In my discussions around career reorientation with friends and contacts in the aerospace & aviation industries, I’ve witnessed many people struggling to explain what they want to do next and why a change makes sense. Many in aviation are in the midst of significant transitions and the ability to craft a good career story can make a real difference in effectively managing a change in career direction.

Being able to walk into the room and give your interviewers a brief synopsis of who you are and why they should be interested in you right from the get-go can help you stand out from the crowd.

What is a Career Narrative & Why You Need One

All of us tell stories about ourselves. Stories define us. Seldom is a well-crafted story so needed, though, as when a major change of professional direction is under way. During such difficult transitions, telling a compelling and relevant story to coworkers, managers, friends or family – or strangers in an interview setting – inspires beliefs in our character, motives and capacity to reach the goals we’ve set.

Let me be clear on one thing though: in urging you to use an effective career narrative, I’m not referring to tall tales. By “story” I don’t mean something made up to make a bad situation look good. Rather, I’m talking about deeply true accounts that are so engaging that listeners feel they have a stake in your success.

A career narrative is a way of talking about your career that emphasizes your unique qualities and the value your experience brings to a new role & organization. Instead of giving a dull and uninspiring account of your previous role, a career narrative focuses on:

• Where you see yourself in your next role;
• Highlights from your career history that demonstrate your ability to do that role; and
• What is exciting to you in the role and the organization.

Preparing a career narrative enables you to talk confidently about your career goals and your abilities, instead of leaving it up to others to guess if you will be a good fit for the role you want.

So how exactly do you go about defining, crafting and presenting your career story?

Elements of a Well Crafted Career Narrative

1. Authentic

Your narrative needs to be crafted with the right combination of honesty, humility, and personal flavor. You can’t just copy and paste a career narrative you found online or make one up on the fly. It has to be based on a deep examination of what you want, what you value, what you enjoy, and what excites you.

Also, rather than just telling your interviewers that you’re interested in your field, start your career story by telling them why you’re interested in the field, and how that interest came to be.

Think about what a great day at work looks like–what made it extraordinary. Or a time when you felt miserable at work–what could you have changed. Your career narrative is unique and personal, and crafting it authentically is a deeply personal process.

2. Compelling

Before becoming an executive recruiter, I was a lawyer. When I started to pursue search & leadership assessment I didn’t feel comfortable being asked about the shift in my career direction. I worried it made me seem less committed and serious about my new field or less sure of what I wanted.

In reality, people find it fascinating. Interviewers were not going to ignore my past, so I had to be prepared to discuss it.

• Why did I start to pursue law?
• Why wasn’t it a good fit for me?
• What skills did I gain from it that benefit me in my current role?

Rather than dreading these questions, I took it as an opportunity to take control of the narrative. I knew these questions would be asked, so I prepared a response that neatly tied my work experience together.

Even if you haven’t changed careers, you might have made other, less drastic changes. Maybe you moved from a large company to a smaller one or switched roles. Think about why you chose the path that you did, and whether those choices satisfied you.

3. Coherent

A CV, which simply lists the previous roles you’ve had, can lack a common thread to tie it all together. This is especially true if you have changed careers.

You need to think about how to weave your work experience into a coherent story otherwise prospective employers will find it difficult to understand what motives you and will question as to whether you are a good fit for the role. A career narrative gives the impression that you make choices deliberately and with a clear direction in mind.

Once you’ve explained how you became interested in the field and what your background is, tie that back to why you’re interested in this particular position and how you could benefit the company.

• What caught your attention about the role and why this company?
• How does their mission align with your values? Look up whether the brand has core business values or leadership principles that they follow and tie your own experiences to show examples of this.
• How could your experience benefit and help the organization? Think about your transferable skills.

Once you have the answers, you can then talk about what makes you uniquely qualified for the position.

From my experience, many who are employed in the aviation sector are not going into their job search with much excitement. For most, it’s out of necessity not out of choice that they are making a change and many will go straight back to aviation at the first possible opportunity. This obviously can’t be too evident when applying for a new role in a different industry.

Instead of trying to resist change, embrace it, and look at the situation as an opportunity to gain new experiences and skills in other sectors. This will help you greatly with the transition.

4. Dynamic

Your career narrative should never be set in stone. You need to update it regularly, as you achieve more in your career journey and your aspirations change. The best way to keep your narrative alive and up-to-date is to talk about it with individuals within your network, so they can see the logic in your evolving and constantly changing story.

You can practice your storytelling in many ways and places. Any context will do, in which you are likely to be asked “What do you do” or “What are you looking for”? You may even want to designate a small circle of trusted friends and close colleagues, with their knowledge and approval, to act as your “board of advisers“. They can help you by listening and reacting to your evolving stories.

Example of A Career Narrative

Composing a career narrative can help you overcome your fear of making a change to reinvent yourself by making success more tangible. Here is an example of how you can do just that.

Overview

A typical example of a career narrative begins with an introduction. This includes basic facts about where you went to school, what you studied and why you’ve chosen the field you’re in currently. You can also mention individuals who influenced your decision. 

Professional Experience

Similar to a CV, a career narrative should describe your work experience. However, instead of just listing names, dates & locations, you can include details about what attracted you to this career, your preferences for hours, job responsibilities and skill set. You can also include details about why you chose to accept or leave jobs. This is an opportunity for you to articulate clearly the type of work environment that suits your personality, lifestyle, and other commitments.

Career Development

Career narratives tend to include details about what a person has done to further his or her own career development, with some commentary about why she/he has been successful. A college student may focus on course work, internships or research conducted, whereas an experienced professional may focus on on-the-job experience, or mentoring and coaching relationships.

Define Long- and Short-Term Goals

A good career narrative should link your prior accomplishments with your future aspirations. You can do this by defining the short-term goals that you intend to accomplish over the next two to three years. You can outline the long-term goals that you will fulfill within the next five years. Make sure that your narrative is specific to the role you are applying for, and remember to demonstrate how the position will help you in meeting the goals. 

If, however, your long-term goals do not include the company you’re applying to, you’ll have to be tactical in how you frame it at your interview as most organizations prefer to hire individuals who plan to develop their careers with them, at least for the medium term. This is because it costs a lot of money and time to train up and onboard new hires.

Lessons Learned

Typically, a career narrative concludes with a statement about what an individual learned from his or her past roles. This can also include comments made in performance reviews, accolades from customers or recommendations from peers. This part of your career narrative can help you see how you’ve grown and developed because of your experiences, despite challenges and adversity. 

Just Tell It

Storytelling plays a critical role in times of personal transition. Anyone trying to make a change has to work out a story that connects the new and the old selves. You’ll know you’ve honed your story when it feels both true and comfortable to you. But you cannot get there until you put yourself in front of others – even strangers – and observe their reaction as you speak.

Putting some thought into your career narrative by examining the turning points in your career without feeling caught off-guard is worth the effort. I’ve seen the benefits of building a career narrative in my own life. My career narrative work increased my faith in my own abilities. This confidence enables me to perform better each day.