I'm better at my job than everyone else around me.

February 26, 2012 8:41 AM

What's the "correct" way to compare yourself to other people on the questions commonly found on job applications?

The question will say something like "Compared to my coworkers, I am worse/better/about the same/ at working hard." Or "I multitask much better/about the same/worse than my coworkers."

What are employers looking for with these questions? I select "much better" but I feel uncomfortable saying "Oh yeah, I'm WAY better than everyone around me." At the same time it feels weird to say, "I'm just average."

posted by Pericardium to Work & Money (2 answers total)

Check your real strength with "much better", everything else with average. Make sure to point out your honesty and realistic self image all the time. That makes people who check "much better" on everything look like they brag and have way too big egos to be good co-workers.
posted by MinusCelsius at 9:08 AM on February 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

It's definitely OK to choose 'much better' for some questions - just not for every question. I think that the point of the exercise is really to discover what you would consider your strengths; it's too subjective to determine whether you are an above average performer.
posted by Laura_J at 10:18 AM on February 26, 2012