We all know the clichés when it comes to job interview spiel – describing yourself as a “perfectionist” when asked what your greatest weakness is, and waxing lyrical about your “passion” for the industry and your “great work ethic”.

These phrases are bandied around so often that they’ve become practically meaningless in a recruitment context; who among us is going to tell a potential employer that they don’t have a great work ethic, for crying out loud?!

But that can leave us with a dearth of ideas when it comes to ways to describe ourselves that aren’t seriously overused and entirely run-of-the-mill. So what do you say when you’re trying to impress upon a prospective employer just why they should hire you over another of the dozens of candidates vying for the same role?  

“I’m data-driven”

Are you someone who likes to do their research before making any big decisions? Do you rely on data to support the steps you take in your work? This is a great way of assuring any prospective employer that you’ll always be able to explain and back up your decisions, which will play particularly well if you’re going for a retail management or product development role.

“Organisation is my middle name”

Your CV may already have outlined your proficiency at Excel, but talking about your organisational nous gives you the opportunity to delve a little deeper into your savvy skills. Take the time to detail exactly how you like to organise your daily tasks, perhaps by listing the specific apps you use to segment your time and priorities, and explaining how you’d use them to maximise your efficiency, and that of your team.

“I’m a really supportive colleague”

This might just be a more modern way of calling yourself a great team player, but talking about how supportive you are in a team context allows you to outline the different ways in which your role intersects with those around you. There are also a lot of aspects of being supportive––showing compassion, empathy and cooperation––that can be applied to a professional context and show you in a super positive light.

“I’m driven”

Like saying you’re “highly motivated”, talking about your drive will give you the chance to touch on your career ambitions without seeming overly-confident. This also offers you an opportunity to talk about how this has manifested in your previous roles. Maybe you took the initiative to enact a new strategy, or took responsibility for a task that had previously been floating between teams and kept being de-prioritised, despite being important for overall company success.

“I’m self-aware”

A word of warning: do not say this if it’s not true. If you’re someone who’s previously been blindsided by feedback, positive or negative, it might not be ideal to tell porkies about just how self-aware you are. But this can be a useful way to discuss the weaknesses you’ve seen in yourself and your work in previous roles, and how you’ve worked to overcome them. Just don’t be tempted to talk about how your “perfectionism” caused you to do too well…

While job interviews often mean treading that fine line between bragging and selling yourself, don’t forget that they also offer a great opportunity to talk about all of the things you’ve accomplished in your career thus far, and how any company would be lucky to count you among their staff.