Put your shoulder to the wheel.
Aesop
In Chapter 2 we looked at five types of work – encore careers, business start-up, same–same but different, volunteering and landing a job. Since then you have had a chance to think about which direction might appeal to you, and then to do some research and experiments to test your first ideas.
Now it’s time to delve a bit deeper into the practicalities of each of these work types. Of course, what follows will be general guidelines rather than the tailored pathways I develop with my individual clients. But there will be plenty of tips and tricks here that you can adapt to your own work reinvention.
No matter where you are headed with your reinvention, here are some relevant practicalities.
1. Take your time
You will have realised by now that reinventing your working life takes time and reflection. The more you can sit with uncertainty and possibilities in the beginning, the better your final decisions will be. And now you have your new direction, don’t skip over the building blocks in this section – whether it is ensuring your LinkedIn profile is up to date, brushing up on the new world of job hunting or creating stories to bridge your experience into a new world.
2. Be flexible and (a bit) adventurous
A man in his late 50s was referred to me last year by a friend, after being made redundant from an IT communications job he had held for 14 years. We had a coffee and a chat, and it was clear that he was very angry. That’s quite understandable, and I think being able to rant is a very useful part of the process. However, this bloke was nowhere near ready to think about updating his résumé, or applying his (considerable) skills in a new field. He just wanted to spit the dummy until ‘they’ fixed his world so that he didn’t have to change. I genuinely wished him well, suggested he take some time to have his feelings and call me if he wanted to try a new approach. So far, no word.
It would be lovely if we were in charge of change, but the truth is that we are never in full control of our career path. We certainly don’t have to be tossed about like victims, but we do have to be both creative and strategic. As surfers do, we must look at the ocean, see where the waves of opportunity are, and where the sea is flat. We must pick the right board for the conditions, learn new skills if necessary and be very determined about the whole thing, paddling out time and time again until we find the right wave to ride. Like surfers, we work with reality and create the best opportunities we can within it.
This means you may need to consider a sideways move into a new industry, or take a pay cut while you navigate the next steps. You may have to report to a younger boss, or lose that important-sounding title on your business card. It may feel uncomfortable, but you never know, it could be liberating and even fun.
3. Hang out with like-minded people
It’s often helpful to talk to people of a similar age. Some areas have online or real-world groups that will be relevant to you, or you could create your own. Participants in my workshops frequently tell me how much they value the opportunity to talk to others, to share ideas and to see that they are not alone.
Support and trained guidance make a measurable difference to success. A 2014 MIT Sloan School of Management study1 on older long-term unemployed workers found that those who had support from a career coach or a support group were significantly more likely to have found work during the study period, and also found the unemployment experience less damaging to their sense of self.
On my research trip to the United States in 2014, I came across a number of sponsored programs offering training and support to older unemployed people. I was very impressed by the success rates of these programs, which generally ran for several months, offering job-hunting tips, retraining and ongoing support in finding a job. Here in Australia, similar programs are offered at different times through government or not-for-profit bodies, so keep an eye out for these in your local area. Your local community centre or council may have leads, or you can always search online for upcoming courses.
If hanging about in groups is not for you, find a trusted friend or coach so you can talk through your ideas, get feedback on your résumé or even run a mock interview. You could find one or two others on a similar path and arrange to meet say once a week, talk over issues and set goals together. You could use this time to plan, brainstorm, work through obstacles, prop each other up and celebrate victories.
4. Keep perspective
I’ve long thought that ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ is one of the silliest-ever sayings. I mean, who would pick anxiety over happiness if they felt they had a choice?
So now I risk ridicule by telling you that you should ‘be confident’, ‘persevere’, ‘be resilient’ and ‘keep an open, flexible mind’. In my defence, I’m not thinking that you will read this and say, ‘I get it now, if only I’d known earlier that confidence was important …’ But however you work with these concepts, it’s undeniable that your reinvention will be more successful if you can cultivate qualities like confidence, perseverance, resilience and creative, flexible thinking. (Not worrying and being happy are also pretty good.)
