How can you use storytelling to stand out in an interview?

Job interview can be taken using varied methods, each one to its own and no one can crack the code to nail every interview, the dos and do nots are dependant on the interviewer. However, storytelling can be one cheat code to involve the interviewer in your way to taking the interview forward. Caution! be mindful of your words! As much as it gains you time and attention, it may allow the interviewer to ask related questions which may sometimes lead to off tracking from the purpose of the meeting. Additionally, it can put you in too much lime light. Hence, craft your story wisely and use the art of storytelling to highlight your strengths and expertise to your advantage.

During the recruitment interview, I always rely on the STAR method, which analyzes the candidate from a behavioral perspective. I believe that questions based on this model are one of the best tools for diagnosing potential - traits of independence, proactivity, agency and effectiveness. Dear Candidate, during a conversation with the recruiter always answer according to the following pattern: S – Situation – a specific situation from your past, a challenging one to confront with; T – Task – what option/s did you consider to solve the problem; A – Action – what actions did you undertake to achieve your goal, where did you find help/resources; R – Result – let us know, if you were successful or not, what were the results of your action.

Integrating storytelling into your interview strategy can make a significant impact, setting you apart as a standout candidate. Craft responses as engaging narratives,focus on achievements through brief stories. Showcase your skills in action with real-world examples and align with the company's culture. Establish a personal connection by sharing impactful stories that highlight your passion and commitment. Address challenges with resilience, utilizing the memorability factor of stories to leave a lasting impression. Structure your narratives with precision, ensuring a clear and impactful delivery. This strategic use of storytelling conveys information effectively while creating a memorable and distinct impression in the interviewer's mind.

Personalize Your Stories: Make your stories personal and relatable. Share not only what you did but also how you felt and what you learned from the experience. Humanizing your stories helps you connect with the interviewer on a deeper level.

As a recruiter, I seek candidates who can articulate their resume in a narrative format that reflects their professional journey. Each role chosen and experience gained contributes to this journey. A successful interview often involves a candidate who has thoughtfully crafted a plan to articulate their background. These narratives should be carefully selected to align with the position being interviewed for. For instance, leveraging volunteering experiences as a narrative in discussions related to roles within the Nonprofit sector is a strategic choice. Before sharing a story or discussing a particular topic, it's essential to ensure that it's relevant to the role, makes a significant statement, and ties back to the position's requirements.

Instead of listing achievements, weave a narrative that captures your professional journey, showcasing key moments of growth and resilience. Structure your stories clearly, demonstrating how you navigated challenges and contributed to positive outcomes. Use specific examples that highlight your skills and competencies, emphasizing the impact of your actions. Whilst stories can be crafted to highlight key obstacles and how you overcame them to further align yourself with a specific aspect of the role or values of the business you're applying for, be sure to remain on topic and not veer from the interview. When crafted well, a story should showcase your suitability for the role, and reflect your personal approach.

Story telling yes it works.. while telling about yourself share your company to company journey like what you have achieved how it helped your previous company, tell them about your key skills which you have gained throughout your career.

Tell your professional story with a focus on growth, resilience, and specific achievements. Highlight how you navigated challenges and contributed to positive outcomes, using examples that emphasize your skills. Align your stories with the role or company values, staying on topic during interviews to showcase your suitability and personal approach.

Crafting compelling stories involves making them engaging, easy to follow, memorable, and actionable. Align stories with job requirements using STAR. Outline projects or tasks that demonstrate key competencies. Ensure stories are not only educational and inspiring but also showcase your impact. This strategic approach captivates interviewers, making your stories stand out in their minds.

Be clear and concise with the right pitch, pauses and emotion. As a recruiter, I love when I see a candidate’s eyes light up while they talk about an exciting project they worked on and/or about a particular topic they’re passionate in.

If you focus on sharing stories that have deeply impacted you, naturally you will be more emotive in sharing this story (whether it is about a mistake you made on a project, or launching a new initiative). Emotive storytelling is proven to evoke emotions with your audience, and will create a deeper, more meaningful connection during the interaction. This will help you stand out from the competition.

While preparation is vital, avoid memorizing stories verbatim. I create fishbone structures for flexibility, allowing me to adapt stories to interview dynamics. This ensures a natural delivery while incorporating facts and figures on-the-fly. Adaptable storytelling showcases authenticity, capturing the interviewer's attention.

While STAR is a tried and true method for most professionals, I often find that for students, storytelling in interviews is best done in the CARL format (Context, Actions, Result, Learning). For intern interviews, there is a usual emphasis and value in interns being able to demonstrate a quality of coachability or being able to respond positively to feedback and criticism that are usually found as a result of behavioral interviews. Because STAR focuses a bit too much on results/impact, CARL allows students to end their stories/responses with a clear Learning statement. Not only is this sentimental, but it is often more organic to wrap up a lesson learned and allows the answer to come to a natural end.

The majority of the questions that are asked in an interview our situational questions. Answering the questions requires you to think of a situation that applies to that question and answer in a way that shows the action that you took, and the results that were chief if you approach answering these questions from a place of storytelling. It makes it so much easier to answer the questions. I always tell candidates that in every job or position that they’ve held there are stories that are take away that they can leverage in order to get a new and better position. In addition, the stories don’t need to always be triumph. You can talk about challenges and fun stories to build trust and rapport during the interview.

Storytelling in interviews is the key to getting hired- it allows employers to understand how you work and the value that you can add. However a lot of candidates will have a few stories that they love to tell- they are great examples, you know all of the details and you can talk about the impact. However, a common pitfall is that you wheel out the same examples, rather than answering the question you have been asked!

Practice your story and create an outline. Stories are impactful dependent on the delivery. If you feel like you are losing your audience always ask a "level setting" question. For example, "Is this the level of detail you are looking for" etc.

While mock interviews with friends and colleagues are ideal, I often tell students to practice telling someone a story or talk to someone about how your day went. The goal of this exercise is to walk through a conversation without having the other person lose interest or context during your storytelling. Because a goal of the interview is to keep the interviewer engaged, this exercise is something any student can really do!

Practice involves refining the art of storytelling. Conduct mock interviews with peers or mentors for constructive feedback. Focus on articulating key points seamlessly and adjusting the narrative based on the audience's engagement. Regular practice sharpens delivery, ensuring stories are impactful and resonate with interviewers.

Storytelling is key, and not often talked about. Candidates often simply answer a question. Question, answer, question, answer. Certainly that’s “fine” but to stand out you need to make a connection. When you can, frame your answers in situational stories. When asked “tell me about yourself”, don’t just read through your resume. Share some color around where you grew up, hobbies, and activities and weave that into a short story of how you got to this point in your career.