Why good storytelling helps you stand out in a job interview
A few years ago I was lucky to visit Contently, a growing business based in New York. They power the content marketing programmes of some very high profile brands. Shane Snow, co-founder and chief creative officer at the time, showed us around. He talked about their purpose, their culture and their customer obsession. It was very impressive but what struck me was a huge image on the wall which said “those who tell the stories rule the world”. It's a native american proverb and a very thought provoking idea.
The world is being ruled by some pretty impoverished story tellers right now so the jury is out for me on that proverb but I am convinced that those who tell great stories rule the job interview. Having spent countless, exhausting hours conducting interviews over the years, remarkably it's a rare thing to be really engaged by a candidate.
So why are stories powerful in an interview situation? There are three main reasons, proven by a bunch of scientists;
1. Stories create empathy
When we hear an engaging story, our brains produce oxytocin, that hormone that gives us the warm fuzzies and creates social bonding. In early humans it was very useful for survival. Is this guy in my tribe or a threat? Clearly forming tribes that look out for each other helped us thrive as a species. How helpful will it be for you, to create that social bond with your interviewer and have them actually care about you. Pretty helpful right?!
2. Stories connect and change perspectives
Stories have this amazing ability to help us see the world from a different perspective than if we were to encounter it ourselves. Your stories will give the interviewer an insight into your perspective, your values and even your purpose in a way that providing a dry, factual account will never achieve.
3. Stories stick in our memories
Our brains are wired for stories. When we hear information in the form of a story rather than just the facts, more of our brain lights up - five times more in fact! Psychologist Jerome Bruner’s research suggests that facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they’re part of a story. So make your story stick in the mind of that interviewer who's been exposed to all the nervous energy of candidates and pelted with information all day.
Four tricks to telling a good story in a job interview
Most interviewers will use competency based, behavioural interview questions. They’re the old “tell me about a time when…” type questions. This is the perfect scenario for telling stories. The STAR framework is really helpful to construct your answers. STAR stands for Situation (describe the context), Task (what was required of you), Action (what you actually did) and most importantly Result (what was the outcome). Pro tip - if there is a fast answer to their question. Give that first and then use STAR to expand. Here’s an example: Q - “tell me about a time when you had to overcome a significant work challenge?” A - “That would be inheriting a project that was already well behind deadlines and over budget.” Then go on to expand using STAR.
Create a bit of tension in your stories and include some emotion. By the way, that will look nothing like the script for an academy award winning movie! It could look something like “The stakes were high with this project. It was really important to the CEO.” or “I had a great working relationship with [name]. The last thing I wanted was to let her down”
Keep your stories short! This trips up so many candidates. It's not necessary for your interviewer to know the entire context. Stay focused on the competency they are asking about and craft your story to highlight your demonstration of it.
Practice! This is key. You’ll have the position description for the role, so you’ll have a good idea of the kind of skills and experience they’ll be looking for. Use that to prepare some short, relevant stories. Practice them out loud, even better in front of your partner or good friend and ask for feedback, particularly on how much detail was too much.
If you’re in the job market right now, all the best of luck finding a great role and nailing the interview.
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