What is Your Story?

When starting on a job search or making a career change the biggest question is answering what is your focus or what is your story? This can be a difficult question when you are interested in many different things, trying to transition to a different industry OR every job you see “looks good.”  If that is the case then is it important to take a step back and evaluate what you want to do and not what you can do. I can do a lot of things, but there are things I definitely don’t want to do. Identifying things you don’t like to do is just as important as identifying things you do like to do. Where do you start? First, think about the following skill areas and write down how you like to work in these areas. Try to be specific as possible. Two or three areas will likely be predominant. There may be a couple of skill areas that you don’t enjoy or consider a “necessary evil.” That is ok! What is important is to give examples from your experience to demonstrate the skill so you can start to develop your story.

The key is to be as specific when thinking about what skills you want to use on the job.  Below are some areas to think about:  

• People— All jobs require contact with people. How do you like to interact with people?

• Organization— All jobs require organization of some type. Some people are better at it than others. What do you like to organize (if anything).

• Writing— All jobs require some form of writing. It may or may not be a main focus of a job. What do you like to write?

• Research – Do you like digging for information or figuring out where to look for information?

• Technology – Do you like to work with equipment like lighting, editing, audio? Are you an expert at using Social Networking sites?

• Creativity – In what ways do you like to be creative?

Skills are just one aspect of a job. While you will rarely find a job that meets ALL your criteria, you can do some additional narrowing down by identifying the following:

• “Environmental” factors – How do you feel about deadlines? Corporate vs. a more casual work atmosphere? Do you prefer a structured office with clearly defined roles or a looser set-up where everyone pitches in? 

• “Other” factors – We call this the looking from the outside in – what are some of additional interests and skills that would further narrow down your list of possibilities? A cause or belief you believe in strongly like women’s issues, healthcare, animals or the environment? 

Focus is absolutely critical in developing your story and the foundation for a successful job search.  Focus is the one thing that no one else can provide for you.