When does Personal Branding Cross the Line into Bragging?
Answers
When you are stretching the truth and/or taking credit for accomplishments you yourself didn't perform (but your team did). Caveat; phrases like "Lead team...." ameliorate this last statement.
When you've crossed the line from being authentic to being inauthentic.
The content and tone of your communications should come across as self-confident yet not arrogant ; you want the "recipient" of your message to interpret it as intended; test your personal brand on a few people with diverse perspectives and get their feedback.
The rule of thumb for accountants is to feel like you are talking too much in an interview. Don't ramble, but over participate. The interview is yours to control. When accountants feel they are asking too many questions or talking too much, they are presenting at the normal level of everyone else.
Personal branding is about knowing who you are, what your strengths are, how you support your weaknesses. Do you deliver on your promise. The employer sees promise in what you are saying, but do you deliver that same promise? If so then your branding matches your message.
If you have a lot of accomplishments like I do, don't go overboard. For some reason hiring managers get worried you want their job or will make them look bad. This is typical in companies with junior
Pick one or two things, too many will sound like you are bragging. If you can develop a press kit for all the others to document your published articles and whitepapers then you dont need to explain your self.
Make sure your references backup what you are saying.