Always think from others' POV (part 1 of 2)

➡️ Common mistake 1: not contextualizing quantitatively

E.g., — let’s say you make a statement to someone unfamiliar with your work, like “we did $1M in sales this quarter!”

How do they react? $1M sounds good….but if all your competitors were doing $10M, or you’re actually making less money than before, maybe not so good after all?

Better phrasing might be — “we did $1M in sales this quarter…..20% higher than our last quarter, and top 1% in our industry!”

Side note: we covered something similar previously here (e.g., how to work this concept into your resume and interviews). Check it out to level up!

➡️ Common mistake 2: not contextualizing qualitatively

E.g., — let’s say you make a statement to someone unfamiliar with your organization, like “I just got transferred teams, oh dear!”

What might the other person say back? Probably “Slow down, I have no idea what you’re saying…..what team did you get transferred to, and is this a bad thing? Why?”

It would’ve saved everyone time if the original statement included a wee bit more qualitative context, like “At Shopee, my org, Product Management, just announced layoffs….I was thankfully transferred to the Product Operations org, but I have no idea what my new work scope is like, an uncertain time for me indeed!”

Is this a bit too formal? Maybe. But is proper qualitative context something that all top performers strive to build into their comms? Absolutely.

Another example — you say to your interviewer or someone you’re networking with “I built a product strategy as part of my internship last year!”

Their response — “Okay, so what?……wait, am I supposed to be impressed?” 😂

A better statement — “I build a product strategy as part my internship last year, the only intern to be given the responsibility. I presented directly to the CEO, essentially taking on the same scope as a full-timer 5 years my senior. My product strategy was subsequently worked in as a core pillar of our company-wide strategy for 2025.”

Of course, your accomplishments don’t have to be as ‘ideal’ as the example above, but any additional context would take the original statement up a notch!

➡️ Common mistake 3: too many abbreviations and/or acronyms

E.g., — should I say NTU or ‘Nanyang Technological University’ on my resume?

It really depends. If you’re applying for jobs in Singapore, ‘NTU’ is most likely fine, but elsewhere, best to spell it out because the reader will not immediately understand. They might also mistake it for something else (e.g., National Taiwan University).

Obviously, tons of other places where this concept applies. Make sure you’re not using random acronyms in your work presentation, interviews, etc. that the audience wouldn’t immediately understand.

You don’t want the recruiter, or whoever you’re trying to impress, to get stumped on acronyms — it wastes everyone’s time to clarify, and potentially causes a bit of annoyance in the other party before the conversation’s even gotten under way.