How do you take a stack of technical information and turn it into a captivating, engaging recruitment ad? The most common solution is to divide your stack into a bunch of bullet points. But no matter how carefully you plan your ad, if you appeal to people who are primarily “thinkers,” you are almost guaranteed to numb your audience to the point of incomprehension. In fact, the objectives and qualification alone are not sufficient to persuade most people to work as research officer.

One solution is to draw people in so that they can see the relevance of the research outcome to their lives. An effective way to draw them in is to present your information in the narrative form of a story. There is something very powerful and elemental about stories. Alan Kay, the personal computer visionary, once said, “Why was Solomon recognized as the wisest man in the world?” Because he knew more stories (proverbs) than anyone else. Stories are fundamental to how we think, learn, and make sense of the world around us.

If you use persuasive stories to get people to work as research officer for their own good or in their best interests, you’re already halfway there. You can use three kinds of stories, and all are effective. The first kind is one that is directly related to your University or MIMOS. The second kind of story is a hypothetical one. This is a story about the novel research that is not “real” in the sense that it has ever happened, necessarily, but it is certainly “realistic” in that it could happen. The third type of story is one that takes a more metaphorical approach, which is not in itself about your situation or the University specifically, but which is symbolic or illustrative of the recruitment point that you want to make.