I do sometimes tell people that I am a hacker. But I make sure that the people do know or understand that I am refering to the original meaning of the word; and that I am a good guy. For me, boiling an egg in a coffee machine is hacking. I do a lot of security work, but I tell the people that even if I would have nothing to do with security, I still could be a hacker.

About self-applying, imo this is ok if you can tell me about your last hack when I ask you about it.

..."Obviously you’re not a golfer."