By: Gege Sugue
The job of your resume and cover letter is to convince your potential employer to shortlist you for an interview. At the interview, it is your job to convince them that you are the best person among all the candidates. At both stages, the objective is the same – to persuade. To persuade without the hard sell and the cheesy marketing lines.
Aristotle’s Rhetoric names three key factors that affect your ability to persuade: credibility, empathy, and logic. Today, we will discuss credibility, the most important element of the three. Logic and empathy won’t matter much if you cannot establish your credibility. It would be impossible for anybody to believe the message if they don’t believe in the sender of the message.
Here are some tips to help you build your credibility:
Accentuate your achievements – Your employers need to know what you can do. And the best indicators for that are the things you have already done. So make sure you present your achievements clearly and succinctly. Your list of achievements may include your scholastic accomplishments, but make sure they are relevant to the present situation and not just a way of padding your resume. Winning your fraternity beer bong contest will not necessarily impress your future employers. Instead, highlight awards and experiences that exhibit a track record of good character and winning attitudes.
Avoid listing down your responsibilities or job descriptions because those are tasks expected of you. Instead, answer the question, “How did I make a difference in this particular job?” Did you improve the system? Did you exceed expectations? Did you break any records? Did you receive a prestigious award? Were you commended by senior management for an excellent execution of a project? Were you promoted at a faster pace than your colleagues were? Answer these questions and communicate them in your resume and interview.
If there were certain job skills that you were also able to use in non-work related activities like sports, civic group participation, and church events, then you may mention those involvements too. Just make sure they are helpful information that would add value to your profile. If they showcased your resource management abilities, your creativity, and your people skills, then go ahead and include them in the lineup of achievements.
Aim for quality, not quantity. You do not have to list down all your achievements if they are many. Instead, select those that are truly noteworthy. In the interview, spend some time describing those few achievements and share what you have learned that have helped you to further improve your competencies.
The way you present your achievements also matter. Bullet point lists are great in helping the readers’ eyes focus on the salient points. Bold and underlined fonts, when used appropriately, serve to highlight the noteworthy.
Avoid superlatives – In our exuberance to accentuate our achievements, we might get carried away. Remember never to lie or exaggerate. Sincerity is key in persuasion.
The red flag words that you should avoid are best, most, and almost every adjective that ends with -est. To say that you are the best in a given criterion or field is an assertion that can be perceived as either an exaggeration or a figure of speech. Or it might make you sound arrogant. The reaction would be either disbelief or indifference. Maybe even annoyance. So avoid such sweeping statements.
The best thing to do is to use facts and figures.
“My sales team exceeded expectations and broke sales records by selling 224% above the target and by adding 36 new accounts.”
“Our organization finally achieved its Zero Accident goal when I headed the Safety Committee in 2006.”
“Our PR team gave our organization $3,225,794 of media space on a $15,000 budget.”
Note that I did not round up the figures. This gives it a sense of accuracy.
Acknowledge others’ contributions – Give credit where credit is due. Surely, the 150% sales increase was not an outcome of solely your efforts. Most likely, you worked with other people in your organization to make that happen. If you supervised a team, then mention that you led a sales team of 12 executives to deliver an increase of 150%. Aside from giving your claims a ring of authenticity, they also show your abilities to lead, motivate, and influence.
Corporate and political consultant Frank Luntz says, “You cannot lie ever, because a lie destroys the credibility of the product, and credibility is more important than anything. Credibility’s even more important than clarity.” You, with your skill set and experience, are the product. It is your job to convince them of your credibility and persuade them that you are worth the investment.