There are suggestions for developing some of these qualities in Chapter 14. There are some excellent books around and friends can be wonderfully supportive. And many people swear by having motivational quotes stuck up all over their house – I find these a bit irritating, as I inevitably encounter them on really bad days and just want to scribble rude words all over them, but they may work for you.
If you know you struggle with one or more blocks like these, and you’re not able to overcome them, please do yourself a big favour and seek professional help. There is no need to let these issues hold you back from creating your excellent new life. Seriously.
5. Do you need to upskill or re-skill?
As you focus on planning and practicalities for your new working life, make sure you revisit your strengths and skills inventory from Chapter 6. Skills are always important, especially in changing times, and there is evidence that the need to upskill or re-skill is a particularly big issue for those over 45. Some older workers resent having to do training or feel they can’t get their head around new things, while others sense they are being denied access to learning.
It’s clear that those who can access training (formal or informal) and keep their skills current have a decided advantage in the workplace. It’s not just about keeping up with technology, though that is important. There are whole new areas of career focus that experienced workers can leverage if they have the required skills. And adult-learning research clearly shows older adults are just as capable of upskilling as younger people, though they may require re-entry support if it is a long time since they were in the formal education system.2
I’m always interested when clients tell me they want to change careers, go for a big promotion, or start their own business – and expect to make this shift without a learning curve. I remember one of my clients was planning a total career overhaul. She had a plan of action and plenty of motivation (so far so good). But when I suggested that she might need to take an entry-level position in her new field while she learned on the job and did a couple of short courses, she was clearly taken aback. ‘I can’t afford a pay cut, and I’ve invested so much time getting where I am. I know I’ll show my talent in my new field, isn’t that enough?’
Er, no.
You’d be horrified if your doctor or lawyer was given a licence just because she was motivated or talented or had 20 years’ experience as an accountant, or if the CEO of your bank was unskilled. But when it comes to starting a business or that fabulous new career path that we suddenly realised is our true calling now that we are 55, sometimes we assume that because we have life experience and one solid career behind us, the rest will be easy. These will always help, but for task-specific skills, there are no shortcuts to excellence.
6. Portfolio options
We have already touched on portfolio careers, where you might do a number of different things to make up your working week. It could be a couple of part-time jobs, or a job plus a microbusiness, or a number of projects. I am a great fan of this kind of working, and I love my portfolios of teaching, writing, coaching, corporate gigs and community work. (Though I am not sure I like being described by the new term ‘slasher’, as in teacher/writer/coach/corporate trainer/community worker.)
Charles Handy is known as the ‘father of the portfolio career’. Author of fascinating books about future trends such as The Age of Unreason3 and The Second Curve,4 he sees great advantages in having a number of irons in the fire in a changing world, because if you have a range of clients or several kinds of work, if one fails you still have others. He says that people with ‘proper’ full-time jobs are in the minority, a trend that will only increase over time.
Portfolio advantages include variety, having a number of strings to your bow, flexibility and the ability to tap into more of your strengths. Disadvantages include challenges with cash flow and time management, feeling like a dilettante and the difficulty with questions like, ‘What do you do?’ It’s not for everyone, but it’s certainly worth a thought.
If you’ve decided that a small business is the way to go, then there are myriad things you need to do. You’d be well-advised to read a recently published Australian book about business start-up such as Managing a Small Business in Australia: The Complete Handbook,5 or do a short course. I’ve taught small business start-up for over a decade now, so here’s a list of things to think about, based on the curriculum of the Sydney Community College program I facilitate:
• why a business?
• building and testing your business concept
• identifying your target market
• understanding the competition
• identifying skills and skill gaps
• your online presence
• websites and SEO (search engine optimisation)
• social networking and blogs
• creating your brand and your unique selling proposition
• pitching your business
• marketing
• the right business structure
• legal aspects of business start-up
• insurance
• compliance and WHS (work, health and safety)
• managing risk
• customer acquisition
• customer retention
• business operations
• business planning
• accounting systems
• staffing
• pricing, margins and profit
• tax
• record keeping
• cash flow
• organisation and time management.
