If you are applying for a job then remember one thing – this is no time to be shy so don’t think that self praise is donkey praise. This is the time when you can reflect upon yourself and find out your strengths and highlight them in your resume. This is the only way that the recruiter would take notice of your resume and consider you as a potential employee. Underplaying strengths to come across as humble is the most common mistake that people make. But the truth is that the employer doesn’t know you – he is keen and your resume is the only means he can do that. Of course, no one is asking you to create strengths and lie blatantly just to get the job but at the same time, not showcasing the qualities that you have is a blunder of gigantic proportions. Besides, more than your words, it is your mannerisms and body language that ultimately help the other person in understanding you so, you need not bother about how you are going to justify the adjectives you’ve used. The trick is to use just the right words and present yourself in a realistically pleasant light in front of the employer. Don’t underplay but don’t overdo either – read on for important tips:
Describe Yourself Using Good Adjectives
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First and foremost, highlight those aspects about you that make you the best fit for the job interview. If you are applying for the position of a Manager, speak about your outgoing personality and mention that you are a friendly, amiable and cheerful person with a good sense of humour. A manager must also be a team player as well as an organised, responsible and result driven individual.
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List your positive qualities and remember that more than a sentence on each is not necessary. Writing too much only takes up time and can even make you sound like a bragster. List the basic and general qualities like artistic, talented, creative, innovative and perceptive.
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It is important to not be shy but, at the same time, do not sound like a ‘pompous-arrogant-nose-in-the-air’. Be honest – it is still the best policy. Communicative and articulate are qualities everybody mentions but very few have so, mention these qualities if you are truly a people’s person.
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Answer on the lines of, “I am a (the job position for which you are applying) and I have (state the number of years of experience that you have) in (the industry which you are working in). I want to be (a job position which is a few levels above the current position for which you are applying) in 5 to 10 years.”
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It is always good to counter question a ‘Describe yourself’ question by politely enquiring which area about yourself you need to stress upon. Sometimes, you are specifically asked to speak about your qualifications or your experience while sometimes, they ask you to speak about yourself in general. The latter situation demands you to speak about yourself the way you will if someone asks you to describe your best friend or a sibling or even a parent. Actually, you can always speak about them if you think they are similar to you!
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There are some effective adjectives that you could use to describe yourself as a person and these are: Thoughtful, Introvert/Extrovert, Balanced, Patient, Compassionate, Sensitive, Independent, Forgiving, Funny, Emotional, Generous, Understanding, Trustworthy, Respectful, Friendly, Mature, Dynamic, Broad-Minded and Perfectionist.
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Other positive adjectives to describe yourself from the professional perspective can include: Leader, Honest, Committed, Dedicated, Persistent, Methodical, Resourceful, Detail Oriented, Responsible, Confident, Analytical, Self- Disciplined, Result oriented, Ambitious, Enthusiastic and Competitive.
It is a good idea to think before the job interview and mentally keep a note of the adjectives which you are planning to use to describe yourself. Most of these adjectives are very common and probably used by many others so, the important thing would be to back them up with a suitable and justifiable body language.
