If you're like most people, you probably find it difficult to describe yourself in just a few words. After all, there are so many qualities that make up a person!
Luckily, there are some tried and true ways to make sure you put your best foot forward when it comes time to describe yourself.
In this blog post, I'll share 50 words to describe yourself in an interview and 8 example answers that you can use as inspiration to help get your message across clearly.
I recommend reading this piece from top to bottom. However, if you're interested in specific topics, just jump to the following sections:
- Finding Words To Describe Yourself: Start By Thinking About The Qualities That Make You Unique
- Best Words To Describe Yourself On A Resume
- Best Words To Describe Yourself In An Interview (With Examples!)
By following the tips in this post, you'll be able to present yourself in the best possible light and make a great impression on potential employers.
Let's get started!
Finding Words To Describe Yourself: Start By Thinking About The Qualities That Make You Unique
What makes you unique? Are you creative? Passionate? Driven? These are just a few of the many qualities that make people who they are. When you know what makes you special, you can start to focus on how you can use those qualities to achieve your goals.
Let's say you have an interest in arts, for instance, and have pursued a career in graphic design. You might be described as someone creative.
Or, maybe, you're the type of person who fights for a cause you think is worth fighting for. One might describe you as passionate.
If you have a background in entrepreneurship, on the other hand, you might be described as driven.
No matter what qualities make you unique, remember that they can be used to help you achieve success.
How To Describe Yourself In 55 Words Or Less
Describing yourself in less than 55 words can feel like a challenge. The trick here is to grab a unique trait that best describes you and bring in some examples that validate this trait. For instance, let's say you want to describe yourself as productive. Here's what an answer could look like:
My best trait is productivity. For example, in my previous role as a Marketing Manager at BlueCode, our department was often bottlenecked due to new campaign requests coming from Product and Sales. I used a free project management tool to streamline workflows and managed to boost deliverables by 20% in the first quarter of 2023.
See? The 55 words above effectively describe the candidate as productive using a specific example!
Best Words To Describe Yourself on a Resume
Describing yourself in your resume and describing yourself during an interview are two very different things.
During an interview, you will want to focus on more aspects of your personality; however, for your resume, you'll need to use words that are mostly related to your skills, like proactive, committed, and consistent.
And the best way you can do this is by scanning your resume and matching it with the job description you are applying for. This way, you can fill in the gaps with words that describe yourself and have a good fit with the job!
To do this, run over to ResyMatch.io or simply upload your resume and copy and paste the job description below to match the results:
Scanning...
Best Words To Describe Yourself In An Interview (With Examples!)
During an interview, it's also important to think about what in-demand soft skills you have, and how you will convey those traits to a recruiter or hiring manager.
For instance:
Example #1: Describing yourself as Creative:
I am creative and passionate about my work. I am always looking for new ways to express myself and I strive to create the best work possible through graphic design.
I believe that art should be accessible to everyone, and I strive to make my work available online to as many people as possible on platforms like Behance and Dribbble, as well as open-source communities.
I am always learning and growing as an artist – I’ve recently completed my Graphic Design Certification with Adobe, and I hope to continue to develop my skills for years to come.
Notice how, in the example above, this candidate didn’t limit their answer to: “I am creative”, period. Instead, they used this opportunity to also share what drives them and what skills they use to exercise their creativity. Then, they wrap up by stating their desire to continuously improve!
If you’re still struggling to find the best words to describe you, don’t worry. We’ve crafted a few tips to help inspire you.
And our first tip is…
#1 Use Adjective Words To Describe Yourself
When you're describing yourself, it's important to use positive words such as “hard-working,” “driven,” and “creative”. After all, you want to make a good impression.
These words will show potential employers that you are a go-getter who is willing to put in the work to achieve success. Associating yourself with positive words is a powerful way to communicate your soft skills to a potential employer.
Here's a list of 30+ words to describe yourself through adjectives:
- Unique
- Creative
- Passionate
- Driven
- Motivated
- Successful
- Positive
- Upbeat
- Self-Starter
- Determined
- Hard-working
- Collaborative
- Empathetic
- Team-Player
- Friendly
- Innovative
- Analytical
- Considerate
- Resourceful
- Reliable
- Respectful
- Disciplined
- Honest
- Trustworthy
- Determined
- Patient
- Detailed
- Confident
- Productive
- Flexible
When you start to use these words to describe yourself, be sure to use your experiences to back up your adjectives. Words alone will not be enough to convey your value and experience to a hiring manager.
