Brag your way to Career Success

It is a universal truth that the overwhelming majority of people are just really lousy at bragging about themselves. When I’m talking about bragging, I’m not talking about loud, smug, conceited and nauseating statements about how you are the absolute best and most gifted creature on the face of the earth. When I talk about bragging, I’m talking about subtle, yet powerful self promotion utilised during your job search and on the job.

Bragging and Job Hunting

Bragging is imperative when job hunting, and if you don’t talk about your achievements and skills, then you will end up grossly underselling yourself and more likely than not, will get overlooked for roles which you were perfect for.

A classic example of how bragging can transform your job-hunting, was in relation to a client I revamped a resume for. A talented and intelligent marketing and business development professional, she had described in vast detail her day to day responsibilities within her resume, but had failed to provide any tangible evidence of her contributions in the role and what she had achieved – and subsequently was struggling to secure interviews for ideal roles.

After unearthing her accomplishments, it quickly became evident that she was in fact a high achiever and her achievements, not duties and responsibilities became the cornerstone of her revamped resume. This client was subsequently inundated with interview requests and quickly secured her dream role and a substantial pay-rise.

So if you are currently writing a resume, LinkedIn profile, or addressing selection criteria, ensure that you clearly outline your achievements/accomplishments and make them the core of your marketing message. So make it your goal and objective to identify how you have contributed to past and present employers. How have you made money, saved money, saved time, solved specific work problems, made work easier, build relationships, helped expand the business, enhanced work practices, retained customer loyalty, attracted new customers?   No matter what level you work at, we all contribute, either directly or indirectly, we just need to shift our focus from our daily duties, to how we contribute to an organisation on a daily basis.

Once you have these achievements in your resume, you also have a wonderful bragging framework, for your interview!

Bragging on the Job

Bragging during the job hunt is one thing, but learning to brag on the job, can be a little more difficult, as you don’t want to come across to your colleagues and boss, as the ultimate ‘big head’. Yet by remaining quiet about your successes, you will in fact be under-appreciated and overlooked, as not everybody will recognise your good performance and talents, and you could miss out on a pay rise, or promotion.

Peggy Klaus in her great book Brag! The Art of tooting your own horn without blowing it – outlines the top bragging myths:

Myth #1 A job well done speaks for itself
Myth #2 Bragging is something you do only during performance reviews
Myth #3 Humility gets you noticed
Myth #4 I don’t have to brag; people will do it for me
Myth #5 Lots of bragging is better
Myth #6 Good girls don’t brag
Myth # 7 Brag is a four-letter word

The core message is that you should not treat bragging as a four-letter word, but a key part to achieving career success, as you can’t rely on others in the work place to brag for you. If you are hesitant about bragging, don’t worry, like everything in life, self-promotion is an art and something that can be learned. The key is to get the word out in a subtle but clear fashion, that your actions are contributing to the bottom line, before someone higher up, or lower down the food chain, takes credit for your good work.

So stop being quiet about your achievements and use them to your advantage both during the job search and on the job, so you can achieve career success.