Appear sympathetic in the job interview: Praise others and yourself
Praising yourself, is that allowed?
Well, to apply is advertising on your own behalf. And applying means letting yourself look the best.
So how do you turn on the headlights without being pretentious? There is a scientifically substantiated, relatively simple strategy to make a competent and at the same time nice impression. Instead of just showing off a little inept and highlighting your successes, the following applies from today:
Make yourself a little more likeable by praising others at the same time!
Think of stories from your acquaintances: for example, your friend tells you about her particularly successful event and does not fail to pay tribute to her neighbor, who lent her the benches and the tent and even set them up. Why does this seem likeable? Because you too could have been the nice neighbor!
In the interview, you want to demonstrate your future supervisor that you possess what it takes. It's best to make your current supervisor look good. For example, learning steps that you would not have been able to implement so quickly without his support. Your future supervisor will automatically put themselves in the shoes of your current supervisor and, of course, will also want to promote you. If he hears about the trust that exists or existed in the current working relationship, it works well for you in two ways. You report on your progress and let it be known that you can accept and implement valuable tips.
Three U.S. economic researchers have scientifically investigated the topic of bragging. The article from the »Journal of Personality and Social Psychology« describes: Those who praise the merits of others in addition to their own successes appear competent and nice at the same time. The trick behind it: «Dual Promotion».
But is Dual Promotion really always the better strategy? The three economic researchers tested this hypothesis based on experiments with more than 1500 participants. In a first study, they presented managers with fictional applications. Self-praise and Dual Promotion gave them an equally competent impression, but the applications with external praise seemed much nicer, and the overall impression also benefited from it.
- False: I-I-I have
+ Right: We have, my colleague has done with me, my boss and I .....
Sounds easy, but it's not. That's why you need to practice and pick out suitable events from your career. Report successes in which both yourself and others contributed significant input. This brings me back to short stories, storytelling in job interviews. This is what attracts in marketing and especially in self-marketing: short stories in job interviews.short stories in job interviews
But please don't get too big! Quickly, something can look contrived, too smooth or exaggerated. The study also mentioned that the acceptance of "bragging" is country-specific. In other words, in the USA you can apply thicker. For Europeans, the English are quite thick, for the Swiss it is quickly too much.
The following is a true story:
During an online interview for an international sales role, the Swiss managing director asks the German candidate about his self-rating of 1-10 regarding his sales talent.
The candidate answers: about 8-9. The Swiss managing director is almost speechless at so much self-praise. He corrects the applicant thereupon, in Switzerland you would give yourself a maximum of a 4-5. I had to suppress a laugh and thought to myself: Does he now want to recruit a good salesman on an international level?
The managing director later admitted to me that the grade 8-9 was probably very accurate. But you wouldn't put it bluntly. I didn't dare to ask if he wouldn't have questioned the competence of a successful international salesperson if he had boasted a self-rating of 4 out of 10.
Here's my tip for your story telling: It's best to describe team situations in which you had a visible role. You are allowed to shield your role very brilliantly if you also let your peers shine in the process. Remember: Recognizing the success and contribution of colleagues comes across as extremely competent!
And conversely:
Putting colleagues and superiors in a bad light or accusing them of incompetence and lack of understanding of the situation or urgency seems particularly unsympathetic.
Also to all interviewers: Ask open-ended questions! Regarding the example dialog above: Instead of self-grading, it is better to ask: "Have you had outstanding sales success in the past 12 months?" This would have given the candidate the opportunity to praise the entire sales organization of his current employer and present his contribution in the best light.
Here is the link to the whole paper: