How to promote yourself without sounding like a jerk

You can't expect people to know about you if you don't make an effort to talk about what you've been up to. But there's a fine line between naturally promoting yourself while expanding your network and blabbering on about your achievements. Follow these tips to effectively promote yourself without coming off as egocentric. 

1. Tell your story

The most ironic part about promoting yourself successfully is that it's not about YOU at all. It's about what you did and how you did it. Everyone loves a good story so share your journey of getting where you are right now. You nailed a project and got a pat on the back? Cool but that's not what makes it special. What are the problems you solved? What prompted you to come up with that specific solution? Did you have problems with co-ordinating with teammates on a challenging project? How did you deal with that? These are answers that indirectly scream out your efficiency and ability to handle the tight corners.

2. Wait for a prompt

Initiating a conversation by talking about yourself doesn't exactly leave the best of impressions. And it won't go unnoticed if you push in one of your random accomplishments and force a connection with the topic at hand. Wait for someone to ask you or for the conversation to naturally shift in a relevant direction.

3. Start a conversation

Promoting yourself doesn't have to be one-sided. Think about what you want to gain from this promotion. A potential job offer? Maybe a project you want to work on with the other person? Asking them about their insight on your progress and vision is a rather welcoming way to grab their interest. They might be able to help you by putting in a good word in their network or by guiding you to the right people.

4. Promote the people who helped you

It's not very nice to just ask other people to promote you. But it's a give and take world so what you can do is appreciate and promote those who were there for you as mentors and friends when you were struggling. They'll be glad to talk about your accomplishments on social media or over a face-to-face conversation. You need to have people rooting for you. Hearing about how awesome you are from a mutual friend gives you more credibility than hearing it from you.