How to Tell Your Story!

Follow these steps to tell your background story in a way which resonates with your interviewer.

Focus

Slow down and zoom in when talking about your last 2-3 positions/5-10 years of your career. Your earlier formative years are interesting and telling, but it is not where CEOs will be judging your relevant experience. Your CV and LinkedIn profile should mirror this. There are few things as tedious in an interview as hearing a candidate's life story.

Start high, zoom-in

Frame each chapter of your career before zooming in to the details. Do not tell the story from your POV - that is to say, bottom up. For instance, talk about joining company 'X' - explain what it does, the from-to journey when you were there in terms of people, revenue, funding, etc, and a high-level overview of your personal journey and accomplishments. From here, you can zoom in to the fineries of that story. But without this initial framing, you will lose your audience.

Career Moves

It is vital to explain each career move clearly and concisely. Leave no ambiguity. Ideally each move will have clear push and pull factors - why one chapter was now done and why you chose the next chapter. Just pull factors - does that mean you're a flight risk if something interesting comes along? Just push factors - your career feels aimless rather than purposeful. Never bad-mouth a former employer. Go out of your way to explain shorter stints. Interviewers are ultimately looking for a track record of success, staying power, and clear reasons behind moves.

Mistakes

Most CEOs today are turned off by candidates who have only ever known 5th gear - high growth, well-funded companies where everything seemed easy from the outside (their perception, right or wrong). Having a misstep in your career can actually be a good thing. Either the wrong company/timing or you failed at the role for whatever reason. At VP/C-level you will have an extensive body of work to be assessed - one blip doesn't override that. Owning the mistake builds trust with the interviewer, lending more credibility to the positive stories you tell. How you explain the mistake is crucial - it's about framing.

"I" vs "we"

Be conscious of whether you are saying "I" or "we" throughout the interview. CEOs want candidates who were clearly driving the bus, not just on it - but also don't seem arrogant and give appropriate credit to their team and peers.