This is not a complete list, nor is it meant to scare you. Much of this you will already know something about, and none of it is rocket science. There is plenty of good-quality information on the internet and advisers like accountants and lawyers can be useful if your business is complex. The main thing at this stage is to list the things you need to find out and include them in an action plan, so you can tick them off one by one.
I’m involved in a national network called Seniorpreneurs, which delivers learning, development and support to people over 50 who are interested in exploring business. I asked co-founder Bambi Price for some tips.
Bambi Price’s tips
1. Think before you spend
Don’t spend a lot of money on courses (like how to market your business, how to get your business up and running, how to do social media) until you think about your needs and understand what you’re trying to find out.
2. Is there a market?
We’ve had people come in who have been working on an idea for 10 years and still don’t know if there’s a market for it. Don’t go and ask family and friends, they love you, they want you to succeed, of course they’ll say it’s a great idea. Go out, talk to people you don’t know and ask them if they’ll pay for it. You need a prototype or some mechanism to explain it to people and then get out there and talk to your potential target market.
3. Know your strengths
A lot of people think they want to start a business, but they’re not comfortable talking to people about their product or services. That’s an issue. We work with people about understanding their capabilities and then what are they missing? You might have all the technology skills, but you couldn’t make a cold call, talk to a client or negotiate a deal.
It’s nonsensical to think you can do everything. There’s only so much a) that you can actually devote the time to, and b) that you’re good at or that you want to do. I know when I try to force myself to do things I really don’t want to do, it’s only at the last death knell when I’ve got to have it done for tomorrow that I’ll sit down and do it, and then I do an appalling job.
4. Be wary of tapping into your super
I’m concerned that many people are drawing on their superannuation. Superannuation wasn’t compulsory until 1992, none of us have enough to retire for 30, 35 years on the money we would like to have. We don’t recommend people draw down on super to start a business unless they’ve really gone through a validated program to know what they’re trying to achieve, something that will actually make them sit down and look at their product, look at the market, talk to their customers and find out whether they can deliver it, whether they want to deliver what the market’s looking for.
5. Understand tech
If you don’t understand technology, it seems to be this black hole that people are terrified of. Also, everyone’s got the fear of God in them at the moment about cybersecurity. Technology appears to be an enigma to many people and they’re not really sure how to utilise it to enhance their business, but you need to come to grips with this.
6. Value your time
A lot of people assume their time’s worth nothing, they never factor that in when they’re looking at what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. If you set the bar low in the beginning the bar will always stay low. If you’re starting your own business and you don’t value your time properly, no one else will either.
7. Know what you want
Know what you’re trying to achieve, like what are your exit strategies. Are you looking for a lifestyle business, a home-hobby business, a part-time business, something that’s going to actually go global? What do you want? If you know what you’re trying to get to, it gives you a different mindset. Then your expectations are certain and when people ask, ‘Can you do this or that?’ you respond with, ‘Well, is this beneficial to my business?’ Elon Musk said, ‘When you are starting out every single thing you do, meeting, email, you have to say to yourself, “Is this going to benefit my business?”’ If it’s not, then don’t do it.
Volunteering is a practical option for work reinvention because it could lead to a paid position, and at the very least will expand your network and give you new skills and achievements for your résumé. Volunteering Australia data6 shows that 92 per cent of volunteers (of all ages) are either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with their volunteering experience. They also say volunteers are happier, healthier, live longer, have a greater sense of life meaning and even sleep better (and who wouldn’t want that?).
If you’re interested in volunteering, you can contact an organisation directly or go through an umbrella agency such as Volunteering Australia or its state branches. Chairperson of The Centre for Volunteering in New South Wales, Valerie Hoogstad, has three tips for new volunteers:
• Try to fit in, get a feeling for the culture and fit in and not be Mr or Mrs Know-All. That’s not acceptable, and it doesn’t go down very well.
• Treat it like a job in the sense of turning up on time and regularly, and behaving in a professional way. However, if you need to take a break, as long as you tell your organisation that you’re going away and are respectful of that, they know that you’re a volunteer and it needs to be flexible. Just don’t suddenly not turn up.
