To think if I talk about academic accomplishments it won't go down well

[NCWorkQn]

I wasn't sure where to post this and it's more of a WWYD but I know AIBU gets the most traffic and I'm hoping for help.

I've got to do an awful work thing where all recent new hires 'present ourselves' to our wider team (about 80 attendees around the globe) - for anyone familiar with corporate BS speak it's like a fireside chat - I'm going to be one of 3 in the session. We will be asked pre-defined interview style questions and then the attendees can ask us other questions if they want (urgh). I am not a manager/leader or remotely close to that level so I am not v happy about having to do this.

Anyway, one of the questions is to describe an accomplishment we're most proud of - personal or professional - and I have no idea what to say. I know the other 2 have really interesting personal things they've done, but I genuinely feel like I've nothing I can talk about.

The only thing remotely relevant is that I did v well academically - at undergrad and postgrad (not even a PhD though) and got an academic scholarship. But I'm pretty sure if I talk about that I will sound like a complete knob and as someone with their head up their backside.

On paper, it's really the only thing I've achieved, but if I could be really honest (which I can't) then I'd have a long list that includes functioning with a severe anxiety disorder, reconciling with my biological mother, looking after my elderly parents and living a relatively normal life despite my past.

I don't have children by choice and I've never volunteered, or climbed mountains, or done anything wow. I'm married and financially stable (which I'm very grateful for) but that's really it. And I am happy with being boring and stable, but I know it's probably not going to go down well in corporate land (not that I normally care but I really like this job and hope I can survive a few years at least).

What would you do if you were me - mention the academic stuff or not? Or can anyone think of a fake accomplishment that I wouldn't get caught fibbing about ?

Does sound like you're taking this rather seriously.

I learned to make soup in the last year. I dunno why I couldn't get hang of it before, but I make pretty good soup now.

I love soup!

Your personal achievements are really impressive OP and you should be bloody proud. Sharing them with your smaller, immediate team after a period of time when they have had the chance to get to know you professionally first, could help to strengthen your relationships and provide a positive insight into who you are. You will be better able to judge this after you have worked there for a while and gauged the organisational culture.

However, I feel that sharing them in this context, with a huge global team as a new starter is extremely risky and I don't think it's wise of other posters to encourage you to take this risk. It could backfire as oversharing inappropriately.

I second the poster who said men wouldn't think twice about sharing academic achievement and other nationalities don't share the British attitude to discussing it. Also some great suggestions about how to frame it like giving real world context.

Please don't give a sudo-jokey example like cooking Sunday lunch without burning it. It could also miss the mark in comparison to the mountain climbing marathon running colleagues

They already know your academic achievement; its on your CV.

They aren't interested in an adventure story; how I claimed Everest. They are looking for the speaker's personal qualities; articulacy, self awareness, confidence; the ability to share familiar information you know well in an engaging but professionally appropriate way. Because those are skills required in almost any workplace.

Also required by any employer, is evidence of responsibility; commitment, staying power, patience and adaptability. You demonstrated all those when you cared for your parents. Its a hard task; not everybody is up to it; you took it on and came through. In addition, you looked for your birth mother. You learned from it, about persistence, risk taking, resilience, human frailty; that mistakes and disappointments happen but can be recovered and learned from.

IF you can talk about those intimate experiences calmly and reflectively, without breaking down into tears, then that is how you show them what you're made of. That you have maturity and experience in the most human of human resources. You faced problems and challenges of the deepest kind and overcame them and learned about yourself. You've done a lot . You are stable, tough, caring, dependable, AND clever and qualified.

They 're very lucky to have you.

That's not boring and mundane. It's the stuff of life and they'd be lucky to get you.

Completely agree with @NadjaofAntipaxos.

@thing47 you beat me to it.

Don’t downplay your incredible achievements - shout about them and proud

How about: 'i am proud of the fact that despite not having the best start in life and having many hurdles to overcome I achieved well academically, even gaining a academic scholarship at xxx'.

Have a couple of answers ready - one for your academic/professional and the other a personal achievement, it doesn't need to be anything big, then read the room while there before deciding what to go for.

I have said in one of these before, when it was dropped on me with no warning, my most recent achievement was to put together an Ikea flat pack with my 10 year old son, how it doesn't seem like much but standing back and looking at something you created, made together with someone you created and nurtured/mentored, and then seeing their pride makes you realise the biggest achievements are not the show stoppers, they are part of an ongoing process that we all sometimes overlook! 🤮

I usually find in these things it is more the personal side they are looking for to get to know a little about you. I hate and avoid them where ever possible.

Personally I wouldn't be sharing intimate details of my private life with 'the wider team'. This is a work event, it's not a group you know well and work colleagues are not necessarily going to become friends. 80 people around the globe don't need to know your background unless you really want them to.

If you stick to your academic achievements, that can cover the personal and the professional, especially if you do what @TeenPlusCat suggests and angle it to make it both.