For instance:
Example #2: Describing yourself as Trustworthy:
My team could always count on me to get the job done. I try my best to never miss a deadline and always stay on time by communicating honestly and transparently with both my teammates and the department manager.
I remember there was this one time in my previous role when we were working on a report to present to our CEOs and I collected the data from a different period, which not only led to misleading results but also delayed the workflow and conclusion of the report. Once I realized this, I immediately spoke to my colleagues and owned up to my mistakes, then negotiated with my manager a deadline extension so I could re-run the data.
Since then, I’ve added a revision step in my work process so I can flag any issues before moving forward, and I’m now the go-to person on my team for quality control.
Notice how this candidate uses past experiences to best illustrate their personality trait. They also let the hiring manager know what they've learned from this experience. That's way better than simply answering “I am a trustworthy person”!
To craft answers like the one above, you can brush up on your Star Interview Method skills to better incorporate these describing words into your career stories. Be as clear as possible with your language, and make sure your stories illustrate the qualities you want to highlight.
#2 Share A Personal Story To Illustrate One Of Your Qualities
Be specific when you're describing your accomplishments and qualities. For example, if you say that you are “hard-working,” share a story about a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty to get a project done.
This will help potential employers see that you are not just saying that you are hard-working, but that you have actual proof to back up your claim.
Example #3: Sharing a personal story, describing yourself as Resourceful:
As a Customer Success Manager at TechVista, I was tasked with creating a presentation to show the board of directors how we might improve client education during onboarding to help improve downstream feature adoption. At the time, I didn't have much experience in onboarding, so I was a bit overwhelmed with where to start. But I wasn't going to give up.
First, I set up meetings with everyone in our Implementation team to understand how we are currently educating customers, as well as the tools and resources available to us. Next, I performed competitive analyses on the onboarding process for three of our competitors. I combed through YouTube tutorials, customer reviews, and even booked demos with the competitor's sales teams to ask more about what onboarding would look like.
In the end, the board actually recommended adopting my strategies. We rolled it out across our Implementation and CS teams and saw an 17% increase in client retention over the next 12 months. My manager promoted me to Senior Customer Success Manager that year as a result!
Example #4: Describing your work experience using the word Innovative:
At my previous job, I was tasked with coming up with a new marketing campaign that would help increase sales. I brainstormed for days, but I just couldn't come up with anything that felt fresh and new.
I decided to partner with a stop-motion video maker who was able to showcase our products innovatively. I crafted the script for the video and sat side-by-side with them for a week so we could design the storyboard. Then, I set up a meeting with the Marketing team to set up a distribution strategy centered around digital channels like social media, online communities, and paid media.
I presented the strategy to our Marketing Manager and it was approved with minor changes. The campaign was launched in the following quarter and lasted eight weeks. By the end of that period, we increased Sales-Qualified Leads by 38%, which helped generate six-figure revenue!
Both of these examples show how you can describe specific experiences in your career. Whether you came up with a new marketing campaign or found a new way to do something, sharing your success stories in an interview will help a recruiter or hiring manager see your value and what you could bring to their company.
No matter what your unique qualities are, remember that you can use them to your advantage. Be specific when you're describing your accomplishments and qualities, and use your experiences to back up your claims. With a little effort, you can use your unique qualities to stand out from the crowd and land the job you've always wanted.
#4 Talk About Your Professional Experience And Accomplishments
When you're asked to describe yourself, it's important to include both your professional and personal experiences. After all, your potential employer will want to know not only what qualities you have, but also how you've used those qualities to achieve success in your career. It's likely that you will be asked, What is your greatest accomplishment?” in an interview, so you'll want to be prepared ahead of time!
Four things you might want to include are:
- Your professional experience – What results did you drive in your previous role?
- Your accomplishments – How did you help your team/customers/company succeed?
- Any awards or recognition you've received – Were you recognized for anything specific?
