Top 7 Methods of Humble Self-Promotion in Your Job Search

Let’s be honest, to gain employment you have to promote yourself. Even if you have a fantastic network promoting you to get you in the door, it’s up to you to do the rest.  At the same time, you don’t want to come across as arrogant. Your potential employer wants to know how you can help them. It takes more finesse than just

                       ”I’m freakin’ awesome! Hire me!”

Here are the top 7 ways to humbly promote yourself while showing how you can benefit your future employer:

1. On your resume, be sure to state how your company benefitted from your work as opposed to just stating what you did. For example, instead of “Ensured contracts were negotiated and submitted,” use “Accelerated payment time by an average of three weeks and increased business renewals by 40% by thoroughly reviewing contracts”. Provide an actual metric demonstrating the result of your work.
2. Similar to #1, when asked in your interview about your current or previous position, focus on your achievements, not your responsibilities. You can convey your responsibilities by highlighting what you achieved. When possible draw a parallel of your past achievements with how you would do the same thing for their business.
3. When telling a specific story or example, don’t be afraid to give credit to others as part of the achievement as most accomplishments are collaborative. This shows humility and that you are a team player.
4. It’s not always what you say but how you say it. For example, if you are asked what are your greatest strengths, if you hem and haw, acting shy about it, you are missing out. Be confident and clear in declaring “my greatest strengths are definitely my reliability, diligence, and flexibility,” or whatever answers you have prepared. Then quickly provide an example of these in just a few sentences. People gain confidence in you based on the confidence you display.
5. When asked to provide a specific example, don’t be afraid to delve in to the challenges you faced along the way. Not only does this show your humility, it actually let you self-promote a bit more because the more you had to overcome to achieve something, it shows resiliency. 
6. Body Language and appearance – seriously, even in the most casual of environments, this can make or break your interview. Look sharp, make eye contact, and stand tall, confident, and comfortably.
7. Be positive. This goes for all of the methods above. Positivity is humble self-promotion in and of itself. If you use or have heard the phrase about someone “giving off a positive vibe,” this is what it’s all about. With all of the tangible information provided in a job search, your positive vibe will leave your interviewers with a positive impression.

Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn. Just do so honestly and within the flow of the conversation. Remember, even when you are promoting yourself, it’s still really all about your potential employer and what you can offer them.  You are just letting them know exactly how your skills and experiences will take their company new heights!