How to Respond to ‘What do you do?’ with Interest + Impact
By: Natasha Bjoerndal
Tags: Career Advice, Career Change, Share Your Story, Elevator Pitch, Career Development

A SIMPLE 3-STEP APPROACH FOR ANYONE TO FOLLOW

Throughout my corporate career, I always daydreamed that one of my idols (Prince Willem Alexander, Michelle Obama, Sean Connery — you get my drift) would somehow end up sitting next to me on a plane ride.

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After some pleasantries, we’d get into the ‘so what do you do’ portion of the conversation. One-sidedly of course because I (and the whole world) already know what they do. Not that I ever thought this would materialise because I’m almost certain flying weekday cattle class is reserved for consultants!

In the many, many, flights I took to travel weekly or monthly to and from client sites, I conjured up hundreds of iterations of this response and often, I’d role play this question with girlfriends over happy hour.

Would it surprise you to know that from my (rather limited and non-statistically sound) research, I’ve concluded that there are three standard responses women share when asked what they do.

One — the standard ‘job description’ role they do, company they work for sprinkled with a few highly technical bits of their profession. I call this the ‘cue-the-boredom-clock’ response.

Two — the background story of where they came from and how they ended up where they are. It’s the equivalent of someone asking for a tissue and you spill open your bag to say, it’s in here somewhere (find it yourself).

Three — the most eloquent response is the mission-led elevator pitch (the winner that is). Leading with your most prized value or aspiration wrapped up in your cornerstone expertise and finished off with your current career situation could not be more ideal.

Like most perfected things in life, it requires some element of muscle memory — well, unless you’re Barack Obama and rattling off profound, edge-of-your-seat sentences is second nature to you.

That beckons me to the how. How do we respond to the question of what we do with interest and impact? After all, it is what we do daily and ideally, what we’re driven by so should it not be a walk in the park to describe?

Wrong.

We’re so accustomed to the jargon used in our industry and professions that our descriptions often sound contrived, to the point of echoing a mild systematic formula. So how do we refrain from making others desperately stifle their yawns while we rattle off our 30-seconds of fame responses?

By using a tried and tested formula, practising it enough to sound natural and refining it continuously for our different audiences. Let’s break this down.

Step 1 — Lead with your North Star

Start with the end in mind, akin to the recency effect. Entice your audience with your mission, what you’re passionate about, your value proposition as a person and professional. It doesn’t matter that you’re not there yet or that you’re still working towards it. Convey this with conviction because the goal here is to ground your authority — are you believable in what you’re saying?

Some sentence starters you could use include:

I’m passionate about

I believe in

What drives me both personally and professionally

Step 2 — Highlight cornerstone moments

While spending a few days (and nights) at the oil rigs as the ONLY female while in Oman may have been a career spotlight for me, that doesn’t mean everyone shares that opinion. Infuse carefully crafted pieces of your career experience next. It’s best to storify a few solid examples you can pull depending on who you’re connecting with. Whatever you do, don’t DUMP information. Use your skills in a nifty way to captivate your audience.

Some snippets you could use include:

A defining moment(s) that shifted your perspective or compelled you to do what you do

A memorable experience that’s relatable to the general person (my example is too specific)

Using anecdotes or nicknames you’re known for easily related to your superpower(s)

Step 3 — Connect the dots

Lastly, glue your narrative together using your highest contributions first. Pull out your boldest tangible numbers — be it budgets, headcounts, users impacted, locations, percentages as these put your experience into perspective. Telling me you sold 100K units of something out of context means as much as you claiming you found the vaccine to the Corona virus (not credible, that is).

Some grounding or closing sentences you could use include:

I’m proud to / of

For me, [what you do] makes work feel like everyday living — it takes work out of work

I would have never imagined that [defining moment / experience] could lead me to [what you do now]

As a summary example, my elevator pitch reads:

“I’m passionate about creating a culture where more women have access to senior leadership roles and start profitable, sustainable businesses. My 20-year corporate career where I helped leaders navigate change for Fortune 100 companies gave me the insights I needed to want a new world. One where women can work without unspoken biases and unwritten rules, where we can excel with mentorship and support. I’m proud to work with ambitious women in mid-career, ready to leap and pivot into the next level, who want to change the statistics for women as much as I do.”

Suffice to say I don’t rattle off these lines exactly in those exact words but you get the objective of this post.

The summary of my career story is how I choose to respond to “what do you do” in most instances unless I’m presenting to a specific group, whom I know need instantaneous authority built-in.

Only in those instances do I pull out some specifics of my corporate career. I might share how I’ve worked globally in over 10 countries, for 3/5 supermajor oil companies, spearheaded award winning training programs etc.

More often than not though, I lead with my why — what I’m passionate about. I share some highlights of what motivated me to get here. Then I explain a little further to connect the dots. I ALWAYS relate it back to my ideal client — the person I’m serving as a grounding activity.

Why on earth should you care about mastering the response to “what do you do?”, you may ask — valid question since most people don’t give it a second thought. It’s because this response encapsulates the essence of our career story.

The defining tale of how, we — as people, impacted by nature, nurture or self, decided to pursue a path that has mutually changed us and helped us affect change in the world. Everyone wants to hear THAT story.

It’s THAT story you should use to:

Introduce yourself in your headline summary of your resume or CV

Create impact and be memorable in your LinkedIn header

Write your bio for any inclusions

Pitch yourself to anyone you meet

If you made it to this portion of the post, firstly — well done. You’ll likely do nothing with the information I shared like 98% of readers but should you feel motivated to write your career story summary, then I’d love to proofread it for you.

I share more of these tips daily on Instagram @thecareerishq and in my private community, The Careeristas — it’s free and open to women only. I’d love to welcome you in both digital cafes and get to know you better.

Grab your free copy of How to Write a Compelling Career Story cheatsheet today!