Writing Your Story
There are many ways to write a resume. More wrong ways than right. When it comes to resumes, most people imagine a straightforward list of roles, responsibilities, and achievements. This is especially true in military resumes. But this traditional format might not be the most compelling way to showcase your potential. When you transform your resume into a cohesive story, you can go beyond simply detailing what you’ve done. You can reveal who you are, capture your unique qualities, values, and personal growth. This narrative approach not only captures a hiring manager’s attention but also creates a lasting impression. Once your story resonates, you can strategically spotlight key skills to reinforce your impact. Here's why weaving a story into your resume is far more effective than relying on bullet points alone.
1.?Storytelling Adds Context and Depth
Bullet points are great for summarizing tasks, but they often miss the context that makes achievements truly impactful. For instance, writing,?“Led a team of 10 soldiers during a deployment,”?provides the basics, but it doesn’t explain why it mattered, the challenges you faced, or the results you delivered. By framing this experience as a story, you can bring it to life, highlighting the situation, your actions, and the outcomes.
Storytelling allows you to convey the full depth of your experience, helping the hiring manager or recruiter, see not just what you did, but why it was significant. Did you turn around an underperforming team? Did your leadership contribute to award-winning success? By adding context, you showcase the scope and impact of your contributions, making your achievements more memorable and meaningful.
2.?Stories Make You More Memorable
The human brain is wired for storytelling. Research shows that people are far more likely to remember information presented as a story than as a list of facts. By incorporating storytelling into your resume, you create a lasting impression, making it easier for hiring managers to recall your achievements long after reviewing your application.
For example, instead of simply stating,?“Managed an annual budget of $500K,”?you could craft a compelling narrative:?“I managed a $500K budget, optimizing spending to achieve a XX% cost savings, which was reinvested into high-impact projects, driving measurable results.”?This approach not only highlights what you did but also reveals the challenges you tackled, the strategic decisions you made, and the outcomes you delivered. A story like this provides depth and context, making you stand out from candidates with similar credentials.
3.?A Story Showcases Problem-Solving Skills
Employers are looking for candidates who can solve problems and deliver value to their organization. A story-based resume allows you to go beyond listing responsibilities, showcasing how you’ve tackled real challenges and implemented impactful solutions. This approach highlights essential skills like creativity, perseverance, and strategic thinking, these are qualities that often get lost in traditional bullet points.
For example, instead of simply stating,?“Enhanced troop/unit retention,”?a story could illustrate how you identified the root causes of retention issues, developed targeted strategies to address them, and tracked measurable improvements. This not only demonstrates your analytical abilities and leadership but also your capacity to drive meaningful change, all qualities that resonate strongly with employers.
4.?Stories Reveal Your Values and Personality
A resume packed with bullet points can feel detached, but storytelling transforms it into a reflection of your values and personality. Stories allow you to reveal what drives you, how you tackle challenges, and what motivates your success. This approach creates a deeper connection with hiring managers, enabling them to see not just your skills but also your character and work ethic.
For instance, if teamwork and collaboration are central to your values, you might share a story about uniting different units to achieve a shared objective, showcasing your ability to foster cooperation. If innovation defines your career, you could highlight a time you implemented a creative solution to overcome a tough challenge. Your resume becomes more than a list, it becomes a window into who you are as a professional.
5.?Stories Help You Stand Out in a Competitive Job Market
In a competitive job market, many candidates share similar qualifications, skills, and experiences. For transitioning veterans, a bullet-point resume may highlight your achievements, but it risks blending in with countless others. Using storytelling, however, transforms your resume into a powerful tool that showcases your unique qualities. A compelling narrative offers hiring managers something no bullet point can: a deeper understanding of who you are and how you can add value to their team.
For example, while two candidates might both write,?“Led a team of XX personnel, overseeing readiness and deployment capabilities,”?a story reveals the how behind the what. It provides insight into your leadership style, the challenges you navigated, and the specific actions you took to achieve success. This added context makes your accomplishments memorable and sets you apart from others with similar credentials.
6.?Storytelling Shows You Can Communicate Effectively
Communication is one of the top skills employers seek, regardless of industry or role. By using storytelling in your resume, you demonstrate that you understand how to craft a message, connect with an audience, and communicate complex information in an engaging way. This ability to communicate effectively is highly valuable, and showcasing it on your resume provides a distinct advantage.
In addition, storytelling on a resume requires you to distill experiences into concise, impactful statements that retain clarity and purpose. This ability to convey information clearly yet meaningfully demonstrates that you know how to communicate professionally, this is an essential skill in any job.
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7.?A Story Emphasizes Growth and Adaptability
Storytelling allows you to showcase not just your achievements but the journey behind them, this is highlighting your growth, adaptability, and resilience along the way. While bullet points may list skills and accomplishments, they often miss the opportunity to reflect the learning curve, challenges overcome, or evolution of your expertise. By telling a story, you can demonstrate how each experience shaped you and prepared you for greater responsibilities.
For instance, instead of listing multiple roles or promotions, you could craft a narrative that illustrates your progression from E-1 to E-8, emphasizing your adaptability, commitment to growth, and ability to overcome challenges. This approach not only highlights your achievements but also signals your capacity for long-term success, again all qualities highly valued by employers.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean writing a novel for every role. Many resumes simply list duty stations and dates, followed by bullet points describing responsibilities. Instead, keep the duty station and timeline but turn each role into a concise, compelling story that highlights the key skills you developed. Done correctly, this method will reveal a clear progression of your capabilities, making your resume both engaging and impactful.
Example Enlisted Engineer:
Notice the progression in the key skills used from the first to second duty station. This displays growth and adaptability. The story above, demonstrates those key skills used.
How do You Integrate Storytelling into Your Resume
Incorporating storytelling into a resume doesn’t mean abandoning bullet points altogether. Instead, consider a hybrid approach:
Wrapping Up
This is a mindset shift for most veterans. We are told and taught "give me a list of bullets covering what you did over the last year". I have had some creative supervisors in the military, who were really good at wordsmithing. Very few ever told a story that conveyed my growth, my adaptability, and my developed skills. A resume that tells a story goes beyond listing responsibilities and accomplishments. It offers a narrative that conveys your character, skills, values, and the unique contributions you can make to an organization. Storytelling in a resume allows hiring managers to see you as more than just a list of qualifications, making it easier for them to envision you as a valuable addition to their team. In today’s competitive job market, telling your story may be the key to setting yourself apart and landing the role you desire.
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From Military Service to Corporate Success! ??
I help transitioning service members re-brand themselves for success in the corporate world through:
??? Coaching and mentoring that unlocks potential
?? Re-branding strategies to bridge the military-to-civilian gap
?? Creating opportunities for growth and leadership in tech
Passionate about guiding others through this transformative journey. Let’s connect if you're navigating a career transition or just want to chat about leadership and personal growth!
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