Shine at Work®

86 | How To Tell Your Career Story In An Interview

Season 5 Episode 86

In this week's episode, Dan and I talk about interviewing, whether it’s an in-person interview, exploratory call or virtual coffee,  you want  to put your best foot forward.  We all know it’s going to begin with someone asking you the typical questions: tell me about your background, why are you interested in a career pivot,  why did you leave or are leaving your current company, etc and it's important how you craft your story.  Spoiler alert, it's not about going through your resume bullet by bullet, they have the resume and have read it, that's why they are talking to you. Knowing the answers to these common questions is the key to it all. And don’t worry, we have some actionable tips, tricks and advice for you to get you through an interview!

In this episode, you will specifically learn how to…

  • How to tell your why 
  • How to talk about a career pivot 
  • How to explain if you were fired or laid off 
  • How to talk about a gap or short employment stints 
  • How to talk about a toxic work environment 
  • How to talk about compensation 

Links mentioned…

Interview Preparation Worksheet


More about Karen and Dan…


I’m Karen Weeks, the CEO & Chief Shine Officer (aka transformation coach) at KDW Coaching, the host of the Shine at Work podcast, award winning culture leader (currently leading the People team at Ordergroove), a speaker and published author. My purpose is to help career-oriented humans get unstuck so they can shine bright in business and in life.  And I know how that feels, I navigated a career from theatre & the arts to HR (with lots of twists and turns there) to expanding my career into coaching as well. I am a recent Charlotte transplant where I live with my husband and furry babies. 

 
Dan Carr is KDW Coaching’s Talent Partner and co-host of the Shine at Work podcast.  Over the last decade+, Dan has partnered with early stage, high growth, startups as a recruiting leader, driving strategic direction and execution of all areas of the talent lifecycle. His role was to understand and advise on the skill sets needed to achieve company goals and then identify and engage with the best talent in the industry, building world class teams. He found that success is achieved with authentic relationships that have a foundation in empathy, transparency and trust. 



As always, please consider subscribing, leaving a rating and review and sharing this podcast and the whole series with others.  We do this podcast to help spread the word that everyone can get unstuck and find the thing that brings them joy in their careers.  If our guests can do it,

Welcome to the Shine at Work Podcast! On this show, your co-hosts Karen and Dan will shine a light on your job search so you can land a role that lets you flex your strengths and progress your career in an environment you actually look forward to working in each day. From creating a stand-out resume, to confidently negotiating your salary, to finding your footing as a new manager, you can expect to hear actionable advice to help you shine your brightest in your role.

Karen D. Weeks is the CEO and Chief Career Coach of Shine at Work Coaching. She has over twenty years of HR experience, including as CPO at Ordergroove.

Dan Carr is a Shine at Work Career Coach with over a decade of recruiting experience helping high-growth startups expand with top talent.

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