Learning to brag about yourself

Boasting, bragging, tooting your own horn – do any of these sound positive? Most people would cringe at the thought of being boastful or “full of themselves.” And yet, most of us also get annoyed fast if we aren’t credited for our work.

When it comes to job search, this paradox can create real problems. In the case of interviews, you’re the only one in the room who can accurately describe your accomplishments. Assuming you’re not planning to hire a press agent, you’ll have to find a way to brag for yourself if you want to move forward in your career. To make this easier, it might help to revise your definitions. Is it really bragging, for instance, to accurately describe your role or to explain the positive results of your work? Along the same lines, which is more helpful to an interviewer: to have a clear understanding of your contributions, or to have to guess at what you did in your last job?

Of course you know the answer to these questions. Interviewers both want and need accurate information in order to make the best decision, so it’s almost an obligation for you to describe your contributions. Hence, relaying the information isn’t the issue – it’s how you do it that matters.

With that in mind, here are five mistakes to avoid when discussing your qualifications with an interviewer.

Don’t credit “the team” with your successes. The new boss isn’t hiring your team – she’s hiring you. If you’re skilled in leading others, then you might start with, “I put together a team that I directed in creating…”

On the other hand, if you were part of a successful team but not the leader, focus on your role: “I took responsibility for documentation so we could move forward efficiently without losing time over miscommunications. This also made it possible for our remote partners to stay current with the project, which made the funding easier to secure.”

You can see how much better those “brags” are than simply saying, “Our team was very successful…”

Don’t be confined by an inaccurate job title. Let’s say you’re working at a director level, but your company doesn’t use that designation. Start by using your resume to set the record straight. Instead of listing the job as “Marketing Manager, XYZ Company,” you might omit the exact title in favor of “Marketing Leadership, XYZ Company.” Then you can continue with, “Working at a director level of authority, oversee all strategy and operations for a 10-person marketing department…”

Having explained the level of your responsibility (without claiming a title you don’t have), you can continue from there when you meet with the interviewer in person.

Don’t downplay the initiative you’ve taken. Did you come up with a good idea or solve a sticky problem? If so, don’t act as if you stumbled onto a solution under someone else’s prodding.

For example, instead of saying, “My boss suggested I try new vendors, which worked out well for us,” try this: “When my boss suggested we try new vendors, I started by creating an RFP with a stronger set of measurables. Then I asked three different companies to create a sample process that we could evaluate as a team…”

By putting yourself forward as a key actor, you focus on the most important aspect of the story – the actions you took – rather than presenting yourself as simply following instructions.

Don’t humble-brag.

If you’re not familiar with this term, online sources describe it as pretending to be humble while actually boasting. Online sources also describe this as highly annoying, which it is.

Here’s an example: “I would have liked to have done more, but increasing our profits last year by 200% was as far as I could get.” That may sound humble but it’s actually manipulative. You’re practically forcing the other person to praise you: “Gosh, that’s a terrific year-over-year result; however did you do it?”

You’ll have a more honest and productive conversation if you just claim the achievement up front: “One thing I’m very proud of from my last job is the growth we achieved. I made changes to our pricing structure at the same time that we re-shaped our marketing outreach. We saw a 200% increase in profits last year, which was incredibly rewarding. I couldn’t promise to do the same thing here, but it would be exciting to try.”

Don’t confuse explaining with bragging. Did you do something good? Would the interviewer appreciate knowing that? Go ahead and tell your story, letting the chips fall where they may. If you’re not intending to brag, you probably won’t sound braggy, at least to someone else’s ears – and that’s what counts most in this case.