• Either use your skills or do something you’re interested in, so you make sure you find something that’s meaningful for you, something that will give you job satisfaction.
We’ve looked at some of the practicalities of business start-ups and volunteering, so now it’s time for the other three of our ‘big five’, which are encore careers, same–same but different and landing a job. These all involve being an employee, so we’re going to look at the core elements of job hunting – résumés, interview skills, telling career stories and more.
Before we do, I want to briefly revisit age discrimination, the elephant in the job-hunting room. There is no doubt that ageism is a reality, and if you are looking for a job, you will likely encounter ageist attitudes.
People often don’t realise they’re being ageist – they think their comments or behaviour reflect reality, that the stereotype is a simple truth. Research shows that younger people may believe that older workers:
• lack mental capacity
• need flexibility
• have declining health
• can’t learn new things (especially technology)
• are unwilling to learn
• are unskilled
• don’t like change
• don’t like working for someone younger
• are not committed
• are unproductive or slow.7
These stereotypes persist even though studies consistently demonstrate that in fact age is generally not related to job performance. We’ve looked at some of these studies in the early part of this book, and my special report (downloadable from my website) contains many more references.
I’m not suggesting that we can remove stereotyping just by talking about it here, but there are two practical things you can do.
The first is to counter it where possible. Whether you are looking for work, or in a job already, when you suspect you are being judged based on stereotypes, do whatever you can to disprove them by your actions. I heard a great story recently from someone who commented on one of my social media posts, in relation to challenging the myth that older workers can’t handle technology. He said that whenever he went to a job interview, he would make sure his latest-model smartphone was on display, perhaps even using it to reference something or make a note of a particular point. Nothing was said, nothing needed to be.
If ageist comments are made in your presence, you can rationally point out the fallacy, using the data in this book or from elsewhere to establish the facts. If it is something said as a joke, you don’t have to laugh along.
The other thing you can do is make sure you don’t start believing the stereotypes yourself. Remember that research from 2012 I mentioned earlier, suggesting many older workers retire around the age of 65 because social norms say that’s the right age to retire? And statistics show that Australians aged 50 plus may be discouraged from entering the workforce due to anticipation of discrimination. You don’t have to be one of them.
You can also use some creativity to maximise your chances. We looked at Leanne’s story in the ‘Land that job’ section of Chapter 2, and now I want to share one of her job-hunting strategies that I thought was particularly clever and creative.
Leanne’s strategy
Initially in my job search, I probably took rejection a little bit personally: ‘What am I doing wrong?’ I was telling a close girlfriend that I’m really concerned I’m doing something wrong or I’m projecting something incorrectly about my persona and she said, ‘Why don’t you go and have a mock interview with my husband?’ I know her husband extremely well – he’s general manager in a company. It was a very clever idea and very generous. So I went in to the city, to his business and he interviewed me like he would a potential employee for his company. We did it exceptionally professionally, as though I didn’t know him.
As soon as it was over, he said to me, ‘Leanne, you were fantastic, the way you conducted yourself, the way you spoke.’ He talked about the first two minutes of an interview, you know when you make a bit of conversation, you might talk about the weather or would you like a coffee, whatever. And he said, ‘You almost froze. I could see a little bit of panic on your face. But once you got through those first few minutes, you just launched into being so great and professional and at ease.’
I adored him for taking the time out to do it. I know him well enough that if I’d done something wrong or was portraying something that he saw as a negative he would have told me. It made me feel so much better.
You might try Leanne’s strategy, or use her approach as a springboard for developing your own ideas. Whatever you do, being creative with your job hunt can make all the difference.
You need to find ways to bypass ageist gatekeepers, to turn your years in the workforce into an ‘experience advantage’, and to find an imaginative way to stand out from the competition.
You might find the employers who do appreciate experienced workers by scanning the media for articles about age-friendly workplaces, do a brainstorm for networking connections that could help you, or list ways you can bridge a skills gap or become tech savvy. Older-worker job boards are starting to appear, which specialise in matching experienced workers with employers who value that experience. I haven’t listed any particular ones as they are new and it’s not yet clear who the stayers will be, so check out local ones for yourself.
