Name: How your unique story can get you hired | The Way We Work, a TED series
Uploaded: 2020-11-02T18:15:07.000Z
Duration: 4 min 11 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Transcriber: Erin Gregory Reviewer: Ivana Korom

You're sitting at your computer, about to apply for your dream job,

but then thoughts start to go through your head

and I looked at the folks in the most senior level roles,

I didn't see anyone who represented my race or my gender."

"There's just no way I'm going to get this job."

So you don't even submit the application.

But I'm here to tell you that your self-doubt

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Most of us experience self-doubt at high-stakes moments,

or they don't have a traditional background,

If that's you, you're a part of my community.

What I've realized is that these experiences

are actually your differentiating strength.

The secret is to transform how you perceive your own story.

Even if you've been on an untraditional path,

that are really valuable in the workforce.

Your task is to identify those experiences and trumpet them,

I know this, because I had my own self-doubts

I didn't have top-notch internships in college.

I was definitely the thank you, laude, versus the cum laude.

What I didn't realize was that I was really good

who actually had a lot of self-doubts, overcome those

and accomplish goals they never thought were imaginable,

The first is, why do you want to do this work?

Maybe you already know the kind of job or work environment

or maybe you haven't quite figured that out yet.

Usually, your personal experiences can help give you clues.

For example, did your grandmother do manual labor,

and it made you really worry that she didn't get access

Did your brother have to overcome his dyslexia,

And so, you became really attuned to education policy.

about filling out immigration papers for his parents

people would think that his parents weren't sophisticated.

Dylan realized that he needed to harness the power

He told it in a way, when he was applying to law school,

that made it clear why he wanted to go into advocacy law.

He is now in his third year at Georgetown Law.

The second question you have to ask yourself is,

to showcase the unique strengths I will bring to the work?

For example, did you have to work multiple jobs

while you were in college that did not at all align

That shows an employer that you have time management skills

talk about how you administered their treatment plan.

Talk about how you had to work around their complex schedules.

that you're compassionate, and you know what,

can remake your confidence over and over again,

Go back and reflect on those tough questions

Subtitles ListPlay Video

How your unique story can get you hired | The Way We Work, a TED series

perceive

extraordinary

incredible

sophisticated