Frequently Asked Questions
For Job Seekers
The primary criteria for this is: anything that relates to your growth, formation, or transformation as a person and a professional is applicable.
If something is raw or unprocessed it might not serve you well to share it, even if it fits the criteria above (crying is wonderful but not so beneficial in an interview).
Do not share: stories that do not fit the above criteria, secrets or things you've never told anyone, or unaddressed illicit activity.
There is substantial scientific research that connects our life experiences to our soft skills development. Lack of good information about soft skills—character strengths, leadership traits, and people skills—before people are hired, is the primary reason for attrition (people leaving or getting fired).
Sharing your applicable life experiences not only helps you communicate the origins of your soft skills development, but it helps you stand out (especially when other resumes look like yours).
For more info, check out this short video:
Like every great story, you need a clear beginning, middle, and end.
For each of your stories, be sure to answer these three questions:
- What happened? Or, what realization did you have about it?
- In what ways did you change as a result?
- How did this change or realization influence how you work as a professional?
For more info, check out this short video:
The only person the platform who knows your identity (name and email address) is the recruiter who invited you.
Beyond that, WholeStory is anonymous. In our experience, anonymity (with accountability) leads to more authenticity. The context of our stories matters.
We also want you to have control over when and how your identity is revealed and do not want to assume that you want your stories associated with your general online identity.
When you're on the topic selection page, click inside the text field that says “Enter a specific topic here.”
Type whatever topic you wish to add.
Then click “Add Topic.”
Anything you share on the platform is being stored. We do not collect any other information beyond what you choose to share (e.g. we do not tap into your logged information from social media sites).
What you choose to share is then used to help you build great stories along with aiding recruiters in their discernment process.
The recruiter who invited you can see your profile as well as anyone with the direct link to it.
WholeStory is designed to draw out a very wide range of stories that highlight your professional strengths.
While you may not be used to sharing these types of stories in the hiring process, these are particularly valuable. First, they differentiate you from other candidates. Second, they provide the evidence of your character strengths and soft skills like no other pre-employment tool can.
Lastly, Recruiters who use WholeStory understand the science that connects these kinds of stories with the professional skills and strengths they are looking for.
Sort of... It is only tied to them in that they can see it.
You own your account indefinitely, have full control over what's on it, and can use it in any other hiring scenarios.
If the recruiter who invited you leaves WholeStory, it will not effect your account whatsoever.
We intentionally designed WholeStory to draw out the stories that help illuminate who you are as a person, regardless of the role or company you're applying for.
We suggest that you first build stories that you feel represent you and your strengths.
Then, if you are going to share it with a recruiter or hiring manager and you feel that one of your stories is less applicable or needs refinement for those people, then set it to draft or modify it as needed.
In the future, we will build in the ability for you to show/hide specific stories to specific groups as well as have saved story versions.
We've taken research from hundreds of studies that connect life experience to soft skills development and combined it with research on what it takes to be successful in the workplace. The attributes we selected in the self-evaluation are the distillation of that effort and representative of the most critical skills needed for job success.
For you, the basic membership is FREE forever and ever!
We believe job seekers / candidates are underserved in the hiring market. As part of our Social Purpose, we believe in accessibility for all job seekers regardless of ability, socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender identity, etc. (see question #15 for more info).
We strongly recommend starting with at least 3 stories. These will begin to paint a more full picture of who you are (your soft skills) and how you came to be that way (the evidence of those skills).
Beyond that, consider building 5-8 so you have a few to draw from during your interviews.
For more info, check out this short video:
Your stories provide the evidence or proof of your soft skills. When the topic comes up in your interview (e.g. “Tell me a time when you faced great conflict at work...”), start with telling them the story of how you came to be good at that thing (in this example, handling conflict).
“First I would like to share how I learned how to handle conflict well...”
Then come back to their interview question with a workplace example.
“So when my boss came into my office really upset over XYZ, I was able to...”
For more info, check out this short video:
A Social Purpose Corporation (SPC) is a relatively new for-profit corporate entity in Washington, as a way for companies to formally consider their societal and environmental impact, in addition to profit.
WholeStory is a Social Purpose Corporation and we started with this premise: if there could be a place for people to share their stories (especially those who have been marginalized, underrepresented, and undervalued), it would not only change their career possibilities, but could impact so much more.
Our Social Purpose:
WholeStory exists to raise the level of values-oriented leadership in business and society.
We do this by providing tools that bring businesses and job seekers together for authentic interactions through story.
