Rita Ashley, Career Coach. