Written by Ricardo Brito, Work and Life Coach
Ricardo Brito is not just a work and life coach. He is someone who stands by your side as you navigate your professional development, aiding in your discovery of new paths and opportunities while fostering a healthier relationship with work.
Have you ever struggled to tell your career story in a way that truly reflects who you are, and what you've accomplished and that people understand? You’re not alone. This process can feel both daunting and confusing. From a young age, we’re conditioned to see our careers as a linear journey—always moving forward, never backward, and consistently climbing upward. The reality? Life just isn’t that straightforward, and neither are our careers. This makes it harder to make sense of our career stories.
Many of us struggle with creating a compelling narrative that shows our value. We cope with this in two main ways.
The first is to just focus on facts and figures. List what you did, how you did it, and which skills you used. Facts are needed to create a story, but not showing the value of what you did and giving more context this approach will not get you far.
The second way is to create a unified single career story that hopefully works for every scenario, job, or client you tell it to. But this is like compressing an entire library into one book. It’s a bit like attempting to create a sci-fi-romance-manual-for-car-repair-and-vegan-cookbook hybrid. Not exactly an engaging read, is it?
Why one single career story isn’t cutting it
Deciding what to include and what not often feels like an impossible task. Your career story can come off as a mismatched collection of facts, numbers, and achievements but lack authenticity and fail to resonate.
Different audiences—whether it's a hiring manager, a recruiter, or a potential client—require unique narratives to truly connect with you, and with the value you bring. So when we tell a single story we fall short in communicating who we really are, what are our superpowers, and what makes us unique.
At the same time, we are multifaceted beings. Our story can be seen from multiple perspectives. Telling a single story also limits how we see ourselves, professionally and as humans.
An alternative: Creating multiple career stories
Creating multiple career stories might sound daunting, but it's a powerful way to showcase the different facets of your professional self. By crafting multiple career stories, you not only increase your chances of connecting with various audiences but also gain a deeper understanding of your own professional journey.
Start by creating an extensive library of all your professional experiences, even those quirky summer jobs. Every role contributed to your growth, teaching you skills and lessons that are valuable. Map out these experiences in detail —the official roles you held, the unofficial hats you wore, and the impact you created.
For example, if your job title was "Content Strategist," but you also managed events, handled customer inquiries, and coded a website, make sure to document all these roles and accomplishments. This way, you build a set of stories, like a LEGO™ system, that you can piece together depending on the situation and audience.
The benefits of multiple career stories
Tell the right story to the right audience at the right time.
Feel genuinely authentic when sharing your story.
Widen the range of opportunities you can pursue.
Become adaptable and future-proof.
To help with this process, I've developed the Career Storytelling Kit, which includes a Career Timeline exercise. It assists you in mapping out your career more effectively and enables you to craft multiple compelling narratives.
It’s not just about landing a job; it's about making sense of your professional journey and boosting your self-esteem along the way.
Ricardo Brito, Work and Life Coach
Ricardo Brito is not just a work and life coach. He is someone who stands by your side as you navigate your professional development, aiding in your discovery of new paths and opportunities while fostering a healthier relationship with work. His mission is simple: help you discover the path to your 'what's next' in the world of work.
