Stand Out in Your Job Search with Storytelling Expert Aaron Calafato

Hiring managers don't remember resumes - they remember stories

In this episode of Top of the Pile, Karen sits down with storytelling expert and narrative strategist Aaron Calafato to talk about why storytelling isn’t just a “nice to have” skill - it’s essential to standing out in today’s job market.

Aaron has helped brands like Indeed, Glassdoor, and Palo Alto Networks build trust through story-driven content, and he brings those same principles into the job search and interview process. Aaron is the creator and host of the award-winning 7 Minute Stories podcast, which has reached over 30 million listeners, and the co-creator and co-host of Glassdoor’s The Lonely Office. He also serves as an audio growth strategist for State of Mind, one of Apple’s leading mental health podcasts.

Together, we break down the difference between simply having conversations versus telling intentional stories, and why most job seekers struggle to clearly communicate their value.

We dive into the idea of storycatching — paying attention to your own experiences as they happen — and how self-reflection and self-awareness can help you build short, compelling stories that resonate in interviews and networking conversations. Aaron also explains what a throughline is, why it matters, and how understanding both your own story and a company’s mission can dramatically improve how you show up in interviews.

If you’re a college student, recent grad, or early-career professional trying to articulate your strengths, pivot careers, or feel more confident talking about your experience, this episode will give you practical tools to tell better stories — and get remembered for them.

LAUNCH Career Strategies was founded by Karen Elders and Elyse Spalding. We help young professionals launch a successful career path with expert coaching services.  Reach out today for an initial FREE coaching session.
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Transcript

Karen Elders: Are you looking for your first internship or job, or maybe the next step in your career? Welcome to Top of the Pile. The podcast explores all things career for 20 somethings. I'm Karen Elders with Launch Career Strategies, and I'll be your host. Let's get started. All right, welcome back to Top of the Pile.

Karen Elders: We are recording this in January, 2026. I think it's too late to say Happy New Year, but whenever you're listening to this episode, I guess I hope the new year is off to a great start. 2026 is the year of the horse. I thought I would add this in because, it's kind of a cool, very much related theme, it means energy, freedom, vitality, but most of all, forward momentum. So I think it's important to have a mindset of momentum, whether you're looking for a new job or you're looking to get promoted or, just thinking about your, your life and career in general. So, I think two aspects of that job search that are key are clarity and consistency.

Karen Elders: I'm always talking about that with clients, and I think if you have those. Two engines running, you get momentum related to clarity On today's topic is how we are presenting a narrative and about who we are, what our goals are, what we care about. And I think it's an important topic to start the new year and have that reset button.

Karen Elders: So I'm really excited. I have a unique guest on today, and I'll tell you a little bit about him. Aaron Calafato is a storytelling expert and narrative strategist. He works with brands like Indeed, Glassdoor, Palo Alto Networks to create story-driven content that builds trust and community. He is also the creator and host of the award-winning Seven Minute Stories podcast, which has reached over 30 million listeners. Very cool. He's the co-creator and co-host of Glassdoor's The Lonely Office, and he serves as an audio growth [00:02:00] strategist for State of Mind, which is one of Apple's, leading mental health podcasts. So welcome Aaron! 

Aaron Calafato: Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. 

Karen Elders: Storytelling is so much a part of the job search process, so, let's just jump right into it. I think the biggest question, obviously people might be even wondering if they're listening. Why is it important to use storytelling in your job search process? 

