career success: know your stars!
DESCRIPTION
A brief introduction to the skill of developing achievement stories in preparation for job search. Resumes, responses to selection criteria and interview performance can all be improved by use of this approach. Introduction (Slide 1) During job search, knowledge of your key achievements is critical to self-marketing success. In this presentation, a way of developing achievements stories is introduced. Slide 2 The first step is to reflect on your career so far. Think about situations at work when you successfully: • Dealt with a complex issue; • Faced a challenging situation; • Managed change; • Brought order to chaos; or • Managed a crisis. Jot down a bullet point for each situation. The second step is to develop achievement stories. One way is by using the STAR model. In the following slides, the STAR model is briefly introduced. By writing achievement stories you are better prepared to create responses to selection criteria for job applications. Strong knowledge of achievement stories also supports high quality interview performance. The third step is to create brief, bullet pointed achievement statements for inclusion in your resume. Such statements indicate that you are results focused, contribute to organisations, and achieve results for internal and external clients. Slide 3 The STAR model offers a systematic way to tell your achievement stories. A reader of, or listener to, an achievement story, should be informed of the background situation, the overall tactic you used, actions stages and phases involved, and results. From a story-telling perspective, the key is to: • briefly outline the situation; • indicate your overall tactic or approach; • step the reader or listener through a logical sequence of action stages or phases; and most critically • stress positive results. This approach avoids two major interview performance risks – spending too long on actions taken, and forgetting to specify results. Think about your achievements from many perspectives. Also, relate achievement stories to organisational goals. Questions that might help you identify results include: • Who benefited? • Was revenue increased? • Were costs reduced? • Was a process improved? • Was time saved? • Was the organisation’s reputation enhanced? • Which Key Performance Indicator was met? Slide 4 The structure of a STAR response is illustrated on this and the next slide. When writing your achievement stories: • Own the story by using “I”, rather than “we” language; Slide 5 • Briefly outline no more that 5-7 action steps, to limit the overall story length, and avoid boring the reader or listener; • Use a variety of active “ing” verbs to describe action steps (as shown in this example); • Detail many ways in which the achievement represented a success; and • Use numbers, wherever possible, to quantify results. SummaryTRANSCRIPT
A Brief Guide to Improving the Quality of Your Job Search Marketing
(Resumes, Interview Performance, Responses to Selection Criteria)
Developing Achievement Stories
Horne (2014)
Developing Achievement Stories
Horne (2014)
Developing Achievement Stories
Horne (2014)
An Achievement Story with no Results is Like a Joke Without a Punch Line!
4
S (ituation)
As position title at organisation in year, the business was (briefly outline the complex, challenging, chaotic, change or crisis situation faced).
T (actic)
To (deal with, overcome, solve, improve) the situation, I decided to (outline overarching strategy).
Developing Achievement Stories
Horne (2014)
5
A (ctions)
(Major steps/key phases) of the (project, initiative) involved [5-7 maximum]:
• convening a meeting of key stakeholders, including…• mapping the scope of the issue and its elements• collaborating to develop potential solutions • isolating a preferred solution by….• piloting the solution with the (type of) team/department• refining the solution in response to feedback, and• securing Board/Manager approval for implementation
R (esults)
As a result of this (strategy, initiative, approach, tactic), benefits were delivered to (specify stakeholders) in terms of (specify truthfully the scope, scale, and types of benefits derived). [Wherever possible, quantify outcomes]
Developing Achievement Stories
Horne (2014)