How to Create Compelling Career Stories

Being able to articulate your accomplishments and your ability to usher teams through challenges is important in your job search. Having a format to structure your responses makes it easier to create compelling career stories to:

• Demonstrate your capability to tackle tough situations. (Past performance can be a strong indicator of future success.)

• Quantify your impact in your current role.

• Highlight your qualifications for the position you’re pursuing.

In a job interview, use CARE stories when you’re asked questions such as:

• “Tell me about a time when you…”

• “Can you describe a situation when…”

• “What do you do when…”

• “Have you ever…”

• “Can you give me an example of…”

• “Describe a time when…”

• “Share an example of when…”

There are four components to the CARE formula:

(C) – Challenge. Identify the problem or challenge.

(A) – Action. What actions did you take to resolve this problem?

(R) – Result. What were the positive results of these actions? What was the benefit to the company, team, or customer?

(E) – Evaluation or Reflection. What were the lessons learned? What skills/knowledge did you gain? How did you build your knowledge? What would you do differently if you had to do this again? Why should the company you are interviewing with care?