How to Write a Job Narrative

A job narrative is a short document that you may be asked to submit with your job application. It describes your unique qualifications for a particular job. They are often used for federal government job applications. They speak directly to the specific skills and requirements of the job that you want and connect your experiences and training to them.

Read through the job description thoroughly to identify the most important qualifications. Address key skills and experiences you have that relate to the job's requirements.

Provide specific examples of how you used your skills, knowledge, abilities and qualifications in your professional or academic past. These examples should relate to how they would be used in the particular job for which you apply.

Use active, identifying verbs to tell the employer what you can do. Instead of writing, "handled" or "did," for example, write "conducted" or "evaluated" to describe your skills and experiences. Insert key words from the job description into your narrative to draw attention to your skills and achievements as they relate to the job. Double check your narrative for spelling, punctuation and grammar before you submit it.

Set off your experiences and accomplishments with bullet points, headings or some other formatting tool. This will help employers identify your key skills.

Write with as few words as possible. Accurately portray your skills, education and experiences, but do so in a concise manner. If the job announcement states a maximum number of words for your job narrative, adhere to it. Your ability to follow instructions is important to demonstrate in the application stage.

Avoid writing in an overly-modest tone. Choose words that confidently portray your abilities.