We speak to people from many industries. Jobseekers who are desperate to find their next role. People who have genuinely achieved and made a real difference during their career.
But speak to them in an interview, and every improvement, every positive change, every target hit, every budget made seems to be down to somebody else.
Which might well be true, and the truly modest amongst us will never take credit for anybody else’s hard work. The truly sensible amongst us will also recognise that we have made a contribution.
Here is the problem. At interview most recruiters don’t value modesty, reticence and underachievement. They are looking for precisely the opposite. People who make things happen, people who are successful, people who make a difference.
So unless you get into the habit of blowing your own trumpet, explaining clearly how you were able to contribute, how your team outperformed, how you were always valued when compared to your peers, then you will not stand out.
Because it is highly probable that most of the others on the shortlist are doing just that. Even if in reality they have achieved very little, they will still take credit for small successes.
So when people say “I don’t want to blow my own trumpet” our reply is “You must, because nobody else will do it for you”.
Unless you take your mother to the interview, that is.
