Dear Matt: I struggle with self-promotion because I don't like talking about myself. I feel like I'm bragging and have a hard time conveying my successes when writing a résumé, in interviews and during performance reviews. How can I overcome this?
Matt says: When done properly, self-promotion is not bragging, it's informing, says Rick Gillis, author of "Promote! It's Who Knows What You Know That Makes a Career" and a nationally recognized employment coach specializing in job search trends and technologies (rickgillis.com).
If you don't keep track of your successes and achievements and convey that information when writing a résumé, in an interview, or in a performance review, who will? Your success depends on your ability to promote yourself correctly — yet many people can't do it, says Gillis.
"In today's intensely competitive, hyper-social work world, self-promotion is no longer just a professional responsibility, it's a career survival skill," he says.
Here are some ways to promote yourself the right way, according to Gillis:
1. Don't assume that your boss knows exactly what you do. Whether you work six feet or 6,000 miles away, it's unlikely your boss has more than a general idea about what you do beyond the minimum expected; he or she probably has countless other responsibilities and is increasingly stretched too thin, so it's up to you to actively promote yourself.
2. Adopt an accomplishment mind-set and narrative. In any workplace, you're seen first as a commodity, not as a person. That's why you need an inventory of your on-the-job accomplishments — the things that express your commercial value to the business. Be able to list those things anytime, anywhere, to anyone, whether in your résumé, in an interview, during a performance review — or even a casual conversation with a colleague.
3. Quantify your worth. You were hired because someone believed that you would produce more value for the company than you would cost. Gillis once worked with a payroll clerk who, in the first run he ever did, cut 6,000 paychecks alone, on time, with zero returns. Think of the cost savings created by an error-free check run of that size.
