Now Is the One Time in Your Life It’s Ok to Brag

So you’ve landed the interview, chosen your outfit and you think you’re fully prepared, but have you thought deeply about the language you should use when answering those interview questions?

Turns out, many people – women more so than men - in an effort to appear humble, tend to use “we” as opposed to “I” in interviews.

We are conditioned not to brag, we prefer to say “my team did this,” but when it comes to a job interview it pays to detail what you have accomplished, what teams you have built, what processes you have engineered, how you saved the company money, how you have excelled.

Mastering simple and authoritative language when detailing your accomplishments is vital to landing the job. The last thing you want is the interviewer walking away puzzled by the thought, “I have no idea what he/she has actually personally accomplished.” What they want to know is what you will bring to the role if they hire you.

If you really aren’t comfortable doing this, another approach could be, “my team did X, my role in the accomplishment of that was Y, and my personal achievement was Z.” 

Of course, if you say “I” all the time you run the risk of coming across as arrogant and/or taking credit for the accomplishments of others. Be aware of balancing “I” and “We” appropriately, so that you take credit for your personal accomplishments, but also come across as a team player who acknowledges and works well with others. The best way to do this is to prepare in advance. Try and anticipate the questions you may be asked, and know and rehearse your answers, figuring out how to balance your personal accomplishments with team initiatives in your examples.

Other ways to master interview language are:

Don't waffle, and use filler words like ‘um’ and ‘ah’ as little as possible.

Be concise and clear.

Use positive language and action words.

Avoid buzzwords, acronyms and soft skill verbs in favour of power words such as results, measurable, responsibility, organised, planned, built, and accomplished. Back these up with examples.

If you would like a little more info, here is a great article that details how to talk about your proudest accomplishments.

Best of luck with your interview, and remember to reach out to us if we can help in any way, even if it is just to chat through your options.

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 With more than 60 years’ combined experience in the recruitment industry, The Talent Experts is a specialist permanent recruitment consultancy working across industry; with a focus on finding elusive, scarce-skill business talent in complex and niche sectors.

We aim to create quality relationships between ourselves, our clients, and ultimately between long-term employee and employer partners. In doing so our goal is to help people achieve their ambitions, help businesses flourish, and improve the world we live in through positive and passionate connections.

Your success is our business. We will always ensure our service to you is at the highest standard. www.thetalentexperts.co.za