1) You have to understand the origin of your passion

2) You must believe in yourself

Generally speaking, step two will take care of itself once you have uncovered the secrets of step one.

Tracing your passion is important because you have to convince a potential employer that you have logical, compelling reasons to pursue a particular career. This is particularly important for entry-level candidates who have more potential than experience. Remember, people don’t want to feel like they are taking a risk when they make the decision to hire you. That’s why your reasoning has to be sound and believable

Instead, I’m suggesting you become a good story-teller by truly appreciating what you have to offer, understanding how it relates to what people need, and finding the most effective way to communicate your potential. In other words, you have to be an expert at marketing yourself. Unfortunately, even people who are marketers by profession struggle with this.

Marketing yourself is far more difficult than it sounds. In the 16 years I’ve been working with job hunters I have yet to meet anyone who can, within the first 45 minutes, clearly articulate their most compelling accomplishment as it relates to why a potential employer might hire them. This is a HUGE problem when you consider that most interviews are only about 45 minutes long. The reason most people don’t communicate their accomplishments effectively is often quite simple: they have no idea what they are. People might think they know—and they might be far more insightful than most—but they still miss an unbelievable number of opportunities to share their true capabilities. In other words, they aren’t good story-tellers. Why? Because they don’t know the whole story.

What it Means to Be a Good Story-Teller

To be a good story-teller, you must first be a great marketer. For those of you who are more logical and process-oriented by nature, this undoubtedly sounds like bad news. The truth is, logical, left-brained, analytical, and process-oriented thinking may be what makes you successful in your job, but it isn’t what you need to market yourself. As a result, your most valuable professional asset—the way you think—could easily become your greatest liability.

Like any market, if you choose to participate, you have to think like a marketer. That means right-brained, creative, marketing-oriented thinking. If you are a hard-core analytical person who has doesn’t think creatively, don’t worry. You are not alone. There are ways you can begin to think more creatively about your experiences. Just find a coach who can help.

Believing, Thinking, and Speaking Our Truth

There are two steps you must take before you can speak comfortably and confidently about your interests and abilities:

1) You have to understand the origin of your passion

2) You must believe in yourself

Generally speaking, step two will take care of itself once you have uncovered the secrets of step one.

Tracing your passion is important because you have to convince a potential employer that you have logical, compelling reasons to pursue a particular career. This is particularly important for entry-level candidates who have more potential than experience. Remember, people don’t want to feel like they are taking a risk when they make the decision to hire you. That’s why your reasoning has to be sound and believable.

Marketing yourself is far more difficult than it sounds. In the 16 years I’ve been working with job hunters I have yet to meet anyone who can, within the first 45 minutes, clearly articulate their most compelling accomplishment as it relates to why a potential employer might hire them. This is a HUGE problem when you consider that most interviews are only about 45 minutes long. The reason most people don’t communicate their accomplishments effectively is often quite simple: they have no idea what they are. People might think they know—and they might be far more insightful than most—but they still miss an unbelievable number of opportunities to share their true capabilities. In other words, they aren’t good story-tellers. Why? Because they don’t know the whole story.

What it Means to Be a Good Story-Teller

To be a good story-teller, you must first be a great marketer. For those of you who are more logical and process-oriented by nature, this undoubtedly sounds like bad news. The truth is, logical, left-brained, analytical, and process-oriented thinking may be what makes you successful in your job, but it isn’t what you need to market yourself. As a result, your most valuable professional asset—the way you think—could easily become your greatest liability.

Like any market, if you choose to participate, you have to think like a marketer. That means right-brained, creative, marketing-oriented thinking. If you are a hard-core analytical person who has doesn’t think creatively, don’t worry. You are not alone. There are ways you can begin to think more creatively about your experiences. Just find a coach who can help.

Believing, Thinking, and Speaking Our Truth

There are two steps you must take before you can speak comfortably and confidently about your interests and abilities:

1) You have to understand the origin of your passion

2) You must believe in yourself

Generally speaking, step two will take care of itself once you have uncovered the secrets of step one.

