Along the same lines as last week’s post, my post draws inspiration from How I Met Your Mother. For those of you who missed an epic 10 years, last year one of my favorite television shows ended. Ted Mosby told his kids the story of how he met their mother–for the purposes of my sanity, we are pretending that the alternate ending was the ONLY ending–for a really long time.
The ending of this show was horrible and never happened.
The great thing about Ted’s story is that he crafted his life into a narrative. It was not always smooth, but Ted made it seem linear. And while Ted was not applying for an internship or job, we can learn something about building narratives and drawing connections from Ted. In cover letters and interviews, your future employers want to see a story, growth, and that the position you’re aiming for builds upon your narrative.
Sadly no….
I’m in no way saying that you should lie or make up a story about your career path. DON’T do that! But I’m sure there are connections between your positions that you may not see. For instance, I’m a Beyond the Elms blogger and a Phonathon manager. How do those relate to each other? As a manager, a huge part of my job is to coach and give callers advice. I don’t write a blog about it, but I use oral communication to achieve similar goals. By participating in both activities, I’m able to develop my leadership and communication skills.
See? It’s legendary!
See? There are reasons you do what activities, internships, clubs, etc. that you do and there are connections, but you need to be able to communicate those connections in cover letters and interviews. Having a narrative makes you sound more confident and like this position will really advance your career in the way you say it will. This week, try brainstorming the connections in your life and discover your own narrative!
Good Luck 🙂