It may not be fun or even fair to have to find ways of countering ageism in your work search, but that extra effort will pay off.
I have a friend who was keen on a job that was advertised in a large company. She was perfectly qualified but couldn’t get past the gatekeeper, a young HR woman who clearly thought that at 45 (yes, 45) she was past it. So my friend explored lateral avenues, talking to friends, contacts, anyone who could connect her with someone senior in the company. She managed to meet with one of the directors, who hired her on the spot.
When you reach Paul’s story in the next chapter, you’ll see he was both thorough and creative in his job search, too. It’s always worth thinking about different job-hunting strategies, using networking, or being proactive in contacting organisations that interest you, or volunteering in a place you’d like to work, or doing something else that can help you get noticed.
There is no join-the-dots formula for writing a résumé. You need to take into account the industry, the type and seniority of the position, and any application form or job criteria for each job. Experts debate how many pages, whether to include names of referees and even if it’s ‘CV’ or ‘résumé’ or even ‘resume’. Here are a few overall comments that might be helpful.
• Tailor your résumé to each job application. Write a first-page summary drawing out the achievements, experiences and skills that most closely match that job description. Include a brief profile of who you are and a very brief career history.
• Give some thought to how you present your work experience. Lying is never appropriate or clever, but if you don’t present yourself with your best foot forward, you won’t even make it to an interview. Focus on achievements, strengths and successes, not a chronological list of job descriptions and duties. You have maybe 30 seconds to grab the reader’s attention, so make sure you emphasise recent successes – unless that job you did 15 years ago has a compelling relevance, the barest information about it is enough.
• Look over the skills exercises in this book. The language used can be useful for describing your skills in a résumé, if you make them specific and business-like – for example, say ‘mentored seven staff members over two years’ not ‘helped people’. Use active verbs such as ‘solving’, ‘managing’, ‘facilitating’ and the like, and language that is as specific as possible: How many staff? What kind of project? What exactly did you do? Say ‘managed over 1000 accounts receivable and payable accounts, liaising directly with the Chief Financial Officer’ not ‘maintained accounts receivable and accounts payable system’.
• Use a clean modern font such as Arial, Calibri or Helvetica. Unless you are a talented designer and going for a job in that industry, don’t be cute – no fancy covers, multiple fonts or colours. If you don’t have a good template, there are plenty of free ones available online.
• If there are job criteria or a duties statement in the advertisement, address these in your application, item by item. Don’t just paraphrase their descriptions, give a real example of how you have used each skill.
• Don’t put anything under ‘interests’ unless it is relevant to the job or you can wax lyrical about it on demand. But volunteering experience is always good, as it demonstrates skills and a willingness to work.
I spoke to job-seeking expert Anne-Marie Kane at Resumes for Results about her insights and tips for résumés of older workers, to help you navigate the modern minefield of job hunting. Here’s our combined list:
1. Let go of old ways of thinking
It may be 20 years since you last put together a résumé or sat down with the local classified job ads and a cup of tea. Times have changed, and you need to change your techniques to match. Everything is done online now. Your résumé may be read first by an applicant-tracking system, scanning for keywords that relate to the role you’re applying for. If you don’t use the relevant keywords on the first page of your résumé, it may be binned without being seen by human eyes.
2. No dates, no photos
Anti-discrimination laws mean you don’t need to put age, date of birth or photo on your résumé or job application. Don’t share when you finished high school. You may be justifiably proud of your 40 years’ experience, but avoid being so specific in your résumé – describe it as ‘deep expertise’ or ‘being a seasoned executive’.
3. Be succinct
Your résumé should be no more than three pages, focusing on what is most relevant to the specific job requirements – you don’t need to detail every job you’ve ever done, just the last two or three and any qualifications or earlier experience that may be useful for this role. Ideally, you’ll submit it in PDF format as this keeps the layout stable. However, except with very small companies, it’s likely your résumé will go to applicant-tracking software, which doesn’t always scan PDFs, so check if you can – and if in doubt use a Word document instead of a PDF.