Aaron Calafato:Well, it's funny. First, as a preface, I would say in your introduction when you talked about, the work that I've done with Glassdoor and indeed that's sort of where things clicked for me. Even as a storytelling practitioner, getting into the space of helping people, craft stories, telling my own stories when I was working in the job seeking area, that space, because I, I'm a job seeker, was a job seeker. We're all job seekers, then were employees, and then you could be an entrepreneur. You can be an entrepreneur. There's all these like states of employment or pursuing career. Being in that space is what really got me connected with people like you [00:03:00] to talk about this stuff, to chop it up about, wait a second. It's pretty clear. It's pretty obvious, but it's one of those things that isn't obvious at the same time, and it was this Connection between the art of telling a story, whether that is how you know you, whether in person in an interview, and we'll get to all that stuff, writing it down, or even catching stories and formulating stories in your mind, thinking like a storyteller and how connected it was to job seeking. Because one, you know, it only takes two seconds to look at Indeed or go to any of these job boards. Everyone's telling a story. Or at least everyone's attempting to tell a story. And so I think when you ask like, why is it important? I think it's not only important, I think that's what it is, in my opinion. I think to a certain extent, we are all looking to tell stories to communicate a larger, truth about who we are and then what we can do and the value we can [add. And so it's one of those things where, you know. You have your, in that world that you know you have your hard skills and your soft skills and, and I think storytelling is a great example of both. Storytelling. You're using the soft skills of empathy, of thinking about others, of communication, of formulating a story. All of these things happen even before you say a word, right? This is all mental, this is all reflective. But then you have the hard skills of how do you execute that story? How do you share it in a resume? How do you share it on a LinkedIn post? How do you create it as an arc about who you are and what you do in the larger landscape of your expertise? And you know, you know this with your work and your expertise. When you are pursuing or in the process of finding a job. Making a change, pursuing a career, even, you know, facing a pivot, the first thing you should be thinking about, one should be thinking about is how can I tell that story? So I think for me, even in the last 10 years, it's been so exciting to strengthen that connection. Between something that I do, that I practice and the thing that we all do, which is we're all in some way pursuing our dreams or pursuing just something, even if it's transactional, to take care of our families to, to, you know, all of those things. So it's, it is not only important, I would say it's like essential. It's intricate. 

Karen Elders: Yeah. No, it's so true. And I think that. Someone said this to me a long time ago, and it's always stuck with me and I always pass this along and I think this is probably where what you're saying is that it, it's if, if an interviewer is sitting there listening to an interviewee and they ask them a question about their background, you know, tell me about your experience using data in your digital marketing or whatever it is. And you could kind of laundry list things, but. The proof, it's in the pudding. And, and if you tell a story about, well here's an example of me using, data and a success story or whatever. That's right. The person's gonna remember that story much more than the laundry list. They have the resume in front of them. I'm always reminding people don't forget, they have your resume. They wanna hear what's beyond the paper, you know, what's beyond that. Not always piece of paper, but, resume that they see. So I think. I guess it's the emotion behind the story. I mean, is that kind of the essence of what is the storytelling?

Aaron Calafato:So we use, historically as human beings, we use story as a means to transfer meaning, and I would say, and I, I've learned from a lot of smart people, people who are smarter than me, that. We do that because ideas and concepts and emotions are really, really complex. And I think what humans figured out is a problem solving methodology is that story is a way to communicate that meaning.And in this case, like you said, it's an interview in the job seeking space. It could be a lot of different things. But you take this story of you, or a little micro story, a short story about the why. Why do you do what you [00:07:00] do? why is this job a right fit? Tell me your experience of why this, what was your favorite part about getting into this profession?mIt could be a very simple question, but that's still a lot of meaning that you, when you pack into a story, you're, you are pulling from a, you know, a, a treasure of, of years and experiences. So what you do is you put it into a. Envelope, and then you send that envelope over to the other person and they have to take that into their own self, and they have to un, they have to open it up in their own brain, and that's when it's revealed to them. You're opening up this phenomenon of. Authentic connection rather than transactional connection. Correct? Yes. And you need both, but story kind of plays on both. But story in its deepest form, how you share it, even in a small space, it communicates meaning. So you're not just sharing and the emotion is part of that meaning.And so I always look at it as like, what a gift. To be able to share a little bit of  the true self of who you are and what you care about, but you have to package it in a story for it to really be effective. 

