We can brand ourselves by telling stories about our experience. We can brand ourselves in our LinkedIn profiles, our resumes and verbally at job interviews and networking events. Stories are relatable and memorable, and they’re a great way to demonstrate your skills and promote yourself.
Everyone should have a bank of professional stories, regardless of whether you’re getting ready for a job interview or not. Sure, knowing your stories is advantageous in an interview environment, but it’s just as important to be able to identify and acknowledge your skills and experience in a way that you can then explain your value to another person. If you understand your value, you are capable of asking for promotions, negotiating pay rises and getting the most out of your team.
The tricky part is to be honest and factual, whilst avoiding crossing that line into ego. If you can demonstrate integrity, your co-workers will respect you. It’s a lot easier to work with someone you respect, than someone you don’t – would you agree?
So what are your stories? Do you have one for each of the below examples?
- A time when you learned something from a mistake you made
- When you helped a co-worker
- A story about when you went the extra mile
- When you thought outside the box to find a solution
- A time when you worked well in a team, or went it alone
- Something you have learned about yourself.
Chances are, you’ll be asked to give examples in an interview, and whilst you may not need all of the examples above for your interview, having a bank of examples to choose from will ensure you deliver the best example you’ve got. Sometimes in interviews, nerves can get the better of us, so rehearsing these stories with friends or family will calm the nerves. Plus, you will have had time to reflect on the situation and recall it clearly, so won’t be coming up with an answer on the spot, where you risk missing important details.
If you’d like to read more, this article has some great examples of story branding paragraphs for LinkedIn profiles and alike. We got our inspiration from this article, where you can find more information on stories.
