Why Story-Tellers Get The Best Jobs
When you are invited to an interview by a potential employer, it is important to turn up armed with stories. More often than not, candidates will only arrive armed with facts – although this is a good way to demonstrate your skills but it won’t necessarily make you stand out. If interviewers spend a day interviewing candidates and all they hear are statistics, numbers and facts, it will often blend together in the interviewers mind, making you forgettable.
As humans, we naturally communicate through stories, this is how we pass down information to future generations, so it is only natural that using stories in your interviews will yield better results too. Facts work well as evidence, but stories are a great way of engaging the interviewer and in turn, making you more memorable. Stories will also demonstrate your experience in a practical scenario, as well as making your answers flow more easily than a staccato set of numbers would.
How to tell a story
When it comes to telling stories in an interview, some recruiters will recommend the STAR method; this stands for
Situation
Task
Action
Result
Although this method forms a fun acrostic, it can be confusing, so if you’re unsure about this, just make sure your stories have a beginning, middle and end.
Much like telling an anecdote to friends, the beginning of the story should lay out the context. If you’re using the STAR method along side a three-part story format, the beginning will encompass Situation & Task. The beginning should establish the situation you were in, as well as the task you were set. This is your chance to set the scene for the interviewer, and draw them into your story.
The middle of the story should focus on Action. What actions did you take and why did you take those specific actions? It is important that you talk through the logic you used when taking your actions, as this will show the interviewer your ability to take a proactive approach to your work.
The end of the story should always be positive. Unlike an anecdote you may tell your friends, if the story doesn’t end well, you shouldn’t be telling it in an interview!
A positive end of a story in an interview should be a provable result. This is where you can land your statistics. If you can numerically show the positive result achieved at the end of the story, you will be evidencing the fact that you are the right person for the job.
Facts tell, stories sell
This means that facts will tell the interviewer that you are good at what you do, through the numerical information you give them. However, framing these facts in the context of a scenario-based story will sell you, as an employable individual, to the interviewer.
Practice makes perfect
Finally, it is helpful to practice the stories you might tell in an interview. You can do this either by telling your stories to family and friends, or by speaking them aloud to yourself. Telling the stories aloud will ensure that they make sense, are performed naturally, and that your words don’t get muddled. But practicing in front of people may help you to feel less nervous going into an interview, as you will be used to delivering your stories to an audience.
Now that you know how to tell the perfect interview story, why not check out our Careers Page to see our current live roles!