Karen Elders: It's so true. And, and I, I have another question with that, but I think one of the things to say to people that maybe are very much at the beginning of this career process, maybe they're still beginning college, Or even if they're not, wherever it is, the sooner the better to. Have self-awareness and take notes, if you will, of life and pay attention. Because I think sometimes people say, well, I, I, I don't have a, what do I have to tell? I don't have, you know, yes, I took my classes, I, I did this, or I have this job, but I'm so early career, I haven't really had any big accomplishments yet.But you, you do, you're part of something bigger and I, I think that the. Key to all of this is to have self-awareness, pay attention, take notes, keep a journal, something that you remember what the meaning was behind the class. You took the project, you did the group project. That was a disaster that you maybe someday can refer to when you have a challenging question behavioral question. So. I think the other thing that I know has come up when we talked is there's something called a throughline and why can you tell us what that is and or why it's important? people might know what a through line is, I guess, but why is that important in storytelling?

Aaron Calafato:Well, I, I want to answer that with quickly just adding on and to what you just said, which is really good. The, the idea of the actionable item that you talked about for people listening to. Start collecting stories. It is just a phrase, I use it for my own self 'cause I try to use phrases that make sense to me. So whatever phrase you need to use, but I call it story catching. So what you were talking about is, I would say that all of us should have a secret profession, A secret profession that isn't something you know, we necessarily get paid to do or even isn't something that's public that you put on your LinkedIn, but we should all be story catchers. And when we're story catchers, that means we're, we're catchers of meaning. And how you catch is exactly what you said from a, from a, an action point is. One awareness. To your point, you're observing the world around you. Two, you're seeing how it lands on you and you're just recording what hit you. You don't have to solve any problems. You don't have to be right. You don't have to have an opinion. That's the other thing nowadays, it's like you don't have, you can just take the thing that you see. Write it down and observe it and then work through it. What did that mean? What did that, and just by the act of doing that, and that is these secret sauce to being able to be a storyteller. 'cause you can't be a storyteller unless you're a story catcher. So it's good to see, at least in the business space, In the corporate space and or even just in the job seeking world, employers are starting to realize thatif you come in with a skill of telling a story, even in the act of, of how you operate in the office or hybrid or remote, that's starting to be valued. Now. It should have been valued many years before, but things take time and I think people are always just trying to solve problems. So it's a good thing to lean into it. But how do you then, when you talk about a through line, why is a through line important? For when you tell a story, let's say about your career. So let's, let's put it in that lens, because if you think about it, your journey, your career is a story. It has a beginning, middle, and end. There's usually some conflict in between, some sort of impetus that stopped you or could potentially have stopped you, but then you learned something. There was obstacles. It has all the attributes of a great story. So one A through line. Always connects, meaning no matter where and how the environment of your story changes about how you are and what's been consistent about what you do. That's a key thing. [00:12:00] So whether it's a role change, whether it's a career pivot, a lot of people, I'm sure you deal with clients and I hear about it through the Glassdoor community, where it's like, you know, I had a, I had a career shift. I shifted, I had to move, industries, or I had a skillset that I didn't know about it, and now I'm getting paid to do this thing. That should be included in the through line of your story because underneath the through line of your story is a few simple questions. When you go, how do I keep a through line? The through line is the consistent stuff about you that makes you special at what you do and why you do it. And how do you get that? You ask why, but if you really look underneath the Y and you were to say, well, what would I do for free if I could? And even if it isn't that job, you can still connect a through line for why you do things you like when people, I like solving problems. Okay, that's fair. I like solving problems. But why? Because I like fixing things that aren't, I like fixing things that are broken. Now that's, that's a [00:13:00] little deeper. So having a consistent through line is, is like having an attribute that stays with your career story. No matter if the job changes, no matter if the environment changes, no matter if the responsibilities change, it is that thing that is a developing you and your mission, if you will, throughout the entire arc of your career. And then to your point. It's the simplest thing. I, I can't tell you how many conferences calls I do where it's like, write it down. Yeah. Yeah. 'cause if it's in your head, it's not real, right? It's there. It's, it's me. It's meta. It's meta, it's in, it's in an E, like an energy form, but it's not tangible in material world. So write those why down. And even just the act of writing it, you get closer to kind of creating that through line. So I hope that makes sense, but that's how I see it. 

