On the Critical Path

If you were to look at a job search through the lens of a project, which activities might emerge as the most critical for the overall success of the endeavor?

To my way of thinking, there are three activities of critical importance: networking, marketing and interviewing.

Networking helps you to leverage the power of relationships to garner advice, insights and referrals. Marketing helps you to get your brand and value proposition "out there" and into the minds of decision makers in your career space. And Interviewing helps you to make a human connection and convince the hiring managers that you are the answer to their prayers.

Taking a deeper dive, three tools emerge that are critically important: CAR stories, ACE statements, and STAR answers.

Let's look at each.

CAR stories are your accomplishments. Taking the time to think back about your accomplishments, and writing them down, early in your search is essential.

The CAR method will help you write the accomplishment succinctly. Every accomplishment has the elements of a Challenge (or Problem) that you faced, some Actions you took, and the Results you obtained. Thinking about your accomplishments is a vital activity in a job search. Capturing them as CAR stories is a critical step in drafting your Resume and getting ready to Interview.

ACE statements are the accomplishments you decide to include on your resume. To write your accomplishments in a concise yet hard-hitting way, start with the Action Verb (or verbs) that reflect what you did to address the Challenge you were facing, followed by the Effect (i.e. the Results) you brought about. For example:

• Hired and managed a team of IT professionals to build out a new offshore data center thereby providing needed redundancy.

• Scheduled and facilitated training sessions for all staff on customer tracking system which reduced customer record errors significantly.

• Saved the company over $20k by renegotiating contracts with vendors of office supplies.

STAR answers continue this trend.

In an Interview, many questions will be answered using an accomplishment story. Questions such as "Give me an example of..." or "Tell me about a time when..."

To answer such questions in a concise yet compelling way, start by Setting the Scene (i.e. When, Where, What was your Role), describing the Task (i.e. the Challenge or Problem) you were facing, then telling the Actions you took, and ending with the Results you obtained. This STAR formula ensures that the accomplishment stories you provide in answer to Interview questions will communicate your value to the employer.

As you can see CAR stories, ACE statements, and STAR answers are all the same thing, only slightly different depending upon how they are used in the process of finding your next job.

Accomplishments are critical in a job search. They convey so much more than a list of job duties. A well crafted accomplishment story can convey your skills, your ingenuity, and your creativity.

Your past accomplishments predict your future value to the next organization you are considering.

Terrence Seamon teaches these and other tools to job seekers to help them manage the critical path to success. Follow him on twitter @tseamon