How to Avoid Two Common Professional Mistakes

Are you prepared to promote yourself, whether for a job interview, within a self-assessment as part of a job performance review, or during an “elevator pitch” opportunity? These are all potential moments to shine, so you do not want to fall flat. Following are two mistakes to avoid and what can help improve your chance of success.

Common Mistakes

There are certainly more than two mistakes that any of us could make, but two common ones include:

1. Not having any concrete examples to share. Imagine being asked how the card program is doing and the only thing you can think of to say is, “Good.” At a broader level, be sure to have examples for each item noted on your résumé.

2. Over-selling yourself. This one might surprise you, but HR veteran Jenny Hart explains, “When someone only focuses on what they have done, versus discussing what their teams have accomplished, it sounds like they fail to recognize, or do not want to credit, the hard work of others. Organization success is not achieved alone. I want to hire people who can work well with others, so I prefer to hear someone talk about their role on a team and how they contributed to its success.”

Valuable Tool

Considering the above, I recommend maintaining some type of professional journal to keep track of specific examples—both successes and failures—as they occur. For instance, as an interviewer, Jenny says she likes to ask people about:

  • a time when they have faced failure or adversity, how they handled it, and what they learned from it

  • how they have dealt with a team member who was not pulling their weight on a project

However, she also stresses to not speak poorly about a previous company or boss when responding to interview questions.

For positions within the Commercial Card field, be able to discuss things like:

  • how the card program improved and/or grew under your leadership; incorporate specific numbers/data when appropriate (e.g., growth percentage in card spend, transactions, accepting suppliers, revenue share earned)

  • who you worked with to achieve program success and each person’s role

  • how you steered the card program to fulfill an organization goal (e.g., process savings achieved through card usage) and/or solve a problem

  • any internal or external committees related to cards/payments that you voluntarily joined and what the outcome was

Final Thoughts

If you wait too long in starting a professional journal or similar, it is harder to recall specific examples or, worse, you no longer have access to the data you need to support what you want to share.

In addition, use the journal to keep track of people you have met who could be resources for you in your next job search. Try to note something unique about each person that can help break the ice the next time you encounter them; for example, a work project they were doing, a personal hobby, or something about their family.

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About the Author

Blog post author Lynn Larson, CPCP, launched Recharged Education in 2014. With 20 years of Commercial Card experience, her mission is to make industry education readily accessible to all. Learn more…