Karen Elders: No, it does. In fact, I, I think the word why is kind of the word of the day because it's this thing that is really what needs to be asked in. You know why? Anything, why did you pick your major? Why did you pick your career path so far? You know, why are you applying to this company in this job? But most importantly, why this company? I think that's one of the biggest things that people don't think about in their job search process. It's, it's just, you know, that's probably one of the most standard questions you can expect in a job interview is why this company and why this job?But the company really, and so you. You have to, and this is to me basic stuff, but a lot of people are skipping the step of really digging into why they're interested in that company because they get to the point where they're like, I just need a job. Right? And I just, whatever's open, I'm gonna apply. I've got some skills that that work, but I. It's that company, it's like, that's their baby. They wanna hear their baby's beautiful and that, that you are excited to be part of that family. So, I think that's the why piece is something that constantly has to be in your mind of why they happen. And by the way, these days with everyone has a phone, I assume, you know, the notes section or whatever it is, I'm always telling people, use that as a journal in your own private place to keep track of little accomplishments, big accomplishments, a a, a nice nod or pat in the back you get at work because you need to be prepared for your review at work as well.

Aaron Calafato:That's right. And you need to have that story catching going on so that. You can remind your boss of accomplishments that might not be so obvious. what do you think are some advice around, pieces of advice around what can make a story memorable? I mean, for me, I'm always telling people, you know, it's gotta be.You know, beginning, middle, and end. I think the end is always the hardest p piece for a lot of people to end their interview answer and pass it back, as I say to the interviewer, so that the interviewer knows they're done. And I always joke, 'cause a lot of people will end the, and the answer was saying, so yeah. and you know, that that kind of leaves the other person =thinking, are they finished? was that story organized or what was the point? So, what do you think are the most important aspects Of storytelling to make it be memorable and, you know, leave them with a kind of, an impact. 

Well, the first thing I do is I differentiate storytelling in conversation.And storytelling exists within conversation, but even in this talk conversation's a little bit different in the sense that, one, there usually is a premise around it. So we have. This, we're having this conversation. We're talking shop about storytelling and what you do and what I do, and connecting it and hopefully, hopefully gleaning some value for listeners.So it's like there's a premise for it, but there's also space to kinda go on and, and not everything you say is a story. Sometimes it's a question. Sometimes I answer with a question. It's more of a discovery. So when, and that's okay. The most important thing I think about. Storytelling within the context of an interview or a conversation in the, in the job seeking space  is actually learning how to tell short stories.Yes. And a short story operates in the same way that any story does. It has a beginning, middle, and end. But, but it, but it shares meaning in a very compact way. It also gives the opportunity to let the interviewer ask more questions about that, because maybe that's a story speaking to something that's really important for their, for their making their decision.Yes. Or maybe it's not. So you can kind of like throw a little bone out there and see and get the main themes out of your skillset. But then if they wanna know more, they're gonna dig and tell me more about that aspect. You know? Do you know what I mean? So I feel like if they're, and if they're not, they might move on to the next question.And so you get totally credit for being someone that's organized and to the point and can distill down thoughts versus you, you went too long on something and then they were like, well, I, I, I like that, but I, I need to get to the next question. Well, you mentioned the, the, my podcast Seven Minute Stories, and the thing that I think is [00:18:00] effective about that be besides obviously my own style and the way I tell things and, and there's kind of this value proposition of different storytellers tell stories in different ways, and there's an audience for those who like different ways that storytellers tell stories, right?We all love different comedians and actors for the reasons we're like, oh, I like that person because they communicate and tell stories in this way. When you're constantly asking the question of why, when you're constantly thinking about your own through line. When you hear a CEO say, this is the mission and the culture of this company, and they say, why are they saying it over and over again, they're establishing a through line to their story because we're easily distracted.We got other stuff going on, and if I just tell you one time, you're not gonna remember. But if I tell you and repeat a mantra over and over again. It's not about brainwashing for the, in a negative way. It's about cutting through the noise, and that's why it's important to practice at the end of this.I'll give a couple of quick like tactics for ways to actually like shape short stories, which I think could be helpful, but you're absolutely, you're spot on. they are, they're valuable and they, they are like, they're kind of a hidden secret weapon when you're in those interview spaces. Have more impact than you could ever imagine.

