On Record: Files and Dossiers in American Life Book

Why I Read this Book: I had a very important job interview in less than a week and I desperately needed help. This provides great guidance for putting together your (true) story.

Review:

As with most of the books in this Career section, this is as much a resource as it is a book. The book offers exactly what the title lets on and a bit more. It starts off with general interview tips and then gets into the 250 questions and their answers.

The real value in this book is the creative thinking it encourages.Do not expect to have a successful interview by purchasing this book, reading the questions and memorizing all of the answers. Any interviewer with half a mind will see right through that. This book is best used as a resource to get an idea for the type of things for which interviewers are looking. If you talk to or read any material by a job search expert you are going to get the same advice. It is always about the story. Richard Bolles is especially big on this in What Color Is Your Parachute, and it is something that I have personally experienced a great deal of success in implementing. Your resume and experiences throughout your life are nothing more than parts to a story that you must piece together in front of a potential employer to show them why their company is the next logical chapter to be written in your story.

Throughout life things go on that do not make a whole lot of sense (as if you did not already know that); some or many of which you may not be able to control. However there is one thing you can always control. It is the way that you portray those experiences to someone else. Your story is just that. It is yours to create, mold and position just as you like it. Please do not get me wrong, I am not saying that you should be dishonest in any way. The fact of the matter is that you have the power to choose which parts of your life and your story you want to give emphasis. You may go into one interview and tell your story one way. Then you may walk over to another interview that same day and tell it in a completely different way. Just like it is important to position a product based on your target market, it is even more important to position yourself based upon your audience (this is something that I will go into with more detail in the personal branding section). Who you are is not changing. What is changing is the way you describe how you are best fit to provide the employer with the proper solutions for the given job role.

The specific answers to these 250 questions are not what are important to understand and get across in your interview. It is the way that the answers support your overall story and reason for being in that interview that is going to make all the difference. There is a huge advantage to having an interview with an employer as opposed to being selected based on your resume alone. Your resume is a lifeless piece of paper without you to provide the story to eloquently link all of those words, sentences and bullet points together to tell a story of true success. To tell a story of your success and how it will live into your next experience. Why do you think employers conduct interviews? To hear your story and the way you tell it. Let this book be a way to spur your creativity. Remember, everyone has an incredible story to tell. Some people have a harder time putting it together than others, but everyone has one. It is up to you to tell it. Please Contact Us if you have any questions on the topic of telling your own story. It is something about which I am very passionate.

-Reading for Your Success