“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.”
Robert McKee
The secret sauce for successful job interviewing is not so secret, just little used. It is storytelling. Not the kind of rambling stories your grandpa used to share about the life and times of another era, but a polished form of communicating ideas, values and data.
Many applicants run into trouble within the first five minutes of the job interview because they failed to provide a compelling answer to the most frequently asked first question: Tell me about yourself. This is where you set the stage to begin engaging the interviewer regarding your value.
You are not selling car. Your are selling your value. There is a difference.
J.G. Self
CORE questions, like the “tell me about yourself” example, are excellent opportunities for you to promote your values and offer brief reminisces of significant career experiences, as well as stories about strategy and tactics you used to successfully accomplish a major project. You are not selling car. Your are selling your value. There is a difference.
Think about interviewing someone for a couple of hours. Would you rather hear facts and figures and chronology or interesting examples of how a candidate accomplished objectives that are relevant to your organization and the job?
Stories make your answers memorable. In a crowded field of qualified applicants being interviewed by employees who aren’t that old at the process and who are probably not that prepared, memorable is a very good thing.
As author, lecturer and story consultant Robert McKee once said, “Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.”
We teach interviewing skills using your stories. To learn more, contact John Self at info@JohnGSelf.Com