Making your experience come alive through stories or examples is the single most effective thing you can do in an interview. Yes, you need to get other things right in an interview as well: ask the right questions, prepare for dealing with issues with your candidacy, effectively follow-up, and so on. However, telling a good story is the most powerful way to differentiate yourself from the competition because our brains are wired to remember the imagery, drama, and emotion conveyed in a good story.
Here are four tips on how to construct your own personal narrative:
1. What’s it all about? Identify the main themes of your story
People like causality. They like to know that this happened because of that – and not that everything is a meaningless series of unlinked episodes lacking any sense of continuity. Examine your life and establish a list of key events or stages that have caused you to be who you are, and note how these stages are linked. Look for the overarching themes of your life. Some examples: the importance of family; the value of perseverance; the journey of self-discovery. Every life will have different themes. And the easiest way to find the main themes of your life is to…
2. Identify the particulars: people and experiences
When constructing your personal narrative, think of particular people and events that helped you to become the person you are today. These will illustrate the major themes of your story. For instance, if you’re pursuing a career in programming, you might recount a story about an instructor who inspired and encouraged you – or maybe you can remember the first program you ever wrote, the sense of delight and accomplishment you felt, how it solidified your desire to delve deeper into the world of coding. Think up as many significant moments as possible – not because you’ll have time to recount them all in an interview, but because not all of them will be relevant. Which brings us to the next point.
3. Tell the stories that fit the job
If you’re interviewing for a position in sales and you’re asked about interests or hobbies, discard the story about how you spent countless solitary hours hunched over a desk unsuccessfully working out a unified theory of everything, and focus instead on what you learned about yourself and your fellow human beings when you were a member of your university’s dragon boat team: the comradery, the competition, the desire for victory. Always tailor your stories to fit the job. Never lie, though. Just keep a variety of stories catalogued in your mind – and choose wisely.
4. Be the author of your own destiny
Except when you’re describing mentors who’ve positively influenced the course of your life, strive to present yourself as an active character, one who faced problems, made decisions, acted and succeeded. The fact that you may be looking for a new job because you were laid off from your old one due to cost-cutting measures isn’t going to make you a compelling character in the eyes of an interviewer. Avoid recounting stories in which you seem simply the victim of circumstance – someone in the wrong place at the wrong time. You want to inspire confidence, not pity.
It may take some time and practice to develop your story, but it is absolutely necessary if you want people to identify with and engage with you meaningfully. This will not only help you shape the perceptions of potential employers, but it will also give you more confidence because you will have a clearer sense of who you are. That’s when you have complete control over the story.