Are you a professional story shapeshifter? Or rock-solid and comfortable in the story of Who You Are as a Professional of Worth?
Perhaps you are in transition. Or, seeking your next internal promotion. Then again, are you targeting a new employer? How you tell your professional story either is a deal-maker or deal-breaker.
If your professional story changes, depending on the decision maker or organization you are speaking with, you create confusion. You, yourself, find it difficult to keep track of “which you” shows up for professional conversations. Because the story of “who you are” changes, depending on each professional conversation you have. Consequently, the person you speak with becomes skeptical about placing their trust in shapeshifting you.
When you rely only on employment history to tell your professional story, chronology alone will not get you to where you need to go.
- Does your employment history clearly articulate your professional story? Including how you intentionally create value for each employer?
- Can your employment history support a continuous professional story? A story of why you move from job to job, either with a new, or with your current, employer?
- Will the story you tell shapeshift, depending on each job, role and function? Is there no apparent logic to the lack in continuity in your employment history?
Relying on prospective internal and external employers to connect the dots of your professional story? And, match up “all the stuff you can do” with the perfect job for you in their organization?
First, connecting those dots, and stating the hiring case to employers, is your job, not theirs. Next, when employment history shapeshifts, the only story you tell may not create employer confidence. Then, during interviews, your responses to questions shapeshift. Possibly because you have four separate resumes. Created by experts. Targeting four different industries. Which tell four completely different stories. No wonder you have difficulty remembering “who you are” from one interview to the next.
If you feel like a professional story impostor or shapeshifter, hit your “professional story reset button.” Uncover the only purpose-driven professional story you need to tell. When you tell your YOU story, the story remains the same. Stop professional story shapeshifting depending on what you think people “want” to hear.
Develop a purpose-driven professional story as the foundation of your professional development and career trajectory. Contact me here. Get started telling a story you believe in. Become more visible, relevant and valuable to employers. Tell a compelling professional story that remains the same, no matter whom you tell your story to! Don’t you feel relieved, already? What are you waiting for?
Babette Ten Haken’s One Millimeter Mindset® Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left Brain Thinkers Speaking Programs leverage storytelling to become more visible, relevant and valuable to your organization. Babette is a member of SME, ASQ, SHRM and the National Speakers Association. Her playbook of communication tools and methods, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com. Babette’s speaker profile is on the espeakers platform. Contact Babette here.
Image source: Adobe Stock
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