You can list your skills, you can show where you’ve worked and the positions you’ve held. You can talk about projects you’ve worked on and programs you’ve managed. But, do your stories pass the “so what” test?
Make sure you communicate the benefits, outcome, impact and significance of what you did! If it was really challenging, let people know that by telling us how long it took, the strategies you used, the size of the team involved…
As a job seeker, your job is to show that you have made a difference… and to give enough details so that any reader (regardless of profession or training) easily recognizes the significance and importance of what you did and understands the context, the characters, and the key strategies.
When you tell interview stories, remember:
You have made a difference.
Talk about RESULTS. And SIGNIFICANCE to the industry, the clients, the co-workers. You managed a group of people. So what? – They delivered goods on time, their performance improved, they created a new program.
What’s the significance of that? Customer satisfaction, employee retention, increased profits.
You are a TRANSFORMER. Talk about before and after. Change. Improvement. Refinement. Qualitative and Quantitative difference.
You, the hero of the story.
You changed attitudes, you brought on clients, you increased enrollment, you improved quality standards, you increased efficiency.
How did you TRANSFORM? Talk about the skills, strategies, tools, wisdom it took to make the change.
Always talk about how it benefited the company, clients, project, team, peers, policies, problem. In the short term and in the long run.
You have had a big impact. Talk about size, scope, scale, significance, what makes it important to the company or client, how it addresses a key problem.
You are unique.There are things that you know how to do. Let them know what makes you special. Use “I” statements. Own what you know how to do, your unique role, your contribution.
You are superlative. If you’ve created the first, the only, the best, the most innovative, state that up front. If you are “the one” in the office people count on for something, say that!
You are an innovator. You piloted, modeled, and launched.
Take charge. Stand in your truth. State your impact/results from the outset. Tell people what you know, and what you know how to do.
Imagine answering to the question “so what” with fierceness and confidence. You know what’s important. Make sure the interviewers know too!