Is modesty bad for job hunting?

[polarmystery]

Just talked to a recruiter and he told me I was very modest. He asked me things like "do you feel you have to be the best at ____" and I told him I like to help people the "best" I can, but I don't have an affinity to out-do somebody. What do you guys think?

 

[MisterJackson]

Just be you at all times. If you pretend to be someone you're not in the interview when it comes time to do the job you may get your ass kicked.

 

[polarmystery]

Originally posted by: MisterJackson
Just be you at all times. If you pretend to be someone you're not in the interview when it comes time to do the job you may get your ass kicked.

Well, I was being me 100% and somehow I got the impression that me being modest and wanting to do the best that "for" somebody was a bad thing? I like to help out people if I can which is what gets me going but for some reason I feel that there is some detriment to that...

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: polarmystery

Originally posted by: MisterJackson
Just be you at all times. If you pretend to be someone you're not in the interview when it comes time to do the job you may get your ass kicked.

Well, I was being me 100% and somehow I got the impression that me being modest and wanting to do the best that "for" somebody was a bad thing? I like to help out people if I can which is what gets me going but for some reason I feel that there is some detriment to that...

Don't sweat it.....sounds like you're thinking about it too much. You can't really "do something wrong" in an interview as long as you're being honest with the person (unless you tell em they look like ihazabucket Walrus or something).

It's too late to change anything now.....you'll either get the job or you won't. I've always found that if I didn't get the job I WANTED it was shortly followed by a job offer for one that turned out to be 10x better.

/shrug

 

[thomsbrain]

I think the right answer to that question would be that you always try to maximize your performance in any situation, but if situations arise where someone does a better job than you, then you look at that as an opportunity to learn from that person and grow your skills.

 

[Kadarin]

Excessive modesty can be a liability. Remember that the entire point of your resume and your job interview skills is to sell yourself to a prospective employer, and this means that you need to emphasize your skills and anything else that is good about you.

 

[imported_Imp]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. It all comes down to the recruiter/interviewer. One dude might want an ambitious, I will lie, cheat and steal, to get somewhere guy; another might want the honest and reserved person.

I have been whoring myself out in the job market so hard, it's like I had a major crack addiction to feed. Getting to the interview seems to be the hardest part. It's the cover letter where I keep changing my 'face' in hopes of getting somwhere, but when it comes to the interview, I'll be myself.

 

[Jeff7181]

I recently interviewed with 5 different people for a new position at the same company I work for now and one of the questions they asked me was how do I define success.

I told them I consider both tangible and intangible factors. For example, in my current position (help desk) I look at things like my average call times, my first call closure percentage, the number of calls I take and the number of cases I resolve compared to my peers. The intangible things I consider are whether I feel like I've accomplished something. I may have spent an hour on the phone with a customer but got the issue resolved. If I didn't, what would have been the impact? Was it worth an hour of my time where I could have resolved 6-8 other problems to get this one problem fixed? Even if it was worth my time, could I have used my time more effectively? While I was on hold waiting for the customer to trace a cable, could I have processed one of the many reports that are generated throughout the day, could I have taken a couple minutes to do proactive maintenance on a server?

I think they liked that answer.

In your case, you might want to try to show more confidence. It sounds cliche, but you're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you. Each time, I walk in there with the mindset that they've already offered me the job, and I'm getting information from them to see if I actually want it.

Before this set of 5 interviews I just went to, I've had three others in my life. All three resulted in job offers, two of which I took, one which I rejected. We'll see this coming week if I'll be 4/4.

 

[nublikescake]

Well that IS a little modest. I was like that as a fresh graduate but I soon realized that it is a cut-throat world out there and I started to BS more and more in interviews and now I am pretty comfortable at it and by that I mean giving the recruiter/interviewer the answer he/she is looking for while trying my best not to sound disingenuous. Of course I don't make claims that exceed my qualifications, i.e. things that I can't back up with my experience.

That said, I still try to be myself as much as possible and usually I am. It's just that when you sort of see the big picture of how recruiters work and how you fit into the picture, you can handle such things much better and with much greater comfort and control.

An answer that I might have given to this question would be:

"I feel that there's always room for improvement. I see my job not only as a set of deliverables but also a learning experience. As such, I am not afraid to go beyond what's required of me if I feel that there is an opportunity to learn and grow as a professional."

You gotta learn how to BS like that. There's nothing in that statement that's dishonest. Personally, that statement is 100% true for me. It usually is for most dedicated professionals. Once you learn how to do that the above, you'll see how it's all a game: how to best market yourself to the position at hand.

 

[jjones]

If you really excel at something and the person you're talking to knows it, modesty can be to your benefit; otherwise, imo, it is generally not beneficial to be modest, but rather you should be confident and express ability. And I'm specifically talking about job interviews here, not general life.

 

[nublikescake]

Originally posted by: jjones
If you really excel at something and the person you're talking to knows it, modesty can be to your benefit; otherwise, imo, it is generally not beneficial to be modest, but rather you should be confident and express ability. And I'm specifically talking about job interviews here, not general life.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[polarmystery]

I guess I'm not that competitive in a competitive world. I've always been like that since day 1...

nublikescake...I like your answer to that question. It's a viable skill I guess I am going to have to learn.

 

[OCGuy]

Confidence, without being over-confident, is a much greater asset in an interview than modesty.

 

[KB]

Recruiters try to sell you in order to make money. In order to sell you they may exaggerate your talents. If they say oh yeah he can do x, y and z and you say no I can only do x then the recruiter looks bad. He/she wants you to oversell yourself just as they will.

Modesty is a good thing. Hopefully your interviewer can ask the right questions to find out your experiences.

 

[nublikescake]

Originally posted by: polarmystery
I guess I'm not that competitive in a competitive world. I've always been like that since day 1...

nublikescake...I like your answer to that question. It's a viable skill I guess I am going to have to learn.

The way I learned how to do this was through a friend. He is so good at it we always joke about it when the topic comes up. It's like he has the perfect answer ready for every question. That's because he does a lot of research before interviews and very selectively applies for positions. This way he anticipates most of the questions (technical and behavioural) he's asked during interviews.

You need to hang out with someone like that for practice. I did a semester long project with this friend of mine where I spent a lot of time with him and learned how to do this. Now whenever we meet, we joke about it but I just do the same during interviews keeping a straight face of course.

 

[Ilmater]

Recruiters and interviewers like confidence (I know I did). Being overly modest conveys a sense of a lack of confidence.

 

[LS21]

if you can back it up why not

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: polarmystery
I don't have an affinity to out-do somebody

That line, right there, sounds to me like someone who is willing to float by doing the bare minimum that is required. That's not what interviewers want to hear, regardless of how true it may be. You can be modest, but select your words more carefully so they don't make you sound like a slack-ass.

 

[LS21]

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: polarmystery
I don't have an affinity to out-do somebody

That line, right there, sounds to me like someone who is willing to float by doing the bare minimum that is required. That's not what interviewers want to hear, regardless of how true it may be. You can be modest, but select your words more carefully so they don't make you sound like a slack-ass.

+1. sounds like slacker to me. i do prelim interviews and usually i look more for poise and conversation skills than the actual answers. deliver your answers with confidence. when i read the above, i can picture the person standing there, shrugging his/her shoulder and saying "meh, i dont care to be better than someone else". their resume goes in the trash pile