How to Sell Yourself in an Interview without Bragging

During the interview process you want to convey your strengths, experience and credentials without sounding too cocky or brash.

You must sell yourself, but you need the right amount of finesse to keep from coming across as a self-centered and boastful person.

But how do you do it without sounding like that?

Read on to find out how.

State the Facts Only
Be prepared with specific numbers and stats. You don’t want to get too personal here.

If you were responsible for increasing sales revenue for your company by 68%, simply state that fact. Explain how you were able to reach that goal in a precise manner. Methods you used to get to that point and tactics that helped you succeed.

Don’t explain how you were the only one working so hard and none of your coworkers helped in reaching that goal. How you had to stay late and no one else did.

Your track record, stats, strategy and results will speak for themselves. If they are momentous and something the employer is looking for, that will speak volumes.

Show Confidence
You will want to highlight the critical parts of your accomplishments. However, at the same time you don’t want to falsify duties or responsibilities you did not perform.

For example, increasing your company revenue by 68% is quite significant. But don’t mislead them to believing that you were also responsible for all the reports, or tracking or the management of that department.

Having some modesty goes a long ways. But at the same time, be sure to convey the primary points of your job duties.

Remember to be respectful, modest, use the right tone of voice, be appreciative and show confidence and all that will convey positively to the interviewer without sounding cocky.

Folks understand that there is not a person on this planet who is good at everything.

Detail Weaknesses and your Strengths will Shine
Have you ever been asked the following?
What are your greatest strengths?
What are your greatest weaknesses?

We all dread those questions, don’t we?

We are afraid if we admit to our weaknesses, well, it shows weakness. However, if you do it correctly it will only make your strengths shine brighter.

Here’s how:
Be totally honest with what you consider are your weaknesses.

If you are an outstanding sales person in a face-to-face situation, don’t hesitate to let the interviewer know that you are not very good at cold-calling.

If you are better with managing a small team rather than a large one, state that weakness.

If you were responsible for building a website but don’t have the skills to generate leads from that website, don’t be afraid to say that.

Be careful what you claim as a weakness, though. You don’t want to mention a weakness of selling if you’re applying for a sales job. Be mindful of the details in the job description in which you’re applying.

Use these tips when interviewing and you’ll feel more confident in your strengths, weaknesses and experience and you won’t sound like your bragging or being boastful.

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Tips to Make your Online Job Application Powerful

In today’s market, most employers searching for potential candidates will use online job boards, create online sourcing efforts and post job ads – all online. Gone is the traditional newspaper search on Sunday mornings, sitting at your dining room table with a cup of coffee and combing through the want ads.

Due to today’s technology and company recruiting efforts, it is imperative that you create a resume and job application that will get you noticed.

When a company posts their job opportunities online, they typically receive hundreds of resumes and applications within minutes.

Recruiters will then start combing through all those resumes looking for specific keywords, skills, credentials and educational accomplishments.

As a potential candidate, you need to grab their attention in an instant.

The following are tips to do just that.

Create a Subject Line that gets their Attention
As a recruiter begins to go through their emails, the first thing they notice is the subject line of your email.

Put something in that subject line that coincides with the job opportunity and your experience.

If you are applying for a Sales Management position, these subject lines would grab the recruiter’s attention:

AT&T National Sales Manager – 15 years of experience
Sales Engineer – acquired $1 million in sales last year
Sales Management – $250,000 in new business generated
Branch Manager – B2B & Major Account Sales

Be sure to read the job description and the specifics of what it entails and creatively add that to the subject line of your email.

The Meat of your Email
This is another chance to get the attention of the recruiter. Put some thought and originality into your first sentence and then the first paragraph.

You want to convey the most persuasive information in an efficient manner. You do not want to lolly-gag around about it either. Be quick to state the most important facts right away.

If you have been referred by someone the recruiter may know, be sure to mention that quickly. There are times that that simple statement can get you through the hiring process much faster. Or at the very least, get your résumé viewed and passed to the next stage.

Recruiters don’t have a lot of time to read every word of your email, therefore, stating your most powerful points arranged in a bullet format makes it much more efficient.

Keep the Body of your Email Short
You are so eager to tell the recruiter all about you and your past accomplishments and how you would make an excellent part of their team. You want to go on and on and on like the Energizer Bunny.

Don’t do it.

The best rule of thumb is to have 3 to 4 paragraphs. If you can convey everything in only 3 paragraphs, then stick with that.

Hiring personnel and recruiters don’t have a lot of time to read every single email they get. Make it as easy on them as possible and keep it brief and concise.

When you get the interview you will be able to go into many more details of your credentials and experience.

Create an Appealing Resume
You want something that appeals visually; however, you don’t want to go overboard.

Using a computer to draft your resume is of course the best option. It also allows you to get a bit more creative with graphics, fonts and style.

Furthermore, you don’t want to do anything that makes your résumé ugly and hard to read. So don’t get crazy here, just be mindful of everyone that will be reading your resume and more important, you want to convey your job talents and expertise, not how pretty you can draft a resume.

Attaching your Resume to your Email
You want to look computer-savvy and attach your cover letter and resume in a professional manner.

Therefore, the best rule of thumb is to attach it as a PDF file, instead of a DOC file. Of course you want to be sure you’ve followed their instructions for attachments, cover letters and references.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a PDF converter. There are many free sites where you can convert your word document into a PDF document. If you Google, “Free PDF converter,” you’ll find many resources.

If you are going to email your resume, cover letter and possible references, just put all those into one PDF attachment. Don’t make separate attachments.

Again, make it as simple for the recruiter as possible.

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