Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll agree. Even after years on the bleachers cheering my kids, I’m worthless when it comes to conversations about sports. That is, unless the athlete has an interesting backstory, personality trait, or quirk. I’m looking at you, Rafael Nadal.
I became a fan of Kansas City’s coach Andy Reid for the simple reason that I have a soft spot for coaches and players who’ve struggled yet continue to push themselves to overcome personal and professional adversity. Although Patrick Mahomes hadn’t appeared to suffer any major setbacks (until this year, anyway), he was part of the Andy Reid package. And when my brother pointed out that Mahomes had a unique throw, I was all in.
I’m also a fan of Tom Brady, for reasons having nothing to do with him being the G.O.A.T. Quite the opposite. He may be a beloved son of many in the San Francisco Bay Area where I live, but when it seemed he was unstoppable, I just wasn’t interested.
That all changed when he had something to prove with the Bucs as the “old guy.” I realize this may seem counter to what I just said about Reid and Mahomes, given that Brady beat the Chiefs last year. But then, Mahomes had already won the Super Bowl in 2020 and had a few years left to do it again.
The point is, at a Super Bowl gathering you can talk stats all you want. But don’t be surprised if my eyes glaze over while I excuse myself for another chip to dip.
On the other hand, if there’s a good underdog story I can get just as excited as the next person—even if I don’t know a first down from an offside.
The same goes for readers when it comes to how and what you choose to communicate about your career. You already know that stats and data points are important. Skills matter. Without them, you won’t get the job. But remember that your career profile won’t just be read by a keyword-counting bot.
Own Your Super-HUMAN Powers and Stories
If you’ve been my client, you know the first question I ask during our intake meeting is “What’s your special sauce?” or some variation thereof.
Before that, you’ve already sent me your resume and at least one job description, so I have a general idea of your skills and whether you’re qualified for the job. But I’m curious: I want to get to the bottom of what makes you uniquely qualified for the role.
I want to know how you distinguish yourself from the rest of the candidates. I want to know your purpose, what makes you proudest, the types of problems you solve.
It’s this conversation that transforms a 2-dimensional job seeker—often with a bare-bones, responsibilities-heavy document—into a compelling, 3-dimensional HUMAN who stands out from the crowd.
Yes, asking this question serves as a great icebreaker, especially when normally reserved clients are hesitant to boast. (It’s not boasting, btw—it’s sharing the facts.) But the question goes deeper. After this conversation, I’ve never had a client that sounds like any other, and I’m always delighted to uncover that hidden gem that makes people sparkle.
So let’s talk about how and where you can tap into that special sauce.
Let’s start with the how: developing your stories.
Come Up With 5-10 Stories Where you or your Team Were the Hero(es)
You’ve probably heard of the CAR strategy, where you frame your stories by talking about the Challenge you faced, the Actions you took, and the Results of your actions. But don’t forget the “T,” which stands for Tie-back—as in tie back your actions to the needs of the employer, so they can envision you in the role, solving their problems.
If you need inspiration to get started, Kerri Twigg, author of The Career Stories Method, has a fun exercise that makes the process less daunting: grab a stack of index cards and write one career story a day for 7-10 days.
Kerri says 20 minutes a day is all you need. I love this idea, because you can do it anywhere—in a coffee shop, between meetings, at your kitchen table. Just make sure you won’t be interrupted. This is your time.
By the way, you don’t have to use index cards. You could use a journal or sticky notes, as long as you have the space to write. The point is to capture your thoughts in a way that’s different from your usual process, and she recommends handwriting them because there’s neuroscience behind the idea that we remember more when we write it down.
I’m not an expert on neuroscience, but I personally like this process because it’s a nice break from what I normally do, which is type my thoughts on my PC or laptop.
Now that you have your career stories, here’s where you can use them:
There are four key opportunities to tell your story: during an interview, in the summary statement on your resume, in your cover letter, and in the About section of your LinkedIn profile.
Of course, there are other areas, such as the LinkedIn experience section, but I’m going to focus on just these four today.
#1: Interviews
This is the most obvious place to use your career stories.
The interviewer is going to invariably ask you about obstacles you faced and how you overcame them. So make sure you have a collection of stories that you can tailor for any number of questions the interviewer asks.
The stories can range from how you convinced the C-Suite to increase your budget for new technology to improve efficiencies, to delivering results in a down economy, to overcoming company-wide resistance to change.
#2: The Branding (Summary) Section at the Top of Your Resume
Think about how you can use this real estate to stand out.
Take inventory of what makes you YOU. List 4-5 statements that set you apart from other candidates who have the same general background. Four is best, but definitely no more than five.
A couple of reminders:
- Make sure the information in the summary section at the top is relevant to what the reader wants in a candidate. You may need to tweak this a bit for each role.
- Include these achievements or attributes in your experience section, too, but be sure to change the wording. For example, if you give a brief statement about the achievement at the top, you can then provide more detail in the experience section.
#3: The Cover Letter
Traditionally, the cover letter has been the place where you can share your strengths and state why you’re positioned to solve the problems of your target organization.That hasn’t changed.
Avoid the temptation to write a stock cover letter for all roles. I get it—you’re busy. I’m all for efficiency, but don’t cut corners here. The whole point of the cover letter is to present your case for why you’re the best candidate, so work it.
If you’re targeting similar roles, it’s likely you can use the same career highlights and achievements in each letter. Just be sure that every letter you write includes 1-3 sentences about why you’re the one for that particular role, at that specific company.
Don’t forget: make sure you change company-specific details for each letter you send.
#4: Your LinkedIn Profile’s About Section
This is my favorite place to share my client’s background, because it’s our chance to be the most PERSONable.
I should reiterate here that we don’t just write resumes and About sections for ATS robots and search algorithms.
Obviously, lay out your fabulous career and talk about your achievements and skills here, but you have 2,600 characters to use, so don’t be tempted to stuff this section with jargon and call it a day.
Remember, you’re writing for the human eye, and humans are busy. Humans want to quickly get to the point of what makes you more qualified than the next candidate. Humans don’t want to slog through jargon to figure out what you mean.
Here’s a tip: Run a draft by a friend or family member and ask them if they understand the content. Don’t ask them to edit. That puts too much of a burden on them. Just ask them if they see anything that’s confusing or seems too robotic.
One more thing: write in the first person.* Your goal should be to break down as many barriers as you can with recruiters and hiring managers. If you write your About section in the third person, you’re adding a virtual middleman between you and the reader.
Recruiters want to hire a human. Someone who has a bit of a story to tell and a life outside of the office. Until you get that interview, your About section may be the best channel to speak directly to a recruiter or hiring manager in your own voice, and in the context of your values.
Then, whether it’s your philosophy for motivating high-performing teams, creating solutions for your clients, or building community, you can weave your achievements into these stories to create a narrative that’s uniquely yours.
There’s still a place for the third-person voice—your bio. But the third-person About section is going the way of the power-suit-and-tie guy leaning into the camera ready to make a deal.
Go Bengals!
* Countries have a variety of cultural norms when it comes to whether first- or third-person voice is appropriate. My advice pertains to when you’re targeting US companies.