Being Our Own Advocate

I listened to a great podcast the other day with the actor, Kal Penn. The discussion was around the importance of being our own advocate. He said he learned a hard lesson by assuming certain things should happen for him based on who he knew and what he had done when he applied for a role in the Obama administration. He made a lot of assumptions that didn’t take advantage of his expertise and connections. I think many of us feel like tooting our own horn or using our connections seems egotistical or presumptive. But if we don’t toot it, who will?

I have a friend who is a doctor and is looking to leave the medical practice he is part of and move on. I asked him if he had a resume or a LinkedIn page so when he connected with headhunters he would be ready. And he said he had never had an occasion to have them and he didn’t want to seem like he was bragging on himself and wasn’t even sure what to say. I told him that putting forth the facts about the long process of becoming a doctor, where he was educated, his contributions to his profession and patients, what his specialties are, and how he was passionate about saving lives wasn’t bragging, it was telling his story. A story that was hard-fought at great expense and personal commitment.

We often assume our current title or position in a company should reflect what we are capable of. But it’s really the journey that is most revealing about what we have to offer a company. Each role we have had in a company we worked for creates our professional persona and the basis of how we lead and contribute to future employers. And the people we have impacted along the way are ambassadors for us. Don’t hesitate to ask for testimonials on LinkedIn and freely offer them to others you believe in. Our connections are the people who can validate what we have accomplished and what we are capable of. They can also vault you to the top of the resume pile.

There’s more to your story than a resume

A resume doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s a skeletal framework of the steps we have taken and successes we have had. And that shows in a very linear view what we have accomplished. But stories about how we came to achieve those things reveal our problem-solving skills and challenges we have overcome. You can often expect some form of this interview question: When was a time when you used your skills to create more revenue or generate more business or solve a problem? Now it’s storytime.

Stories bring our experience to life and take the basic facts of our job history and provide context. We clearly can’t write stories on our resumes or on our LinkedIn page, but be prepared to weave them into the interview process or even into a cover letter. When resumes are lined up side to side they often look very similar with related experience. If you can score an interview, whether you are asked or not, find a way to weave a story into the discussion about how your unique skills and successes made a difference. Show passion and how your experience fits directly into the culture and goals of the prospective company and position. People remember stories. It will make you stand out against the competition.

I have interviewed a lot of people over the years. Only a few stand out in my memory. Some for being horrifically bad and others because they made an impact. They passionately reflected on why they got into our industry or a situation that had specifically challenged them and how they solved it. Every one of those people got hired.

So what’s your story?

That story should encapsulate why a company should want to hire you or promote you or give you a raise. This also goes for getting the respect you need in your current company too. Don’t assume anyone knows your hard-fought successes. It should make the listener see why there is a great likelihood you will contribute great value to the company and the role. It’s not bragging, it’s reflecting on all of the things that make you a great employee. It’s being your own advocate. You are awesome, make sure everyone knows it.

“That was the first time that clicked with me, where I thought I was doing the right thing and not shaking things up and keeping my head down,” Penn said. In reality, Penn now sees that his lack of self-advocacy might have been perceived as a lack of interest in the job itself. The big lesson for everyone, Penn said, is “you do need to advocate for yourself and let people know what you want.” ~ Kal Penn, actor, political activist