How Your Story Can Transform Your Job Search, with Levi Gaytan

Find Your Dream Job: Insider Tips for Finding Work, Advancing your Career, and Loving Your Job

Mac's List

Careers, Business

4.8 • 624 Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Check out the podcast on Macslist here: (https://www.macslist.org/?post_type=podcasts&p=16289&preview=true) Your story is your most powerful job search tool, yet most candidates fail to use it effectively. According to Find Your Dream Job guest Levi Gaytan, job seekers without personal narratives appear formulaic and forgettable to hiring managers. Stories create connections, showing employers why you're applying and how your past experience relates to their needs. Levi's approach uses two frameworks: SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and VRIO (value, rarity, imitability, organization). He says effective stories follow a simple formula: before, action, result, and then why it matters to the employer. Every experience contains transferable skills – parenting demonstrates leadership, driving for Uber shows resourcefulness. Rather than weak language like "supported," use strong action words like "led" and "directed." Success comes from authentic self-reflection and conducting informational interviews to truly understand what employers need, rather than simply matching resume buzzwords to job descriptions. About Our Guest: Levi Gaytan is an HR leader, speaker, and community builder. Resources in This Episode: Connect with Levi on LinkedIn. Portland Human Resources Management Association Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever been asked this in a job interview? Tell me about a time when you didn't agree with your boss.
0:06.9	What would you say? This is what's called a behavioral interview question, and it's a common tactic.
0:14.1	Employers use this kind of question to explore your fit for a job based on your past experience.
0:20.2	It can be an easy question to answer if you have the right strategy.
0:24.3	I show you how to answer these gotcha questions in our free MaxList Guide, 100 behavioral
0:30.1	interview questions you need to know.
0:32.8	To get your copy, visit maxlist.org slash questions.
0:37.1	You'll also learn four simple steps for answering any behavioral interview question.
0:42.6	Again, that's maxlist.org slash questions.
0:46.4	You can count on getting these questions in your next interview.
0:50.3	Why not get the answers before you walk into the interview room?
0:54.2	Go to maxlist.org slash questions.
1:08.8	This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want,
1:13.7	and make a difference in life. I'm your host, Mack Pritchard. I'm also the founder of Max List.
1:19.7	It's a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career. Every Wednesday,
1:26.2	I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.
1:30.3	You need the right skills and credentials to apply for a position, but to stand out from your competitors,
1:36.3	you have to show what makes you unique. Bivai Gaetan is here to talk about how your story can transform your job search.
1:47.0	He's an HR leader, speaker, and community builder. Levi is passionate about helping you thrive
1:53.2	at work and in your career. He joins us from Vancouver, Washington. Well, Levi, we're talking
1:59.7	today about how your story can transform your
2:01.9	job search. What exactly do you have in mind when you talk about someone's story?
	...

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