Your Work Story is a short, memorable summary of what you do and who you help.
Most people freeze when asked “tell me about yourself” in interviews or networking conversations. They ramble, list off their resume, or give generic answers. If you’ve ever walked away from a conversation wishing you’d explained yourself better, or if you struggle to connect your past experience with what you actually want to do next, this exercise is for you.
Your Work Story gives you a framework to move beyond “here’s what I’ve done” and into “here’s who I am, what I care about, and the impact I want to make.”
It’s especially useful if you’re early in your career and feel like you haven’t “done enough yet,” or if you’re changing directions and need to tell a coherent story that makes sense to others.
In this exercise, you’ll break down how to tell your story so that you stand out and stick in people’s minds. Think of this as your authentic, personalized version of “tell me about yourself”.
EXAMPLE STORY: “I’m a software Developer! I’m really interested in protecting the environment so use community building and software development to connect everyday people with small but impactful ways they can reduce their environmental footprint.”
Step 1:
Define Yourself
- What do you do?
- Who do you help?
- Why does it matter?
Skills: What do you do?
Your skills are the things that you are both good at and (ideally) you enjoy doing.
- What things do people usually ask for your help with?
- What things come more easily to you?
- What do you find yourself wanting to do if left alone?
Audience: Who do you help?
The “Audience” are the people/groups you’d like to help, those you could see yourself working with, or those that could benefiting from what you could share.
- Think of things you feel frequently frustrated by. Are there other people that might benefit from you doing something about it?
- What audiences (clients, customers, populations) have you worked with before?
- What groups or identities do you belong to?
💡 You might decide your audience includes “college students” or “veterans” because you belong to one of those groups. Or your might be really passionate about working with musicians or painters.
Interests
Your Interests are the things that you’re curious/enthusiastic/passionate about.
- What things are you excited to learn more about?
- What subjects do you already know quite a bit about?
- If there was a trivia night about a topic that you know you’d win, what would it be on?
EXAMPLE, STEP ONE:
Talents and Gifts
- Building things
- Fixing things
- Teaching/Training
Audience
- Farmers
- Poverty/Rural Areas
- Small Business Owners
Interests
- Farming/Agriculture
- Self-Help/Personal Growth
- Entrepreneurship
After you’ve come up with your list of words from the various activities, it’s time to come up with a sentence that sums up your work.
Step 2:
Put it Together
Action Verbs:
Action verbs describe what you will do to help others, the process of how you will provide your help, and/or how you interact with others. Your action verbs may also describe what you the action that your audience will take when working with you. Action verbs describe action, for you to DO SOMETHING! As you choose your action verbs, connect your action verbs with your values, strengths, talents and gifts, interests, and audience. Choose and write down your top three Action Verbs.
Change:
Write one or two phrases that briefly describe the impact you believe you will make, the changes that will occur for the people/groups you serve, the benefit others will have from your work, and/or how the lives of your audience will improve as a result of your help.
- Example: I want to help creatives tap into what makes them whole and joyful
- Example: I want more young people to run for office
You may also decide to create multiple statements, especially if you have multiple interests and/or multiple audiences. Multiple statements may provide you an opportunity to select one statement to start with right away or find ways to combine/connect multiple statements into one. Remember to limit your statement to just ONE sentence to make this process easy for you. Below are a few templates that may help you construct your statement; feel free to modify as you see fit – or combine statements that suit your needs.
As you construct your impact statement, keep these three questions in mind:
- What do I do?
- Who do I help?
- Why does it matter?
EXAMPLE STORY
“I’ve always believed that rural communities have everything they need to thrive, they just need the right tools and knowledge. I’m good at fixing problems, building practical solutions, and teaching people skills they can actually use. I work with farmers and small business owners in rural areas to help them grow sustainable operations, because everyone deserves a shot at making a good living doing what they love, no matter where they live.”
What do I do with this now?
Think of this like your template for how you work (or want to work). You’ve just outlined how you can use your skills to make a change.
Your Work Story could show up in your LinkedIn About section or elements of it might exist in your cover letter. You could create a short version of this to put on your resume or a casual version to incorporate into your social media bio.
EXAMPLE LINKEDIN ABOUT SECTION:
I help small businesses and creators get noticed.
I’m halfway through my degree and learning everything I can about what actually makes marketing work. Right now, I’m running the socials for a local store, managing communications for three campus organizations, and I’m always the person friends ask to help word things better.
I’m obsessed with understanding what makes people stop scrolling and why some brands feel like they’re everywhere while others struggle to be seen.
I’m building my career in marketing because small businesses and independent creators deserve the same chance to connect with their audiences as the big players. They just need someone who gets how people actually communicate online.
If you’re working on something you’re excited about and want to reach more people, let’s talk.