Job Search Tip: Keep a Brag Book
July 18th, 2008 by the medical sales recruiter
If you’re looking for a job in medical sales, clinical diagnostics sales, laboratory sales, DNA sales, medical supplies or equipment sales, pharmaceutical sales, or biotechnology sales, marketing, or tech support (or you will be soon), it would help you tremendously to have a brag book.
A brag book is a list of your accomplishments (stories for behavioral interviews, right here), new skills and training, stack rankings, performance reviews, e-mails or letters from satisfied customers, and awards. You can keep it in a kudos file for easy updates for your resume, job interview preparation, or a morale booster. One source says you should bind it like a book to give to potential employers. Note: You do not have to leave a brag book with the interviewer.
Either way, it’s a tremendous resource for you.
As a manager that hires sales people relatively frequently, I strongly agree with Peggy’s comments. I and my hiring managers will often discuss Brag Book quality and comments contained there in. I find the quality of document organization provides insight into attention to detail, a trait sometimes missing from sales people. I am always surprised when someone places what I would consider mediocre comments in the Brag Book, i.e. save for the book only the “good stuff”. I also find that some candidates include copies of e-mail chains in their Brag Book without enough background information to document the achievement. The e-mail chain contains some adulation and praise for a project well done, but not enough detail to infer what was accomplished. I think the e-mails are great to include as that is how praise is often meted out, but the candidate should include a descriptive note on the topic. Often the e-mail audience already have a level of background on the topic that isn’t spelled out in the note and therefore the hiring manager wouldn’t appreciate the candidates accomplishment.