4. Flip your résumé to focus on achievements (not duties)
Think of your résumé as a way to explain the skills you can quickly transfer into a new role. To do that, you need to show them what you have achieved in the past for previous employers. Be specific – if you wrote a manual, ran a training program, doubled sales or won an award, make sure you mention it up front. List all your key achievements and skills on the front page, as that’s where they’ll be scanned to see if they match the position. If you’re struggling to work out what your achievements are, think about what might happen in your workplace if you left your job tomorrow.
5. Show you invest time in your own development
It’s important to keep your skills up to date, and you can do many reputable courses online for free or very little cost. Proving you have IT skills by completing an online course (whether in IT or not) may help overcome an assumption that older workers are less tech savvy.
Interviews can be scary, especially if you haven’t done one for a while. But it might help to think that most are a conversation with someone about your skills and their job, with a focus on three areas:
• Do you have the skills and experience required to do the job?
• Do you fit into the company culture, do your values match those of the company and will you ‘get’ the work environment?
• Do they like you personally and could they work with you every day?
Here are my top tips:
1. Do your homework
Check your target employer’s website, search online for their name (and the interviewer’s if you know it), read their last annual report and interviews with the CEO or whatever else you can find. Think about their situation and be prepared to ask intelligent questions that show you’re aware of their challenges and opportunities.
2. Look smart
I’m not going to give you fashion or styling tips, but there’s no doubt that it’s worth spending some time and money updating your look. An interviewer will judge you before you even open your mouth, and you can minimise negative or age-related assumptions by looking smart and contemporary. There’s no need for a ‘mutton-dressed-as-lamb’ look, and in fact, trying to appear younger than your age can backfire. But if you’re not sure how you come across, seek advice from a stylish friend or an expert. When I started to do more speaking and video work, I invested in a few hours with a stylist and it was worth every cent.
Check your body language so that you stand up straight, put your hands in a natural-looking place (not in your pockets or on your hips), make eye contact and smile. If you have a nervous fiddling habit, drill yourself out of it. If you learn to breathe slowly and steadily it will help you control all sorts of other mannerisms, such as a shaky voice or sweaty palms. If you’re not sure how you come across, do a role play with a friend and have them give you feedback, or video yourself.
3. Answering questions
It is often suggested you should aim to talk for half the time in an interview and listen for the other half. Keep your replies informative but not rambling – about one to two minutes is a good guide. You have a lifetime of communication skills, common sense, wisdom, maturity and experience, so weave examples through your answers. Tell succinct stories that show a willingness to keep learning and a curiosity about new ways of doing things.
A word of caution: I know you have all this valuable experience, but it’s also important not to be a know-it-all and disrespect your (probably) younger interviewer. Don’t ram your experience down their throat, or use expressions like ‘in my day’. Act as if age is irrelevant (because it should be). Show by how you talk and behave that you have no issue with younger people, that you’re interested in trading your abilities, not your chronological age, and that you will easily fit into a team of others, irrespective of age.
4. Asking questions
You’re trying to suss out whether this is the right work situation for you, so do ask questions about the things that matter to you, such as community involvement, training, friendliness of the workplace, opportunities to develop new skills or whatever. (Don’t ask if you can have an overseas transfer in the first year, though …)
5. What not to discuss
Don’t discuss money or conditions at the first interview, unless they push you to give an estimate. In particular, if you need special arrangements (such as holiday leave in the first few months), wait until the stage when details are being finalised or you will risk looking difficult or half-hearted.
6. Ditch the anger
Don’t whinge or get angry about your situation. Whatever your age, it’s never a good look to approach the job hunt with this mindset, so do yourself a favour and deal with the feelings first. Find a counsellor to help you with this, or talk it through with a partner or friend. You need to be relaxed and 100 per cent enthusiastic when you begin looking for a new job.
7. Dealing with your age
You don’t have to give your age at any stage of the interview process, even if asked directly. If you have to provide ID, try to find something that doesn’t include your date of birth. If you’re asked in an interview, deflect the question with something like, ‘I’m energetic and committed, and intend to keep working for many years.’
