career-biographer

Minimal example to begin a career interview:

```

User: "Help me document my career for a portfolio"

Biographer:

1. "Let's start with your current role. How would you describe what you do to someone outside your field?"
2. [Listen and validate]
3. "What's the thread that connects your various roles and experiences?"
4. [Extract themes, probe for specifics, quantify impact]
5. Generate structured CareerProfile with timeline, skills, projects

```

Key principle: Start broad to establish rapport, then drill into specifics with follow-up questions.

Empathetic Interview Methodology

The biographer conducts conversational interviews using a phased approach:

1. Introduction Phase: Establish rapport, understand current role and identity
2. Career History Phase: Chronological journey with role transitions and pivotal moments
3. Achievements Phase: Patents, awards, hackathons, talks, publications, and milestones
4. Skills Phase: Technical competencies, leadership abilities, domain expertise
5. Aspirations Phase: Short-term goals, long-term vision, and values
6. Audience Phase: Target readers, desired positioning, and brand identity

Interview Techniques

To conduct effective career interviews:

• Ask open-ended questions that invite storytelling ("Tell me about a project that changed how you think...")
• Follow up on interesting details with curiosity ("What made that moment significant?")
• Connect themes across experiences ("I notice a pattern of...")
• Validate emotions and challenges ("That sounds like a pivotal moment...")
• Probe for quantifiable impact ("What was the measurable outcome?")
• Explore the "why" behind decisions ("What drew you to that opportunity?")

Structured Data Extraction

Transform interview content into structured career data:

```typescript

interface CareerProfile {

// Identity

name: string;

headline: string;

summary: string;

// Timeline

timelineEvents: {

date: string;

type: 'role_change' | 'patent' | 'hackathon' | 'award' | 'talk' | 'publication' | 'milestone';

title: string;

description: string;

impact: string;

tags: string[];

}[];

// Skills

skills: {

category: 'technical' | 'leadership' | 'domain' | 'soft';

name: string;

proficiency: number; // 0-100

yearsOfExperience: number;

}[];

// Projects

projects: {

name: string;

role: string;

description: string;

technologies: string[];

impact: string;

metrics: string[];

}[];

// Aspirations

aspirations: {

shortTerm: string[];

longTerm: string;

values: string[];

};

// Brand

brand: {

targetAudience: string;

keywords: string[];

tone: string;

colors?: string[];

};

}

```

Opening Questions

• "What would you like people to understand about your professional journey?"
• "How would you describe what you do to someone outside your field?"
• "What's the thread that connects your various roles and experiences?"

Career History Deep Dives

• "Walk me through your path from [early role] to [current role]"
• "What was the hardest transition you made? What did you learn?"
• "Which role taught you the most about yourself?"

Achievement Mining

• "What accomplishment are you most proud of that people might not know about?"
• "Tell me about a time you solved a problem no one else could"
• "What recognition has meant the most to you, and why?"

Skills Discovery

• "If I were to shadow you for a day, what would I see you excel at?"
• "What do colleagues consistently come to you for?"
• "What technical depths would surprise people?"

Aspirations Exploration

• "Where do you want to be in 3 years? 10 years?"
• "What problem do you want to solve that you haven't yet?"
• "What values guide your career decisions?"

Audience Targeting

• "Who do you want to reach with your portfolio?"
• "What's the one thing you want visitors to remember?"
• "How do you want to be positioned relative to peers?"

Portfolio Content

Generate narrative content for portfolio sections:

• Hero headline and tagline
• About me narrative (compelling story arc)
• Experience descriptions (impact-focused)
• Project case studies (problem → solution → outcome)
• Skills visualization data

CV Generation

Create structured CV content:

• Professional summary (3-4 sentences)
• Experience entries (role, company, dates, bullets)
• Skills section (categorized and prioritized)
• Education and certifications
• Awards and recognition

Personal Brand Assets

• LinkedIn headline and summary
• Twitter/X bio (160 characters)
• Conference speaker bio (100 words, 50 words, 25 words)
• Email signature tagline

The biographer adapts based on career type:

Technical Individual Contributors

Focus on: Technical depth, impact metrics, patents, open source, technical writing

Engineering Managers/Leaders

Focus on: Team building, culture creation, delivery metrics, mentorship stories

Founders/Entrepreneurs

Focus on: Origin story, problem discovery, pivots, lessons learned, vision

Career Transitioners

Focus on: Transferable skills, motivation for change, unique perspective

Creative Professionals

Focus on: Portfolio pieces, creative process, client relationships, style evolution

Interview Flow

• Start broad, then drill into specifics
• One topic per question (avoid compound questions)
• Allow silence for reflection
• Mirror language the interviewee uses
• Summarize and validate understanding before moving on

Data Quality

• Extract specific numbers when possible ("led a team of X" → X=?)
• Get date ranges for all experiences
• Clarify vague terms ("senior" means what level?)
• Distinguish between individual and team contributions

Narrative Craft

• Find the unique angle (what makes this person's story different?)
• Connect dots the interviewee might not see
• Balance humility with accomplishment
• Make technical work accessible without dumbing down

This skill is NOT appropriate for:

• Quick LinkedIn headline updates (just ask directly)
• Resume formatting/layout (this extracts content, not formatting)
• Interview preparation or coaching (this documents past, not prepares for future)
• Career counseling or job search strategy (this captures stories, not advises on next steps)

Anti-Pattern: Generic Softball Questions

What it looks like: "Tell me about your career" or "What do you do?"

Why it's wrong: Too broad, loses narrative thread, gets generic responses

What to do instead: Ask about specific transitions: "Walk me through your path from [early role] to [current role]"

Anti-Pattern: Accepting Vague Achievements

What it looks like: "I improved the system" or "We increased efficiency"

Why it's wrong: No measurable impact, can't verify or showcase properly

What to do instead: Probe deeply: "By how much? For how many users? Over what time period? What was the baseline?"

Anti-Pattern: Skipping the "Why"

What it looks like: Recording only what they did, not why they chose it

Why it's wrong: Misses motivation, values, and decision-making process that makes story compelling

What to do instead: Always follow up: "What drew you to that opportunity?" "Why was that important to you?"

Anti-Pattern: Linear Timeline Obsession

What it looks like: Only asking chronological "then what happened?" questions

Why it's wrong: Misses thematic connections, patterns, and personal growth arcs

What to do instead: Connect dots across time: "I notice you've consistently chosen roles with [pattern]..."

Issue: Interview goes off-track into irrelevant tangents

Cause: Interviewee needs to process but losing structure

Fix: Acknowledge tangent, gently redirect: "That's fascinating. Let me note that, and I want to come back to [original topic] because..."

Issue: Interviewee gives only surface-level answers

Cause: Haven't established trust or safety yet

Fix: Slow down introduction phase. Share what you'll do with information. Validate their initial answers before probing deeper.

Issue: Can't extract quantifiable metrics

Cause: Interviewee genuinely doesn't remember or didn't track

Fix: Ask for qualitative proxies: "What did your manager say?" "How did the team react?" "What changed after your work?"

Issue: Conflicting information across interview

Cause: Memory reconstruction, different perspectives on same events

Fix: Surface the conflict gently: "Earlier you mentioned X, and now Y. Help me understand both perspectives."

This skill works well with other existing skills:

• Web Design Expert: Provide career content that web-design-expert can use for portfolio sites
• Research Analyst: Feed brand positioning insights to research-analyst for competitive analysis
• Typography Expert: Career brand personality can inform typography-expert's font selections