Karen Elders: Yeah, I, I totally agree and I think that the whole piece around practice is, is key with a balance of not having it be a script. I constantly tell people that you wanna have these little mini story library, a library of these mini stories of your experiences that you, you know, what happened in that situation.So you'll, you don't need as much practice around that part, but have the mini stories practiced so that they're organized, beginning, middle, and end, but. Don't become too salesy with a perfect scripted answer. And I've, I've interviewed so many people when I was in recruiting that I could tell just had these perfectly, you know, recorded basically answers and Right.You know, then if you dug into it, they weren't ready. And so that's the thing though, you do need to be ready to speak to the detail and then knock, derail yourself into a long-winded, two detailed, disorganized story. I think that the reality is you just need to practice. It could be with a friend, a parent, or relative.It could be with your, your recording yourself on their, your phone just to see how it sounds, time it, see how long it is, but really drawing a line with it not being, a script. So that's just something I wanted to add into that. But like it's, I love. The ideas of, of the idea of tactics and just, yeah, if somebody's listening right now, like, and they wanna start shaping their, you know, call it value statement, elevator pitch, whatever you wanna call it, what's like a quick five minute exercise or just a quick, kind of tactic or two that help someone start to, to hone that. 

Aaron Calafato:So the discovery of why you're doing it just requires that simple question. When you ask yourself why, and then something will get revealed. So [00:21:00] you drinking your coffee, you're looking outside and and you're thinking about a job that you're going for, and you really think about why you do this. And when you say, well, why do I have the profession I had? Well, I had it because of this. This is the self-talk, right? Oh, I got into that job because of this. Oh, well, why did I get into that job? It's because after college, that was my major. Okay, well why did I major in that? Oh, it's because then I noticed this thing or because, and it could be that you're on a track that you wanna get off of, but that doesn't mean that the why behind what you're doing, that value statement isn't present.It. You will find it underneath all the stuff you're supposed to say, and it's actually in the space that is sacred and private. So it's this private work, and this is no way around this. I think to have effective stories and tell great stories, you really have to have a, a meaningful and true. Why not a scripted why, and your listener, your.Interviewer, your audience, whoever it is, [00:22:00] they suss it out. They know it in a second to your point, they go, that's not real. Right? And they just mean that you're not real. They just know they are. They are. It is. They are feigning authenticity. They're feigning it. And, and, and people want to know, they're, people wanna know they're working with people who have a why.What you can do is turn on microphone or your voice note, and then with your three bullet points in your head, or just one bullet point. Take yourself and give yourself a A limit. Yeah. Set a timer for three minutes. Don't do seven. That's even long. Three minutes. 

Karen Elders: No. In fact, I have to, I have to say I actually minute, minute and a half the longest.I think any interview answer should be. 

Aaron Calafato:Well, you know, in that space better than I do. So like yeah. If you're, if, if you're saying a minute and a half, do it in a minute and a half. Yeah. And you can still fit it in there. I mean, we know with, you know, shorts and stuff like that, people are fitting it in like 30 seconds. Right? You can fit stories into really small spaces. Definitely. Definitely. Right? And, and, and that's perfect. So when you're in that spot, practice that, by the way, that [00:23:00] minute and a half, as you know. It's actually more time than you think.  

