How to Tell a Coherent Career Story After You’ve Done a Little of Everything
Ten years ago, if you looked at my resume , it would look like I was throwing random job titles onto the page. I have done so many different things that it’s more like “I can’t devote myself to my career” than “seasoned professional”.
This post was originally published on the Muse website .
I worked in retail, served a bar for private parties, ran an office supply, and planned kids’ parties at the fitness center. I thought that this eclectic mix of experiences was fine for me, because I was still a student, and everything will work out by itself when the time comes to pursue a career.
Fast forward five years and halfway through graduate school, and my experience did not magically become more coherent. In fact, it has become more extensive and fragmented; I have added a teacher, tutor, library assistant, and sales manager to my resume. Trying to turn my occasional jobs into successful careers, I felt stuck with the fact that my job didn’t make a lot of sense on paper.
If you are like me a few years ago, and you have acquired many wonderful skills in positions that do not seem so interconnected, I feel your pain. But before you start to panic about being forced to work in limbo for the rest of your life, keep in mind that names and companies do not always have to clearly reflect what you have truly accomplished.
There are many ways to say this, but employers are mainly looking for three key points: that you can do your job, that you want to do the job, and that you want to do the job for them. It’s up to you to take your current resume and tell a story that meets these basic needs.
1. Reformat your resume
Do you know the top of your resume where people keep telling you not to add an “objective” section ? Well, that’s usually the case, but you can add a qualifications section that lists the specific skills you have that are right for the job you want. That way, you own your story and show the hiring manager what you thought about how your experience fits the role.
Another option is a skill-based resume rather than chronological order. Is this option right for you? Difficult to say because many employers have different preferences. The best thing you can do at the end of the day is to remember the purpose of this document: to walk through the door.
So make sure that whichever format you choose, you emphasize why you are the best fit. And you can do this by making your list short, quantitative, and tailored to the job description.
2. Emphasize continuity
Most jobs have a few things in common. I remember when I was in college, I attended a variety of classes each semester. And every semester, these classes magically began to connect with each other, and I was always amazed at how much continuity was what I thought was completely disconnected. Our brains are programmed to make connections. It might seem like there is no connection between the work of a lifeguard, salesperson, social media trainee, and psychologist, but these are all things that emphasize the need to pay close attention to what people think, how they behave, and how best to serve. their. Take time to think deeply about your work. Were they all involved in customer service? Critical thinking and analysis? Using new technologies or creative problem solving?
If nothing comes to mind, ask a friend to take a look at it. Sometimes, especially when you are going through your resume for a long time, it can be difficult to see the relationship between all of your varied work experiences. Engaging an objective reader who reads it carefully and defines the relationships between your roles will open up a new perspective for you and hopefully allow you to see clearly existing connections.
3. Ignore inappropriate
Not everything you’ve ever done has to make it onto your resume. For most people, all your experience just doesn’t fit, but there is definitely a strategy. If you’re applying for a customer-centric position, set aside your time in retail, as a waiter in a restaurant, and quit your summer part-time job when all you did was paperwork. And if you’re going to be playing an important marketing role, be sure to include your job of assisting the professor of mental statistics, but maybe don’t worry about your brief copywriting job.
Worried about long spaces appearing on your resume if you use this technique? Fair. But keep in mind that a month or two does not constitute a noticeable hiatus. An explanation may be required for a year or longer hiatus , so if your experience is eclectic and you prefer to exclude certain positions from your resume and you cannot claim “you are a student” to cover the blank period, focus on finding continuity in the acquired skills and thus piece together the history of their work.
As Muse writer Elizabeth Alterman says in her article “How to Easily Explain a gap in your résumé,” “If you’ve run a household, co-chaired an event that raised much needed funds for a charity, or traveled around the world, have you won important skills – think persuasively, communicate, become a master organizer, or adapt to unknown situations. ” Find a way to turn everything you did during the break into a skill you can use now.
4. Practice by telling your story
Knowing how your experiences relate to each other and how they helped you grow as a professional is often the biggest obstacle. But you still need to tell a compelling story about where you have been and where you are going.
Maybe you have a different job because you tried to find what works for you, and you are grateful for each of these performances because of the skills you acquired, even if they didn’t suit you. Therefore, you should be able to explain why this position right here and now is right for you, and not just the next in a series of different headlines.
How did all this past experience get you here? How and why do you plan to develop what you have already done? Your goal is to prevent the hiring manager from questioning whether you will be staying there for a while. During any interview, it is important not to sound negative about your past work, so try to convey its value by emphasizing that you have identified the path you should take.
If you can strategically explain your past experiences and how they stack up with where you are currently applying for this job in front of you, they will only add value to your story. Skills are skills, no matter where or how you got them. Once I could reflexively think about what I liked and what I didn’t like in my past experiences, how they fit together, and how they showed me which path to take, I was presented with tremendous opportunities. In every job I have done, I have learned that I need to help people, be intellectually empowered, and feel like my work has an impact on the world. This is what I feel now. I may be biased, but my winding career sounds good these days.
How To Tell A Fascinating Career Story With A Little Bit Of Everything | Muse