Ace a Job Interview With This One Tantalizing Interview Skill
When I was 17, I worked at a sneaker store at my local mall.
A very young and hopeful Andrea, at 17 years old!
It wasn’t my dream job, but the interview helped me learn a very valuable skill that later landed me my dream job of starting a business as a coach.
To interview for the sneaker gig, I had to sit across from a guy named Dale and - as he requested - “sell him a pen”. Dale, of course, was calling upon the ‘ol Zig Ziglar sales prompt to see if I had it in me to sell something as simple as a pen. If I could do that, I could sell sneakers…and I sold a lot of sneakers.
WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO SELL IN ORDER TO ACE A JOB INTERVIEW.
Selling things can be hard. It can also be a lot of fun!
In terms of being able to ace a job interview, it’s about showing up, owning your value and helping others see that you're the only choice for the job, role, project, whatever. In my decades of coaching, I’ve worked with thousands of leaders on doing that very thing. The key to it all? Storytelling!
Yep, stories change the world. They influence our thinking. They sell our ideas. They keep our audiences (or hiring managers) wanting more. And THAT can lead to so many career wins…like acing a job interview.
When it comes to landing your dream job, I’d argue that
storytelling is THE strongest hammer in your interviewing toolkit.
According to Career Builder, 75% of employers use behavioral interview questions to assess soft skills. It’s an interviewing technique that’s been around since the 80’s and has become a cornerstone of modern human resources practice. Unlike traditional style interviews where answers can be a simple “yes or no”, behavioral interviews dig deeper. They nudge you for a little trip down memory lane to illustrate where you’ve been so the interviewer can deduce how you might behave when you encounter scenarios in this new job.
Storytelling sells your previous experience as insight on your future potential. It gives you an edge on your competitors. It makes you memorable and helps you ace a job interview.
Let’s see how it works.
THIS STORYTELLING FORMULA WILL HELP YOU ACE A JOB INTERVIEw
Great storytelling follows a formula - a simple framework that helps you craft a compelling story in a few (like 2) short minutes. Here it is: S-T-A-R. That’s it. It stands for: Situation, Task, Action, Result - meaning
The Situation we faced
The Task we needed to complete
The Action we took to complete the task, and
The Result we got in the end.
With my clients, we drill on this technique (and add some extra details to tighten up the story, then really SELL the result through relevance) so they can ace the interview and land the job they’ve been dreaming of. The STAR method has helped my clients win high-ranking roles at companies like Amazon, Deloitte, and many more. It all starts, though, with stories. Great stories.
MY ONE PRO TIP FOR YOU ON HOW TO ACE A JOB INTERVIEW THROUGH STORYTELLING
As you practice this formula, be willing to tell a wide range of stories - the stories of how you’ve won, failed, learned, launched, damn near died! Be unafraid to be seen. It’ll showcase your breadth of experience, transparency and confidence, and - most importantly - it’ll help you ace a job interview!
Are you ready to start owning the stories you’re telling the world about yourself? Maybe it’s time to have a larger voice and greater influence.
Coaching is the pathway to being successful in doing that.
Get started now on your journey to being seen the way you want - and deserve - to be seen!
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