EMC Global Services has more than 14,000 employees spread all over the globe. Two career questions come up more frequently than any others: What can I do next and how do I get there?
Over the last two years, my role has been to help answer those questions.
The Challenge of a Global Workforce
The global, remote nature of our workforce creates some unique challenges. How do you find job openings, build a network and advance your career when you’re one of just a handful of people in your area?
There are employees at EMC who have quite successfully navigated those challenges. We realized early on that capturing and sharing their stories was important.
One of our first successes was Career TV, video podcast series with a simple concept: Ask some of EMC’s best and brightest employees to share their best career advice in 60-seconds or less, film it, and post it on YouTube.
After doing a series of these videos, we began to notice some common themes and trends. We started compiling insights around common topics into short ebooks. The Career Guide series was born.
All of these tools reside on an internal social network called EMC-ONE. They’ve helped sparked discussions around topics like leadership and continuous learning. They’ve helped people connect, share and learn from each other.
Storytelling as a Job
While the subject matter I’ve worked with has definitely been human resource related, the type of work I do is not strictly HR.
If anything, I’m a professional storyteller. I capture and share employees’ stories. Big picture, I tell a story about learning and development at EMC.
And I’ve come to realize that this is what I like best about my job. Storytelling.
I’ve been giving some thought to what I might do next. Something in our Learning & Development group would be an obvious match. But I also think Marketing might be an interesting way to use the skills I’ve developed.
After all, marketing is storytelling (ideally nonfiction).
So I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be doing next. I know I want to stay at EMC, and I want to help tell stories. Beyond that… I’m still trying to figure it out.
G’Day Chris,
Writing is a most rewarding–and frustrating-pursuit. Here’s some advice from someone who knows a bit abiut it, Stephen King,
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that … The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing; one comes to the country of the writer with one’s papers and identification pretty much in order. Constant reading will pull you into a place (a mind-set, if you like the phrase) where you can write eagerly and without self-consciousness.”
Believe it or not, my first articles were published over 50 years’ ago. Whatever you decide, do what you believe is right for you. The hard bit isn’t deciding. The hard bit is defining ‘right for you.”
Good Luck
Leon