Tracing your passion is important because you have to convince a potential employer that you have logical, compelling reasons to pursue a particular career. This is particularly important for entry-level candidates who have more potential than experience. Remember, people don’t want to feel like they are taking a risk when they make the decision to hire you. That’s why your reasoning has to be sound and believable

What it Means to Be a Good Story-Teller

To be a good story-teller, you must first be a great marketer. For those of you who are more logical and process-oriented by nature, this undoubtedly sounds like bad news. The truth is, logical, left-brained, analytical, and process-oriented thinking may be what makes you successful in your job, but it isn’t what you need to market yourself. As a result, your most valuable professional asset—the way you think—could easily become your greatest liability.

Like any market, if you choose to participate, you have to think like a marketer. That means right-brained, creative, marketing-oriented thinking. If you are a hard-core analytical person who has doesn’t think creatively, don’t worry. You are not alone. There are ways you can begin to think more creatively about your experiences. Just find a coach who can help.

Believing, Thinking, and Speaking Our Truth

There are two steps you must take before you can speak comfortably and confidently about your interests and abilities:

1) You have to understand the origin of your passion

2) You must believe in yourself

Generally speaking, step two will take care of itself once you have uncovered the secrets of step one.

Tracing your passion is important because you have to convince a potential employer that you have logical, compelling reasons to pursue a particular career. This is particularly important for entry-level candidates who have more potential than experience. Remember, people don’t want to feel like they are taking a risk when they make the decision to hire you. That’s why your reasoning has to be sound and believable

Like any market, if you choose to participate, you have to think like a marketer. That means right-brained, creative, marketing-oriented thinking. If you are a hard-core analytical person who has doesn’t think creatively, don’t worry. You are not alone. There are ways you can begin to think more creatively about your experiences. Just find a coach who can help.

Believing, Thinking, and Speaking Our Truth

There are two steps you must take before you can speak comfortably and confidently about your interests and abilities:

1) You have to understand the origin of your passion

2) You must believe in yourself

Generally speaking, step two will take care of itself once you have uncovered the secrets of step one.

Tracing your passion is important because you have to convince a potential employer that you have logical, compelling reasons to pursue a particular career. This is particularly important for entry-level candidates who have more potential than experience. Remember, people don’t want to feel like they are taking a risk when they make the decision to hire you. That’s why your reasoning has to be sound and believable

1) You have to understand the origin of your passion

2) You must believe in yourself

Generally speaking, step two will take care of itself once you have uncovered the secrets of step one.

Tracing your passion is important because you have to convince a potential employer that you have logical, compelling reasons to pursue a particular career. This is particularly important for entry-level candidates who have more potential than experience. Remember, people don’t want to feel like they are taking a risk when they make the decision to hire you. That’s why your reasoning has to be sound and believable. If you ever find yourself thinking, “I know I’d be great if only someone would give me a chance,” take it as a sign that you need to do a more thorough self-assessment.

Start by answering these questions:

· How old were you when you first recognized your interest in this career?

· What, specifically, opened your eyes to this opportunity?

· Is there a particular person you admired (e.g., parent, grandparent, mentor, teacher) who served as a role model or otherwise nurtured your interest?

· Is this a subject you studied in school?

· What have you done on your own initiative to learn more about the field?

The last question is especially important because relatively few people think to sell themselves on the experiences they have gained as a result of their own initiative. However, these experiences tend to be the most convincing. Think about it. If you read and studied numerous books on your own, you obviously have more than a passing interest in the subject matter. This usually gives people more than enough reason to believe your interest and sincerity. Whatever the case, it is important to trace your passion because this understanding will help you communicate your enthusiasm for the career or the business.

What If You Haven’t Identified Your Passion? This is a very real issue for many people. If you truly aren’t sure what you are passionate about, think about all the projects you have been involved with as well as your related accomplishments. Then, ask yourself these questions:

· When did I feel the most energized?

· When did I feel the most drained?

The key to a happy and fulfilling professional life is to find a career in which you can do more of what energizes you and less of what drains you. No doubt, this sounds like common sense. Nevertheless, it is amazing how many people don’t think in these terms. If you are like most successful people, there are certain projects in which you can immerse yourself and completely lose track of time. Likewise, there are probably other activities—including some at which you excel—that you may absolutely dread doing. For this reason, it’s critical to look beyond your skills to your actual interest level.

A Reason to Believe

Once you’ve traced your passion and you can describe the origin of your interest, you have completed the first, critical step in the self-assessment process. But it doesn’t stop there. Your new challenge is to show what you’ve achieved as a result of your passion. In other words, what have you done that gives poten