By George Blomgren

Here's the scenario. You are charged with hiring an employee to complete a marketing project. You line up 12 candidates and schedule interviews with all in one day - a virtual interviewing marathon. The day arrives. Two sit there, just answering questions, volunteering nothing. Nine recite the same bullet point items that appear on their resumes. One tells you about the time she completed a project similar to the one you need to hire for.

Her story demonstrates her understanding of the true objectives of the project. It's funny - you find yourself chuckling several times. She talks about several things that went wrong and how she addressed them. Her story reflects her interaction with peers, an unfailingly good attitude, and the ability to learn from her mistakes. Most of all, it clearly demonstrates she knows how to complete a project of this nature.

Which candidate is bound to stick out in your memory? Which one are you most likely to prefer and - all other things (like references and qualifications) being equal - hire?

As a job seeker, it's true that you can't spend every interview just telling stories. But if you really want to stand out, choose a story in lieu of an expository answer any time you can. Keep your stories brief, relevant, and with clear messages. Simplify as appropriate, but keep them honest (they may come up in reference checks). Focus on success stories and positive outcomes. Any time you can include numbers ("an audit proved we improved efficiency 37 percent!") always do so.

Often, interviewers will ask for stories: "Tell me about a time your attention to detail prevented a problem." Sure, it can be hard to prepare for such questions, but you will find they are finite. A great exercise to go through is to create a journal of success stories. If you can come up with a dozen that all happened on the job, that's great. If you need to include some from school, church or volunteer activities, that's fine. (Hint: If you can't come up with enough, consider these activities as fertile grounds to quickly develop some good success stories.)

At the highest level of mastery, you will have an arsenal of 15-20 success stories, which you can adapt as needed based on cues in the interview. If the interviewer asks questions that lead you to believe teamwork is an essential requirement of an open position, choose stories that illustrate your interpersonal skills and emphasize team dynamics. Again, don't make anything up, just selectively accent relevant aspects of your stories.

Telling stories makes for better interviews - if not always successful, they are almost always more entertaining.

George Blomgren, Operations Manager of The Benefit Companies, knows both sides of the desk. As an employer, he provides secrets to what employers are looking for in top candidates in order to give you the edge in your job search.