Sometimes language may come across as outdated, so avoid saying things like ‘back in the day’, ‘we used to use telex machines’ or ‘the young girls in the office’.
8. Act positive
Acting positive will improve your chances of landing a good job. Candidates who are proactive, upbeat, engaged and have an energetic ‘can-do’ attitude are more likely to get hired, whatever their age or experience.
9. Do your prep
Think about the questions you’re likely to be asked and prepare answers. Find ways to weave in your successes and strengths, and to present your failures, weaknesses or gaps in experience in a positive light. Never bag a past employer, or betray confidential information (you knew that already, of course).
10. Tricky questions
There are two questions that often crop up with older candidates. The first is, ‘Aren’t you over-experienced?’ Here it’s useful to emphasise that you are interested, love working, keen to be involved but not looking to take over the joint (unless you are …). Stress the benefits you will bring to the team, and how much you enjoy being part of a multi-generational workplace.
The other big question is, ‘Can you do digital?’ and the answer must be ‘Yes’. Make sure you’re familiar with all things online, are across social media and then drop references to your use of online platforms during your interview. Emphasise that you love learning about new technology and using it, to deflect any assumptions about old dogs and new tricks.
In Chapter 4 you worked with your career story, and now you can apply that to telling stories in interviews or to creating your bio on LinkedIn, or to find the founding story for your business.
In the interview context, the most well-known story format is Situation, Action, Result, Benefit, or SARB. As it suggests, you tell a story about a work experience or demonstrate a skill by describing the situation, then the action you took, the result and finally, the benefit to your employer. It’s good to develop a number of these vignettes, and practise them until they come easily. If each story takes about 60 seconds, that’s perfect.
Claire Scobie, founder of the Wordstruck consultancy and author, gave me her tips for telling a great work story.
Claire Scobie’s tips
1. Stories are very useful in a job interview
Stories show that you are still current, relevant and in-the-know. They position you and take away that little assumption that old people can’t keep up. If you went into a job interview and said, ‘I’m a really good leader’ that won’t wash, people will think you’re talking yourself up or wonder, ‘Where’s the evidence?’ Whereas if you had a story about being a marketing person in a big company when your boss was taken off sick suddenly and you had to roll out this huge marketing program, that would show leadership skills indirectly, also that you’re someone who can step up, be creative and make this all happen in half the time. It’s a way for people to ‘get’ you and feel like they know you quite quickly.
2. It’s not something that you come up with overnight
Start in your childhood, your teen years, your 20s, looking for stories that show something that became a life theme. One client in his 50s ran leadership workshops in his teen years, and he uses that story to say, ‘Since then that’s been a theme throughout my life and I now really enjoy working with younger people to encourage their leadership skills.’
3. Choose what to foreground in your life
You can’t change the events of your life, but you can choose what to highlight and what to leave in the background. Maybe you spent 10 years working in an office, but now that’s not relevant because you’re 58, about to set yourself up in business and you need money from the bank. Rather than emphasise the office work, you talk about other parts of your life which show you’re very entrepreneurial. Particularly if you’re going for lots of job interviews, think about having a bank of stories. Often the same story can have three or four different purposes.
4. Good stories normally have:
• A time marker, such as ‘in 2010’.
• Characters (yourself or others) if possible, with names, because we connect more to a named individual than a faceless person.
• Some colour, a bit of description about how you were feeling at that time, so you’re bringing in the senses. If you say, ‘My stomach was churning as I went for the interview. I was 55 and terrified, I didn’t know if I’d ever get another job again’, that ‘stomach churning’ means we feel it, too.
• Something unanticipated. When you tell a story other people often lean towards you, and that’s because they’re being drawn into your story. So if you can have something unanticipated then they get the payoff, the result.
Exercise: Practicalities
This chapter has been all about the practicalities, so go back through the chapter and write down everything that seems relevant to you. Then turn each item into an action statement – so ‘be more flexible’ might become a list of three practical things you can do to investigate other industries you could explore for job opportunities.
This list of actions will feed straight into the action plan you will create in the next chapter.