Patrick Ow discusses the significance of mindfully crafting your career narrative.

What is your career narrative?

Start the development of your career goals by articulating a career narrative. Note that personal stories are powerful motivators of success.

A career narrative can be defined as a professional story outlining both long- and short-term career goals. It elaborates on the specific steps that you will need to achieve all your goals.

Here’s an example of a career narrative:

My immediate goal is to secure a position at a public listed company within three months where I can continue to grow and improve myself both personally and professionally. I enjoy challenges and look forward to opportunities where I can increase my sales revenues by 20% within three months of joining the organization. Ultimately, I’d like to move into management within four years with a focus on strategy and development. Right now, I’m focusing on improving my communication and leadership skills by completing a communications course and a leadership development program by December. While I’m very happy as a member of any team I’m on, I’m looking forward to being able to take on small leadership roles within a year, eventually working my way into a position as a manager and team leader within two years.

Start with the End in Mind

Here’s a key trend that all job seekers must understand. They must show, not tell or brag about how good they are. They must produce verifiable accomplishments that are quantifiable.

Recruiters and hiring managers are looking for quantifiable numbers in your resume to quickly tell them whether you are a performer or not. This also applies to soft and hard skills and experiences.

How many times have you seen these sentences in a resume?

I am a high achiever with 12 years of international experience in fast-paced and innovative work environment. I am seeking the opportunity to use my skills and experience in a new challenging management position to contribute tot the success of a company driven by the cultures of excellence and leadership.