How to Connect Random Experiences When Job Searching - The Muse

How to Connect Random Experiences When Job Searching - The MuseHow to Connect Random Experiences When Job Searching A decade ago, if you looked at my resume, it would just look like Id thrown random job titles on a page. Id done so many different things that it read more cant commit to a career than seasoned professional. Id worked in retail, tended bar for private parties, managed a clerical office, and planned kids parties at a fitness center. I figured this eclectic mix of experiences was fine because I was still a student, and everything would sort itself out when it came time to settle into a career.Fast-forward five years and halfway through a PhD program, and my experience hasnt magically gotten any more cohesive. In fact, its actually gotten more extensive and disjointed Ive added teacher, tutor, library assistant, and sales manager to my resume. Trying to turn my random positions into a fulfilling career, I felt stuck by the fact that my jobs didnt seem to make that much sen se on paper. If youre anything like I was a few years ago, and youve built a lot of wonderful skills at positions that dont look all that connected, I feel your pain. But before you panic about being condemned to job limbo for the rest of your life, keep in mind that titles and companies dont always have to explicitly convey what youve really accomplished. Now there are a lot of ways to say this, but employers are basically looking for three key things that you can do you the job, that you want to do the job, and that you want to do the job for them. Its up to you to take your current resume and tell a story that meets these basic needs.1. Reformat Your ResumeYou know the top of your resume, where people keep telling you elend to add an objective section? Well, thats typically true, but you can put a qualifications section that highlights the specific skills you have that match with the job you want. This way, you own your story, and you demonstrate to the hiring manager that youve thought about the way your various experiences align with the position.Another option is a skills-based resumerather than a chronological one. Is this the right option for you? Its hard to say because many employers have different preferences. The best you can do at the end of the day is remember the purpose of this document to get your foot in the door. So make sure that whatever format you choose, youre emphasizing why youre the best fit. And you can do this by keeping your bullet points concise, quantified, and tailored to the job description.2. Emphasize the ContinuitiesMost job experiences have some common threads. I remember when I was in college, every semester taking a wide variety of classes. And every term those classes magically starting to connect to one another, and I was always surprised by how much continuity there was in what I thought were completely disconnected things. Our brains are wired to want to make connections. It may seem like there is no connection betwee n being a lifeguard, a salesperson, a social media intern, and a psychology major, but those are all things that emphasize paying close attention to what people think, how they behave, and how best to serve them. Spend time thinking broadly about your jobs. Have they all involved customer service? Critical thinking and analysis? Using new technologies or creative problem solving? If nothing comes to mind, ask a friend to give it a look. Sometimes, especially when youve been belaboring over a resume for a long time, it can be difficult to see the connections among all of your varied work experiences. Bringing in an objective reader to give it a close read and locate relationships between your roles will give you a new perspective and hopefully will enable you to see the ties that clearly exist. NOW THAT YOUVE GOT THE STORY DOWNAll you need is the job. Lucky for you, we know a few opportunities.10,000+ jobs right this way 3. Leave Off the Irrelevantbedrngnis everything youve ever done has to go on your resume. For most people, all of your experience just wont fit, but theres definitely a strategy involved. If youre applying for a client-facing position, highlight your time in retail, as a server in a restaurant, and leave off that part-time summer job where all you did was file paperwork. And if youre going after a number-crunching marketing role, make sure to include your work assisting the psych stats professor, but maybe dont bother with your brief stint as a copywriter.Worried about long gaps thatll surface on your resume if you go with this technique? Fair enough. But keep in mind that just a month or two doesnt constitute a recognizable gap. A job gap of a year or longer may need to be explained, so if your experience is eclectic and you prefer to leave certain roles off your resume, and you cant claim being a student to cover the empty period, focus on finding those continuities in the skills youve learned, and pull your work history together that way. As Muse writer Elizabeth Alterman says in her piece How to Explain the Gap in Your Resume with Ease, Whether you managed a household, co-chaired an event that raised much-needed funds for charity, or trekked across the globe, chances are you picked up some important skills along the way- think communicating persuasively, becoming a master organizer, or adapting to unknown situations. Find a way to turn whatever you did in your gap period into a skill that you can use now.4. Practice Telling Your StoryKnowing how your experiences connect to each other, and how theyve made you grow as a professional is often the biggest hurdle. But you still have to tell a compelling story about where youve been and where youre going. Maybe your jobs are wide-ranging because you were trying to find where you fit, and youre grateful for each of those gigs because of the skills you gained, even though they werent right for you. So you need to be able to convey why this position right here and now is the r ight one for you rather than simply the next one in a series of assorted titles. How did all of those past experiences lead you here? How and why do you plan to build upon what youve done so far? Your goal is to not give a hiring manager a chance to question whether or not youll stick around for any period of time. Its important with any interview not to sound negative about your past jobs, so try to relay their value while emphasizing that youve figured out the path youre meant to be on. If you can strategically explain your past experiences and how they add up to where you currently are, applying for this job in front of you, theyll only add value to your story. Skills are skills, no matter where or how you obtained them. Once I was able to think reflectively about what I did and didnt like about my past experiences, how they fit together, and how they showed me what path to take, my options opened up tremendously. I learned from each job Id held that I needed to help people, be i ntellectually challenged, and feel like my work was making an impact in the world. Which is exactly how I feel now. I may be biased, but my winding career story sounds pretty good these days. Photo of woman in a job interview courtesy of PeopleImages/Getty Images.