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Connective Tissue

I shared this HBR article with J being that she has recently entered the workforce and could use all the help she can get to avoid mistakes that will cost her down the road. A piece of wisdom I found interesting even for me at this point in my career:

Help others understand the truth about your journey by developing a clear and concise elevator pitch that explains how your previous skills connect with, and add value to, what you’re doing now. Make that connection explicit, rather than hoping others will figure it out on their own.

To start, chart it out on paper. On one side, write down your past position or experience. On the other side, write down the job you currently hold. Then find the connective tissue that links them.

I have long suffered the lack of "connective tissue" that links the different components of my experience and background or the journey that brought them to me. There is a story there not a very glamorous or strategic one. It is about a woman who finds herself a single mother after marrying what appeared to be Mr. Right on paper. When that happened, the only question that needed answering is what can I do to secure the future of my daughter. Everything that happened to me was in response to that question in some way. This is not the narrative you share with a potential hiring manager, atleast that is not how I view my personal brand. But in so choosing you have no connective tissue that links these disparate things together to bring cohesion into my professional identity.

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