- What you've learned in your career so far – How did you grow professionally in your career?
Here's 10+ action words to describe your accomplishments and experience:
- Achieved
- Created
- Developed
- Designed
- Organized
- Earned
- Focused
- Assisted
- Tracked
- Led
Example #5: Using the action word Developed to describe an accomplishment:
As a Sales Manager at my previous job, I was always challenged to find new ways to increase sales. One of our sales pitches at my previous company focused on how our solution could help businesses reduce marketing costs by 20% in the first month, but it was difficult for leads to visualize this in a single meeting.
I collaborated cross-functionally with the Software Engineering and Marketing teams to develop and market a free online calculator that showed how our tools helped companies leverage more cost-efficient paid media campaigns, dropping their CPC while simultaneously increasing impressions.
The feature was launched ten weeks later and, by the end of that quarter, the company was able to increase sales by 32% using this resource.
Example #6: Describing your professional experience using the word Organized:
I am an organized and detail-oriented person, which has helped me excel in my career as an events planner. No matter how big or small the event is, I always use the same system to keep track of all the details.
Last year, for instance, I was responsible for planning a corporate event with 500+ attendees. The client was holding a cocktail party and hosting ten different panel discussions. So, along with setting the decorations, catering, audio-visual, and managing the staff at the event, I also had to organize the speakers’ agendas so everything would run smoothly.
I started planning months ahead of the event and set up a collaborative board in Trello, a project management tool, where I could set up deadlines and keep track of the status of each task. By adopting this system, I was able to have everything set two weeks prior to the event!
Both of these examples show how you can use your professional experiences to demonstrate your qualities. When describing your accomplishments, be sure to include specific details and use action words.
If you're struggling to think of specific examples, take a look at your resume. Chances are, you've already listed some of your professional accomplishments there. You can also think about a time when you went above and beyond at work or helped solve a problem.
Once you have a few examples in mind, take some time to brainstorm how you would describe each experience. Remember to use action words and be as specific as possible. By doing this, you'll be able to paint a picture of yourself as a competent and successful professional.
#4 Words To Describe Yourself That Focus On The Future
It's important to focus on the future as this shows potential employers that you are always looking for ways to improve and grow.
When you're interviewing for a job, let the hiring manager know what your career goals are and where you see yourself in the future. It shows them that you care about your career and are looking for a long-term opportunity. It also gives them a better idea of where you see yourself fitting in at their company.
Four things you might want to include are:
- Your short- or long-term goals – What career goals do you have now and in the future?
- What you are hoping to achieve in your career – What is your career path?
- What skills you want to learn – Be specific!
- How you plan on developing your abilities – Courses, side projects, on the job training, etc.
Here are a few words to describe your future plans:
- Improve
- Advance
- Expand
- Grow
- Update
- Learn
- Test
- Develop
- Motivated
- Interested
Example #7: Your plans to Advance in your career path:
I am always looking for ways to advance in my career. In the next three years, I see myself as a Director of Sales, and, to achieve this goal, I am currently working towards getting my MBA. I’m also taking courses on leadership and management to expand my skill set.
However, I understand that this role also requires experience, so I’ve been spearheading new projects in my current position at ByteBurst to gain more experience in leading and motivating a Sales team.
For instance, I recently built a squad within the Sales team dedicated to an upselling strategy that aims to upgrade our SaaS customers from the Basic plan to the Premium plan. To exercise my leadership skills, I’ve set up bi-weekly meetings so the squad can share their insights with the ongoing strategy and so I can support them in any way I can to achieve our goals as a team.
Example #8: Your plans to Develop your abilities:
I am always looking for ways to improve my skills. In my previous job, the company was migrating its servers to AWS, and I began to develop an interest in cloud computing.
After several courses, I was able to take an AWS Certification, and I am now preparing to take my certification as a Professional Cloud Architect with Google Cloud.
Summary
In conclusion, when you are asked to describe yourself, it's important to use positive words, share a personal story, focus on your professional experience and accomplishments, and focus on the future. Doing so will give potential employers a well-rounded picture of who you are and what you can bring to the table.
Looking for more interview tips? These posts will help you prepare for your next interview:
