Getting jobs and humility

[tesolin4languages]

Hello everyone

I am a student at University of Rochester, and I am studying MS TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages)

In a job interview, is it okay to brag, by being eager to state your accomplishments? Or should you answer only if asked?

It seems to me that in college applications, that is the time to brag, but tactfully.

What about in job interviews?

I have been denied jobs that are unrelated to my profession, many times because I come off, according to the employers as "too good" or "overqualified." I bring a resume that is packed full of "Magna Cum Laude," or won this award or that.

I am rather upset because I was placed with a future mentor (a teacher I will be observing for more than 100 hours and then I will take over the classroom) and met her at a restaurant. I handed her what I *assume* was a presumptuous resume. And even though I believe we had great connection, she replies a few days later saying "I don't think we have the right connection."

I believe I tried too hard to sell myself.

I try to be humble as much as possible, and sure, while not intended, I can very easily make people jealous with just a brief look at my resume.

Any tips on perfecting humility, and how I should approach future things such as this?

Thanks everyone!

TESOL

Edited July 9, 2011 by tesolin4languages

[ZeChocMoose]

I try to be humble as much as possible, and sure, while not intended, I can very easily make people jealous with just a brief look at my resume.

This struck me as a major "yikes" and a red flag. I hope this doesn't come across in your interviews that you think your interviewers will be "jealous" of your accomplishments. This is highly unlikely especially since you are starting out in your career and academic awards don't tend to make normal, well-balanced individuals jealous.

Not having seen your interview style but based on your post, it may be that you are coming across too strong and are trying too hard to sell yourself. This can be very off-putting and I speak from experience having had to painfully sit through multiple interviews when the interviewee tried this tactic. Someone who constantly mentions their accomplishments unsolicited is going to be labeled as "difficult to work with" and not a "team player." The interviewer is also going to think you are always tooting your own horn and will not admit when you failed or made a mistake. Instead, I would only mention accomplishments that are relevant to the questions that are being asked. I would also refrain from mentioning every single academic award that you have received. In general, gauge your behavior by the tone and body language of your interviewer. They are trying to find a good fit for the position in terms of personality and experience. You also should be interviewing them to see if you think they will be a good teacher mentor for you and give you the support that you need for the next year.

Good luck!

[tesolin4languages]

This struck me as a major "yikes" and a red flag. I hope this doesn't come across in your interviews that you think your interviewers will be "jealous" of your accomplishments. This is highly unlikely especially since you are starting out in your career and academic awards don't tend to make normal, well-balanced individuals jealous.

Not having seen your interview style but based on your post, it may be that you are coming across too strong and are trying too hard to sell yourself. This can be very off-putting and I speak from experience having had to painfully sit through multiple interviews when the interviewee tried this tactic. Someone who constantly mentions their accomplishments unsolicited is going to be labeled as "difficult to work with" and not a "team player." The interviewer is also going to think you are always tooting your own horn and will not admit when you failed or made a mistake. Instead, I would only mention accomplishments that are relevant to the questions that are being asked. I would also refrain from mentioning every single academic award that you have received. In general, gauge your behavior by the tone and body language of your interviewer. They are trying to find a good fit for the position in terms of personality and experience. You also should be interviewing them to see if you think they will be a good teacher mentor for you and give you the support that you need for the next year.

Good luck!

Thanks ZeChocMoose!

I appreciate your help. I will take your advice - I have a lot to learn.

Any more input is always appreciated.

[Agradatudent]

To be honest, just how you are writing on this post and how you describe yoruself, as the other guy said, you sound stuck up.

No one wants to work with someone who's stuck up, is a summary of what the other guy said. And this is true.

You gave them yoru resume right? They read it. You don't need to go over points on it you want to drive home. If anything, on these interviews you should ask questions about the interviewer. Interact with them. Be interested in THEM. They are hiring you to take over something they're doing. They want to know their students will be in good hands with someone who cares about them. If you aren't showing any interest in the class and what kind of students... etc, why would they want you? That's more a general advice: always show an interest in your interviewer and show you've done some research. Especially in science, it's good to know the interviewers research so you can ask them about it. I'm sure there's an analogous thing you can do.

[Joshua07]

You seem too proud; some employers don't like that. Show them that they really deserve you, show an interest on them. As much as possible try to be very, very humble in front of them.

[Dal PhDer]

Job interviews can be really difficult, and it can be a fine line between selling yourself and coming off really confident.

I think your CV and/or resume is the place to really list all your accomplishments- that's where you hit them up and make them say "wow!"...if you do this, you don't really need to reiterate all this information. However, there are some really key areas that you can bring in your accomplishments.

If you are applying for a position and they will want you to write grants- you can always say "yes I have experience. As you can see from my CV I have been successful in attaining grants and scholarships, and have been the primary author and developer on these applications". Or if they are asking you to produce publications, you can always say " I have experience in writing publications, and have had successful publication with ____ and ___ who are quite well known/prestigious in my field".

The more interviews you do, the more you will be able to come off as a seasoned pro. Do you have anyone now that could mock interview you and provide feedback? Perhaps a mentor? This would be the most ideal situation!

Good luck!

[Carter78]

If you're a student in the field of IT, graphic design, etc then doing some freelance work whilst still being at Uni is a great way to build up that portfolio I thik. It means that when you graduate you're not thrust into unpaid internships because you've got that crucial experience behind you compared to other candidates...

[butterfingers2010]

Since you say that you have a lot to learn, I'm just going to be honest here.

While reading your post, I got the impression that you are someone who thinks extremely highly of yourself. While there's nothing wrong with high self-esteem, you seem to be automatically assuming that others are jealous of you. This may be the case sometimes, but in a job interview situation it is highly unlikely because you are just starting out and do not have the experience that the interviewer has. I think you may be coming off to employers in a way that makes them think you are superficial and full of yourself. They know that neither they nor their employees want to work with someone who has that type of attitude. I am not saying that this is what you are actually like (not knowing you, this would be impossible) I'm just saying that this is the impression that others are getting, and first impressions are everything in a job interview.

Doing some mock interviews and getting honest feedback might be helpful, but it seems to me that you need to change your way of thinking first. No matter how well-polished and practiced you are for an interview, well-seasoned interviewers are very good at reading others and they will be able to tell if you're not being yourself. You clearly already have a high impression of yourself. Now you need to work on appreciating the talents and contributions of others because that is what a real team player does, and employers are almost always looking for team players.

[brohandy]

Thanks for the info guys, I'm trying to get all I can from people and online. I'm really nervous because I have high anxiety at times. It's not often, but recently I feel like this is one of those types of situations where there's at least a little reason to think about worrying.

[butterfingers2010]

brohandy: I definitely know where you're comingfrom with anxiety! I get anxious about a lot of things, too, and really struggled when I was looking for my full-time job. Try to relax and do things that will make you less anxious, whatever that may be for you. You don't want your anxiety to show through too much during an interview. Interviewers expect a little bit of nervousness, but overall you must remain calm and collected. Try to remember that not landing any one particular job will not be the end of the world and you WILL find something.