For Employers
From initial signup to completing their first story: about 10 minutes. Every story beyond that point takes about 5 minutes.
Of course, they can spend as much time as they wish. It's quick to move through it, though the best stories come with some reflection.
Yes!
The feedback we've received from candidates has been overwhelmingly positive. Most candidates are excited to have the opportunity to share who they are as a person.
Certainly there are people who are late adopters. Our customers find that WholeStory offers a meaningful way to filter candidates based on vulnerability.
Our customers who require building a WholeStory profile as a "next step" in their screening process (before the interview), tend to both get the most candidates to fill it out.
Notably, this also creates an opportunity to discover "diamonds in the rough." Candidates who may have otherwise been passed up but seeing their work history in the context of their life experiences presents an entirely new view of them.
As you may already know, it's not whether you have the information, it's how you use that information in your decision making process.
The most important thing is to focus on what the candidate's stories illuminate about them as it relates to the job opportunity.
WholeStory enables candidates to share non-traditional topics tied to life experiences. There are two key things to note:
- Candidates choose what they share on their profile.
- Candidates share these stories because they believe their experiences provide further evidence of their professionally-relevant growth and character formation.
This provides more of a level playing field for those who come from under-represented communities.
When it comes to inclusive hiring and building a more diverse workforce, WholeStory offers a competitive advantage to candidates and a powerful addition to your efforts.
See questions #10 and #11 regarding diversity hiring and our Social Purpose to further understand our position on this.
Click on “Invitations” in the upper right hand side of your Dashboard.
Click on “Invite New Candidates” in the upper left hand corner.
Add the name and email address of each candidate you wish to invite, then click “Send Invitation(s).”
First, you'll need to add a job. Click on the “Jobs” link in the navigation in the upper right of your Dashboard.
Second, click on the “Add a Job” button on the left hand side of your Dashboard.
Add in at least a Title and a Job ID with at least three characters (this is just your own internal number)—the client and description are optional.
Click “Add.”
Now you can keep track of who you're looking at for each job by adding candidates to jobs. You can do so in two different ways:
- When you invite a candidate, click the Jobs drop down and select which job(s) you would like to add them to; or
- When you're viewing a profile, open the tray on the right hand side, click on the “Add to job” dropdown at the top to select the job(s) you want.
In the Jobs section, you'll now be able to click on the number shown for all of the associated candidates.
Aside from managing associated jobs, the recruiter tray's primary purpose is to provide unique insights about the candidate's profile.
When you visit a candidate profile, we recommend scanning the stories and then opening the recruiter tray for a quick, yet meaningful, resource.
Our algorithm analyzes the published content on the candidate profile. The resulting output is a set of suggested interview questions around the topics and attributes most supported by our research.
Please note: we are continuing to develop and refine the output of our algorithm as we incorporate more research and learnings. If the recruiter tray is sparse, it is not a reflection on the candidate.
There are two powerful ways you can use WholeStory in your interviews:
- Start your interviews with the candidate's story. Select one or two of the stories that stand out to you and ask them to elaborate. This practice changes the dynamic of an interview. Candidates feel more at ease and open up more substantially as a result.
- Build your own WholeStory profile and share it with the candidates you interview before you interview them. This practice creates reciprocity and builds trust quickly.
There are two ways you can share a candidate profile:
- While viewing the profile, in the upper righthand corner click on the “Copy URL” link. This will copy the link directly to your clipboard and allow you to paste it in an email.
- While viewing the profile, open the recruiter tray. Click on the “Print” button and save as a PDF. This print feature optimizes the profile layout for the physical or PDF format. This will allow you to save it in your ATS or share it with a client via email.
Absolutely!
WholeStory enables an entirely new means of both discovering and screening candidates for soft skills and job-relevant life experiences. It also provides a way for candidates to differentiate themselves.
Learning about a candidate's work history in the context of their life experiences exponentially expands possibilities for both company and individual.
See question #11 for more information along these lines.
A Social Purpose Corporation (SPC) is a relatively new for-profit corporate entity in Washington, as a way for companies to formally consider their societal and environmental impact, in addition to profit.
WholeStory is a Social Purpose Corporation and we started with this premise: if there could be a place for people to share their stories (especially those who have been marginalized, underrepresented, and undervalued), it would not only change their career possibilities, but could impact so much more.
Our Social Purpose:
WholeStory exists to raise the level of values-oriented leadership in business and society.
We do this by providing tools that bring businesses and job seekers together for authentic interactions through story.