I'd try and read the room in advance - IME, in some rooms with a global audience in some higher-end companies then PhD/scholarship would be a really good choice. In some, it would be awful with some unfair judgement of OP. Not a case of women expected to downplay achievements or false modesty but possibly more likely to engender resentment of the priviliege that allowed someone to achieve that, for example so it depends.

Helped a friend at college really struggling with studies and challenging personal circumstances to stay on course and pass would be warm and empathetic and not disprovable.

I would mention the acadamic achievement, the scholarship focusing on what you learned from it.
Yeah, staff to do your job, but.... also perseverance, stamina, juggling day to day life and a demanding workload...

@lanthanum

If you're worried, you could try deflecting it a bit: "I'd love to say that it's my trip up Everest, but sadly my limit's a five mile walk." Or find something jokey: "cooking Christmas dinner without burning anything - I've only managed it once!" Or topical and throwaway: "I did get a Wordle in 3 last week."

No way would a man do this

Also nb British self-deprecation doesn’t always play well with a global audience despite what Richard Curtis would have us believe. I really wouldn’t go for something to do with cooking or whatever. Brits have a habit of pretending to be shit for lols which often doesn’t translate at all.

Have you ever challenged someone who was behaving badly?

Have you ever supported someone either in a work context (helping them with a job application etc ...) or in a personal context.

See this is why I bloody love MN - thank you all so much - you've given me really interesting food for thought - and some laughs out loud .

I like the idea of having a few answers ready - one 'professional' - my postgrad was fairly recent and maybe I can focus on the challenge of balancing it with work etc - but a 'personal' one I'll have a think about - I'm definitely veering away from anything deep or intimate. My gut feeling is that it's too soon share anything like that and I also don't know enough about the culture yet to gauge how it would be received.

As some of you have mentioned, I am very conscious that I am a woman in a male dominated industry (IT in case it's relevant) and have to be even more careful of how my answers are perceived because of that - sigh.

Good luck @NCWorkQn! You will smash it.

Agree with the others. The point of the meeting is to get to know you, so you want to share something that could be a conversation starter. E.g. baking bread, managed to finish Ulysses/Moby Dick. Did Parkrun. It doesn't have to be 'wow', but something that shows a more human side without 'over-sharing'.

This thread is so depressing. Women scurrying to shush other women from speaking up about their actual achievements.

Tell them about your academic achievements. And be proud.

Me again - so as my backup 'personal' thing I thought of something - I'm a regular blood donor. Would it be naff to mention that or do you think it's suitable for this?

I think it would be ok to mention that

I am reading Mary Ann Seighart's book The Authority Gap. This is an excerpt, quoting an American academic:
"there is almost no correct way for a woman to use her voice and hold her body to project the proper kind of expertise and authority in a conversation. if we sound too feminine, sounding feminine in this culture is coded as frivolous and unserious. If we sound too unfeminine, then we sound like we are violating gender norms or like we are unpleasant or trying to be like a man. if we try to be polite and make nice, then we come off as weak. If we don’t make nice, then we’re held to a higher standard for our appropriate behaviour than men are. I think there’s almost no way we can position ourselves so that we sound as experts. So oftentimes, the content of our words matters less than our embodied presentation as a woman."

The conclusion that the book comes to is that, as "random woman", you don't stand a chance; you can't win either way. The solution is to become "NCWorkOn"; become a flesh and blood person. Once they like you, they start to listen to you. I suppose it is a case of establishing your "brand"; once you have peoples' confidence then you can launch new ideas. Softly, softly, catches the monkey.

Translating this to the blood donation question Boast about it? - no. Position it as something altruistic, that you - as a good citizen of the world - does? - yes

Also, remember the rules of assertiveness.
If you say "xyz is true / bigger / better / stronger" (my degree is better than yours) then someone can argue with you. If you say "I feel xyz" (I was so thrilled to receive the scholarship)then nobody can say otherwise.

I would make something up, personally. Not totally fictitious but just a sort of spin on what I do.

I would make it pretty general - could you do something along the lines of you don;t have one single thing you want to pick out, but you are proud that you have always followed what you wanted to do in work, and your career has been really enjoyable, and you feel really positive about it?

IMO people just want to hear nice things, and without buying into the whole 'notable acheivement' bullshit you can be just as positive.

These 80 people haven't read your CV. So tell how proud you are of the post grad and why it was so interesting.

Don't tell 80 strangers about your anxiety or difficult background. They don't need to know.

If you want, say, I'm proud to be a blood donor, helping people who are in need. But I think the academic details will be more interesting.

OP, what are the three pre-determined interview style questions?

Presumably your additional stuff should round out the picture painted by the above? Might they have already asked about your academic history, or not?

@deeplyrooted

I'd have a long list that includes functioning with a severe anxiety disorder, reconciling with my biological mother, looking after my elderly parents and living a relatively normal life despite my past

I’m really glad that you recognise and value the magnitude of these achievements. I know I’m adding nothing useful to the thread but these really are great things.

Yes, but why would you share things that are so deeply personal with total stranger?

Also, I certainly wouldn’t be downplaying my academic achievements. This isn’t a popularity contest — it’s a work environment.