Telling our life stories is something we don’t do enough of.  Nowadays people like snapshots. They like to know what you do.  If they have some time, they might want to know how you got there.  But they usually don’t want a long-winded answer. 

In a twitter world, verbal real estate is scarce.  As a result, we need to maximize every opportunity we are given; to provide the best possible information.

With so much pressure to make our words count, how do we choose the right ones?  We start with ourselves.

In the job context, start with your purpose, or objective.  I don’t mean the header on some resumes that states your objective.  I personally never read them and find them a bit cheesy.  Obviously the person sending me their resume wants to get a job. Their interests in the particular job will come out in the cover letter.

Okay, getting back to your objective.  As we’ve already established, your objective is likely to get a job.  But that’s just your immediate objective. 

What’s your long-term objective?  What do you want to do in the world?  Whom do you want to serve?  That is your objective.

Get clear on your objective (and I don’t mean to gloss over this step, it’s an important, in-depth process and will require at least its own separate posting), and take out your resume. 

Then take a deep breath and tell your story.  Tell it to someone, tell it to yourself; just tell it.  And don’t start where your resume begins.

Start where your objective showed its face.  This is usually a childhood experience, where you were introduced to something new and said “A ha!”  Maybe you pursued it educationally, maybe through volunteerism. 

Chances are, this objective is woven into everything you did, on some level.

The value of telling this story, with your objective in mind, is that it helps put your life experiences in context. 

Using the context of your objective, you can explain why you structured your life the way you did.  You may have taken steps you view as mistakes, but in coaching there is no such thing as a mistake.

Look at those “mistakes” and ask yourself - why did I choose that path?  What did I hope to learn?  What did I actually learn?  And finally, how can I market that experience in light of the job I’d like to have?

By knowing your story intimately, by knowing what drives and motivates you, you’ll be better positioned to sell yourself to any employer or networking contact you choose. 

And because you’ll be well versed in what motivates you, you’ll make more targeted choices about what type of employment you choose.