Karen Elders: Yeah. And certainly that, that doesn't have to be black and white.I mean, if it's, if it's a, a certain answer that is an important part of the interview or whatever it is, or you're more senior, you know, I mean, there's, there's definitely parameters there that, that you can adjust. But I think, I, I think the timing is, is key. Obviously we're talking about short stories, we're, you know, so your timing is important.And I do that a lot with when I'm mock interviewing with someone, I, I time them and I don't always tell them at first that we're timing, but you know, sometimes they're into five minutes in an answer and I'm like, do you know that was five minutes long? And five minutes might not sound long, but it's, it's a long time.So, you know, that's the last thing you wanna do is lose somebody. In the first answer because it's too long. So, but I think also on what you were just saying with, it's sort of the point of, at the end, the, the, the evolution almost that happens that you discover in, in the, by the end of the story Yes.Is people will often. Be told. And you know, I tell people to use this as well as a star method for telling a story. So your situation, your task, your action, and the result. So the arc of a story basically. Yes. And the, I love to add the extra r on to be a reflection. So the result was, you know, we improved social media engagement by blank.our team because we did this and that. And what I realized when I look back is we accomplished that because like, so some sort of, you know, why it happened, I guess. Yeah. so back to the why thing, but I just wanted to add that in 'cause I think that sort of, you reminded me of that extra r that I like to add on the, on the star method.

Aaron Calafato:Well, and you're spot on. I love how you think about story too. 'cause it's just like talking to a. Like someone in my space because the, there always is an ending that either makes them think, makes them ask a question or gives them a reflection and a perspective. Yeah. And so any great story, something has to change. It's not a story. If something doesn't change or someone doesn't change, it's a, it's a, a spark for the next question. An interview. Don't do what we're doing now in an interview. An interview isn't a conversation in this sense where it's like, oh, we're gonna explore. We're gonna go deep. We're gonna, there are, it has, it is a different environment.They're not inviting you onto a podcast or you're not sitting down with your friend having a drink. It's real and it's human, but always know the room. What am I doing here? They have a time set, so I, you want to go deep enough where it is showing a part of yourself and doing all the things we talked about where you can insert short stories and you can humanize yourself, but it also can be efficient.It can help them with their task and make their job easier, make their discernment easier about what they need to do and still articulate. But in this context, we're talking about stories, stories in a snap, and you want to keep it in those moments. And then if they ask you to go deeper, [00:26:00] now you can. Now you can, oh, you want me to go further?Okay. Let's go further here. And, and that's a beautiful thing. So it's just such a great appetizer in those moments. And it allows you to be human within a transactional experience. Exactly. Exactly. And that's, and that's the thing for people to keep in mind and you know, the interview process. For early professionals, it's, it's, it's usually a shorter, there's less interviews, it's a shorter process. you know, as you get further on in your career, you, you will maybe have the third, fourth, fifth round of an interview process be more conversational because then they're really trying to get to know who you are more as a person. but I think for the early career folks, it's, it's, you've gotta be concise and efficient.

Karen Elders: So, This is awesome. I think that the whole, piece of learning how to tell a short story, self-awareness. The why, being the biggest kind of through line backbone of everything you are, doing, being a story catcher, and then learning how to be a storyteller. I think those things are just what, what sticks out to me.This is amazing. Thank you so much. I, I really think this is so. Valuable for people, especially as we kick off the new year. 

Aaron Calafato:So I appreciate you just having me on and opening up this sort of, this world, of storytelling, but connecting it to this very real thing that we're all doing here, which is we're all trying to, you know, seek jobs and have great careers and great lives.So I appreciate you having me on. 

Karen Elders: Awesome, awesome. 

Are you looking for more career advice or one-on-one career coaching? Check out launch career strategies. We help young professionals launch successful and fulfilling careers. Check us out@launchcareerstrategies.com. By the way, if you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a rating and review.

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