This post is an answer to a question that I was asked on my Quora site: Intelligence and IQ
I will answer this question under the assumption that your intent is to enhance your image for a job application or a website promotion.
When Elon Musk was asked what credentials he sought when choosing employees, he responded that he looked at what the person had accomplished. The best measure of a person’s capabilities is the record of their achievements.
Professor Ravi Vakil, recently elected President of the American Mathematical Society, had a stellar resumé from the time he left high school. By the time he completed his undergraduate years, he had placed among the top 5 competitors in the prestigious William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, earning him the top award of “Putnam Fellow” in each year–an achievement matched by only 8 people since its inception in 1938. His stellar performance spoke volumes about his intelligence and enabled him to earn his doctorate at Harvard.
Of course, you don’t have to have pedigree degrees, a Fields Medal or a Pulitzer Prize to showcase your intelligence. It will be reflected in your accomplishments and in how you express yourself. A resumé is not the place to model humility. You must detail your achievements accurately and without exaggeration. Achievements such as educational degrees, published works, trophies, and awards are verifiable and they should be highlighted. Anything you say about your intelligence that cannot be inferred from your awards or achievements will not be attributed much credibility. Express yourself clearly and honestly, speaking positively about your goals, abilities and what you “bring to the table.”
Few people today have the linguistic skill or erudition to write a proper resumé. (This is not a criticism, but merely an observation that a decline in literacy skills has accompanied the increase in our computer literacy.) If you are highly literate and know how to write an exceptional resumé, then do it. Otherwise seek help through AI or through a professional writer of resumés and then edit it.
What we say about ourselves is never trusted as much as what others say about us. Your resumé should include some references that a prospective employer can contact to learn about you. I have hired many people over several decades and have relied heavily on what I and my fellow committee members have heard from a candidate’s references. Choose your references carefully and do not include anyone you offended recently. If you are promoting a book you have written, then solicit quotes from friends or associates that speak highly of your abilities.
Few, if any, of the suggestions above apply In day-to-day interactions with people. In social contexts, it’s important not to flaunt your ability or showcase your intelligence, because people often interpret such actions as a denigration of their abilities. Self-promotion is counter-productive, because it instills in your audience the desire to show you that you’re not as intelligent as you think. You must begin by respecting the intelligence of others. When you’re open to others and listen intently to their ideas, they will see in you a receptivity that is rare in most of their other encounters. They will be more likely to listen to and learn from you. When they learn from you, they will come to respect your intelligence. When I was in Grade 1, I learned the following poem, that taught me the secret of friendship:
There once was a puffin, the shape of a muffin
Who lived in the deep blue sea
He ate little fishes, that were most delicious.
He had them for dinner and had them for tea.
But the poor little puffin, he couldn’t do nothin’
He felt very lonely and blue,
‘Till along came some fishes, who said if he wishes,
He could have them for playmates instead of for tea.
