What We're Reading Now

A Book for Job Seekers (and Employers)

29 January 2013

Allison prepared to moderate a University of Virginia career panel for undergraduate students and referenced her favorite job search book. (Turns out Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career is also helpful for employers who want to improve their recruiting efforts.)

Tags: allison read, careers, communication, human resources, uva

This evening I’ll be moderating a career panel on how to get a job in consulting for University of Virginia College of Arts and Sciences students. My fellow panelists and I will do our best to answer questions and give them the advice we wished someone had given us when we began our searches for consulting jobs. (Thanks to Accenture for letting me get started in consulting 18 years ago – time flies!)

While I prepared for tonight’s panel, I referenced my go-to book for job seekers in all fields. Every now and then our team walks through the career section in our local bookstore to see what we think of the latest books on the market. Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D. is still our favorite. Rachel blogged about this book shortly after we discovered it. (Let us know if you’ve found one you really like because we’re always looking to expand that section of our bookshelf.)

Almost all career books will cover how to handle networking, resumes, cover letters, interviews, offer negotiations and more, but we especially like how Hansen frames each of these important steps in the job search process through the lens of storytelling. And she doesn’t stop with helping you get a job. Instead, Hansen encourages readers to think about the periodic job search as a part of their overall approach to managing their entire careers through effective storytelling.

As I was flipping through the pages once again this afternoon, I also remembered that recently I’ve been recommending this book to clients of mine who are looking to improve their recruiting processes. There’s a lot that goes into creating an effective recruiting experience and Hansen’s book is certainly written more for job seekers than employers. However, if you’d like to beef up your interview questions, I think you’ll be pleased with the examples you’ll find in this book including, “Describe a specific problem you solved for your employer or professor. How did you approach the problem? What role did others play? What was the outcome?” I also like, “Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual might not have personally liked you (or vice versa).” And if you’re wondering what should be included in a good overall recruiting process, I think this book gives helpful steps (albeit from the point of view of a potential employee). If you’re looking for even more help with your workforce planning, performance management, or human resources needs, just let me know.

Best wishes to all the interviewers and interviewees out there. Career transition and recruiting can be a stressful but also exciting time. I think you’ll find that telling better stories and asking questions that lead to better stories will help everyone involved in the job search process.

p.s. When it comes to figuring out what work would be most enjoyable for you and a fit with your personality type, we recommend Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type.

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