From my first meeting with Ken he was a focused and self-directed job seeker. He'd been approached by a recruiter with a lucrative senior-level job lead and an interview was set up fairly quickly. He called me weeks later to say he didn't get the job offer.
In his great disappointment he gave an amazingly insightful perspective. "I think I was too modest," he surmised.
BRAGGING vs. PROMOTING
In a series of studies titled "Should I Brag?" researchers concluded that boasting involved an explicit or implied element of competitiveness or 'one upmanship'. [italics added]
Bragging implies elevating oneself for the implied purpose of putting the other person down. Look at what I have (you don't have it). Look at what I own (you don't own it). Look at what I do (you can't do it).
This implied arrogance is not what's going on when you are marketing yourself during the job search! What you've done - your accomplishments - conveys very literally your Value. Your Accomplishment stories say, "Look at how I've impacted companies throughout my career. I can do that for you." That needs to be, after all, the dominant message during your job search: "I am the Solution to your company's need."
Another common misunderstanding is the idea that Accomplishments is exclusive to metrics-driven roles such as Sales or Marketing. A manufacturing technician once told me that he didn't do anything when I asked about his career Accomplishments. I challenged him with, "Oh? So you came in every day, you sat in a chair and they just gave you a check?"
Even though he was very much part of the process (calibrating the production machines), he needed to convey his impact within that process; not only his basic technical knowledge, but also his ability to anticipate problems, for example, and his problem-solving skills in the face of those situations. He was a subject matter expert appointed to training new technicians. He was a project team member of several company initiatives requiring his technical input. He had, in fact, many Accomplishments to speak of.
Employers hire people who best demonstrate that they can meet the company's needs. To not know and promote your skills diminishes your Value in the eyes of the Employer.
Within the context of the job search, modesty can be seen as weakness!
I'll not forget the story of a client who didn't get the job offer for a position she'd in fact been encouraged to apply for. By her own admission the interview - conducted by individuals with whom she'd worked - did not go well. When prompted for feedback afterwards, a colleague confided, "We expected you to come in here as though you didn't know us and sell yourself. You didn't do that."
They offered the job to someone else.
Request a complimentary Resume evaluation or Coaching information by emailing Charlene at: chrleneh@verizon.net
Charlene's LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/charleneholsendorff
Charlene's Blog: http://slicingbananas.com/
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