Developing your Job Search Elevator Pitch

Written by Scott Brown


Have you ever had a conversation with someone who hadrepparttar potential to help you land a better job and felt that they didn't get what's unique about you and what would make you a great catch?

If you're going about your job searchrepparttar 139144 right way, you're not confining yourself torepparttar 139145 Internet. Instead, you userepparttar 139146 Internet to get job leads but also venture out intorepparttar 139147 real world, talk to people, go to networking events, etc. One ofrepparttar 139148 most critical things about effective networking is being able to succinctly communicate why someone should be interested in you. Especially in social settings, peoples' brains tend to be onrepparttar 139149 low power setting so a long and complicated explanation about your profession and specialty won't work. It's for this reason that something called an "Elevator Pitch" was invented.

An Elevator Pitch is a concise, tailored, benefit-focused description of your career background. Elevator Pitches are used most often by entrepreneurs looking to raise venture capital to fund a new business. Venture capitalists are busy people and they receive countless business plans, many of which they never get a chance to read. Smart entrepreneurs recognize this logjam and that their best chance of getting an investor interested may be to summarize their complex business into a short, conversational speech.

Another way to think of an Elevator Pitch is that it's like a TV commercial for why an employer should buy you, but in a conversational format that someone would enjoy listening to. What if you ran intorepparttar 139150 president of GE, IBM, or some other company you wanted to work for in an elevator and they casually asked what you did? Having an elevator pitch ready isrepparttar 139151 key to getting someone like this interested in you.

Althoughrepparttar 139152 elevator pitch should be designed to fit within 15 to 60 seconds' speaking time, you should be able to continue talking ifrepparttar 139153 person does not stop you. The goal of an elevator pitch is generally to getrepparttar 139154 person to agree to let you follow up with them (or their assistant). You might close an elevator pitch by asking if you can follow up withrepparttar 139155 person about potential job opportunities and exchanging business cards.

Effective public speakers often userepparttar 139156 tactic of tellingrepparttar 139157 audience what they're about to tell them, and then telling them in more detail. Starting out an elevator pitch by providing some context and telling them what you're about to tell them will generate interest and curiosity and makerepparttar 139158 person want to hear what you have to say. Here's an example of how a conversation could start off:

First Impressions: Dealing with Interviewer Bias

Written by Scott Brown


DEALING WITH FIRST IMPRESSION BIAS

Studies have shown a majority of interviewers do not have a scientific way of determining who would do best on a job. Instead, most simply use their own biases to determine whether they thinkrepparttar person is smart and would "fit in" withrepparttar 139143 rest ofrepparttar 139144 people atrepparttar 139145 company. Deciding on this basis is really no better than flipping a coin, and it tends to favor people who are good interviewers rather than good employees.

Nevertheless, this isrepparttar 139146 reality of most interviewing situations you'll run into. As a job seeker, a good way of dealing with this is twofold: presenting yourself well so you can do as well as possible withrepparttar 139147 interviewer's superficial biases, and atrepparttar 139148 same time presentingrepparttar 139149 interviewer with facts and substance that would back uprepparttar 139150 idea that you could be a good fit forrepparttar 139151 job -- regardless of whether or notrepparttar 139152 interviewer asks you to provide that information. The second point does not mean you should be disrespectful withrepparttar 139153 interviewer; this could cause you to score low marks on their superficial grading scale. Rather, you will often need to take some initiative to steerrepparttar 139154 conversation in a direction that would give you an opportunity to share facts that would bolsterrepparttar 139155 case to hire you.

CREATING A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION

There are several things you can do to create a good first impression:

1. Have a good looking, error-free resume. Even beforerepparttar 139156 interviewer meets you in person, they're starting to form a judgement of you based on your resume: its content, writing style, whether there are any spelling or grammar errors, etc.

2. Look nice - wear a neatly-pressed business suit and a classy tie. Make sure your suit and shirt fit properly. The biggest giveaway that you're wearing a cheap suit is if it doesn't fit well. If you can afford it, accessorise your outfit with a nice tie if you're a man, or if you're a woman, a scarf or comparable accessory. You want to giverepparttar 139157 impression that you're doing well.

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