How to Tell Your Story in Interviews: Highlighting Hidden Skills Beyond Resumes and LinkedIn Profiles

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately. We spend so much time optimizing resumes and LinkedIn profiles, but almost nobody teaches people how to actually tell their story in an interview. I sat down with two employer brand leaders — Marta Riggins and Cam Moore — and the conversation hit on something I think a lot of job seekers (especially earlier in their career) miss: the experiences you think don't count — the side hustle, the sport you played, the year COVID blew up your plans — those might be the most valuable things you bring to the table. You just haven't been taught how to frame them. The stat that stuck with me: 94% of companies expect Gen Z to arrive with professional etiquette, but only 54% actually help develop those skills. That's not a generational problem. That's a system failure. And one story that really landed — a 25-year-old almost didn't realize that playing college sports had given him the exact skills the role needed. A hiring manager had to point it out mid-interview. His story got him the job. Not his resume. Worth a watch if you're in the job search right now, coaching someone who is, or if you're on the hiring side and want to think differently about how you evaluate early-career candidates.