Confident, humble job seekers score big during job interviews

Employers love meeting confident candidates who do a great job selling

themselves to their potential new boss. However, an interview can easily turn sour if confidence comes across as crass bragging. Sometimes, it’s hard to make the distinction between what makes a candidate interesting and what makes them a boor.

Here are a few tips on selling your talents and potential to employers during a job interview without sounding like a pompous know-it-all:

Explain the ‘how,’ not just the ‘what’:

Too often candidates are so eager to point out their positive attributes that it starts to sound like a self-promoting infomercial. Instead of just spewing what great qualities you have, explain how those qualities would contribute positively to the organization or position.

Justify your bragging rights:

Provide examples of accomplishments and scenarios where your skillsets have directly contributed to the bottom line. By pairing attributes with results you will appear more credible, and your selfpromotion will hold more weight.

For example: “I have always been a tenacious individual who won’t take no for an answer. I once signed a client that no other salesperson was able to because I persistently called to follow up every month for an entire year. He finally gave me a 15-minute meeting and I blew him away with my presentation. We increased our revenue that year by $100,000 from

that client.”

Be knowledgeable, not a knowit-all:

Don’t undermine the positions, experience and accomplishments of the individuals in the room or the company’s current employees. You may be great at

what you do, but the interviewers have

been with the company much longer and will inevitably be more knowledgeable and more seasoned. You want to come across as smart and focused, not obnoxious and untrustworthy.

Grab some humble pie: Even though employers are looking for qualified candidates, they often avoid bringing on individuals who brag about being

set in their ways. Those workers will be inflexible to adapt to the company culture and way of doing business. Although you may know you’re a great candidate who will be a phenomenal asset to the company, your potential bosses have yet to see and work with you to determine that for themselves. You’re starting from the beginning and will have to prove yourself over time. Don’t forget

to be flexible with the new ways of the company.

Know your audience: Survey the room and gauge the temperature. If you’re too aggressive, you may start to

notice the following signs:

• Negative reactions to your comments

• Disengaged body language • Defensiveness

• Silence. You shouldn’t be the only person talking.

If you sense the interview is starting to go downhill, shift the focus, give someone else the spotlight, stop selfpromoting, turn on the humble switch and start listening. Ask relevant questions about the company, the position, and the attributes they are seeking in a candidate