal Branding, "Googlability," and Your Storied Online Presence	p. 171
Summary	p. 175
Continuous Career Storytelling	p. 177
Propel Your Career Through On-The-Job Storytelling	p. 179
Stories to Lead and Communicate Organizational Change	p. 179
Promote Yourself Through Storytelling	p. 183
Using Storytelling to Cope with the Stress of Change	p. 185
Summary	p. 190
Let Your Career Story Unfold	p. 191
Storytelling Resources	p. 193
Quintessential "You" Story Resources (Chapter 1)	p. 193
Story-Development Resources (Chapter 2)	p. 193
Networking Resources (Chapter 3)	p. 194
Resume Story Resources (Chapter 4)	p. 194
Cover Letter Resources (Chapter 5)	p. 195
Portfolio Resources (Chapter 6)	p. 195
Interviewing Story Resources (Chapter 7)	p. 196
Personal Branding Resources (Chapter 8)	p. 196
On-the-Job Storytelling Resources (Chapter 9)	p. 196
Index	p. 199
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