When does an interview turn into a boasting session?
Re: Where to draw the line
Boasting session? 
I guess this happens when clearly you go on running on about you and your achievements, in all honesty the interviewer is only interested in knowing the skills or achievements that are related to the job you are being interviewed for, I recently interviewed a guy to work in my team and even though he was very qualified etc. he did not get an approval from me just because of the mere fact that he rated himself too highly and he might undermine my authority.
I hope i am clear enough :k:
^ Thats exactly what I am scared of Kaun.
I feel weird talking about myself.... my careers officer was saying that ur supposed to be selling urself in an interview... if u don't do it, no one else is gonna do it for u.
So I basically have to sit there and talk about my good qualities, my achievements, my skills, my experience, my personality..... I feel like I'm bragging... but if I'm too modest, that won't work either.
How do I not rate myself highly?
Re: Where to draw the line
kaun, he didn't get your approval because he 'rated himself too highly' or 'he was very qualified and/but rated himself too highly'?
Anag, he did not get my approval because he rated himself way too high, managers like to see self confidence however it should not come off as over confidence cuz the manager needs to know if u r willing to work under him/her or not. Obviously likes to move up the ladder quickly but you also need to get ur foot in the door first not in the mouth :k:
Re: Where to draw the line
Barbie- as long as you are talking about your skills and achievements in reply to the original question from the interviewer, it should be fine. When I was training, we were always told to make sure it's about 50-50 talk on both ends- so it should be a conversation. And if you find yourself talking continuously for 3 minutes without the other person saying anything, then you're definately going overboard. If you keep these in mind, you will stop yourself before you become the dreaded "annoying" interviewee.
Re: Where to draw the line
Thanks Safoora :k: I am making these pointers to judge other candidates as well as any future interviews i might go for :k:
But I was told the interviewee should be talking more??
Anyways, 50/50 does make sense too.
I guess the body language and expressions have a lot do with it…
If they asked me what my greatest achievement was and I said:
“Having interned with a pharma company ranked among the top ten in the world” 
^Yeah, that would be weird!
If I said:
“Having interned with a leading company in the pharmaceutical industry, I understand the depth of knowledge and the level of professionalism required for success in this field” 
^That would be better I guess.
Huma the latter indeed would be a better response, however 50/50 is always a safe bet, obviously majority of the interviewers ask open ended questions and you can literally talk upto hours with regards to that, however if you are specific enough and to the point, that gets you extra points. The moment you realise that you are talking for no reason or are talking a lot, stop :k:
Goodluck wid da interview, dont stress too much and be urself InshaAllah agar Allah ney chaaha to zaroor milega :k:
Inshallah. :) Thanks!
Re: Where to draw the line
fikar naat tey zikar naat :k:
Re: Where to draw the line
Good comments everyone...
There certainly is a fine line between bragging mindlessly with arrogance, and selling yourself effectively – the latter requires that you talk about specific skills that you have developed over time through previous work experiences and education... and not sound like you are a born star in your field of expertise, and your potential employer should be privileged to hire you. In fact, you need to make sure that your interviewer understands that you’re interested in this job and in the company and value this opportunity for career advancement. Also a little bit of brown nosing in the form of ingratiating comments about your potential employer never hurts - let them know that you want to be here and you value the interview opportunity.