When to Sell Yourself During a Job Interview, and When to be Humble

When to Boast About Yourself During a Job Interview, and When to Be Humble.

         There is a way to boast about yourself with confidence and humility, and there is an alternative way to go about it which could jeopardize your opportunity to land a solid job. The latter will not only leave the employer unimpressed, but leave you looking conceited as well. You’ll come across as an individual who isn’t a team player or a good fit.

Here’s how to handle your big chance at making a good first impression:

         You want to emphasize the top three main things you want your employer to know about you when selling yourself. Keep it short, simple, and straightforward. One idea from Big Interview, explains how to tell an employer about yourself professionally. They tell their audience to try, “a concise, enthusiastic response that summarizes your big-picture fit for the job.” You want to briefly highlight your experiences in past jobs and what makes you a good candidate. It’s best to refrain from repeating all of your achievements, experiences, and certifications during an interview. This is because a majority of that information is found in your resume…hopefully.

         From an interviewer’s point of view, they’re not trying to stump you by asking you to tell them about yourself. They genuinely just want to find out if you’re a good fit for the company. They have no reason not to like you as soon as you walk through the door. However, being arrogant and spending too much time talking only about yourself is the quickest way to shoot yourself in the foot. Your employer also doesn’t want to hear about your personal life, so it’s best to leave that out. On the flip side of being arrogant, there is such thing as being too humble. Unfortunately, some people aren’t too comfortable when it comes to talking about themselves. This causes them to miss opportunities to sell themselves because they are too modest and provide little information about their skills.

         A general rule of thumb, in terms of how long your time to shine should be, is around 30 seconds to 2 minutes. This time should be spent on solid, focused, energetic, and informative information about yourself. Anything above that time may be too long. You want to keep in mind that when you’re telling an employer about yourself, you’re essentially doing an elevator pitch. There is no perfect, fool-proof amount of time since interviews are situational and employers differ, but it’s always in your best interest not to drag anything out for too long. First impressions are crucial and you know arrogance when you hear it, simply put, don’t spend all your time talking about why you are extraordinary. Instead, talk about why you would be an extraordinary candidate at an ordinary job!

Here are 8 tips on how to sell yourself humbly, without sounding arrogant:

1. Be genuine.
2. Share your excitement.
3. Ask questions.
4. Be brief.
5. Be strategic with the information you share.
6. Help your employer understand who you are as a person.
7. Talk about the impact.
8. Don’t sound too humble.

         These tips are from an awesome website called Kununu. Kununu posted a full and very interesting article going more in-depth on these tips, so head over to their website and check it out! If you’re looking for more job search tips, information, or resources in general, then check out our main page Our First Job Search! There you’ll find more blogs, success stories, videos about job interviews, and much more. Follow these interview tips in this blog, and you won’t have any problems when it comes to how to find a job. Also, check out our new podcast we just launched with special guest Kathy Kiernan, where we dive further into how to boast about yourself professionally!

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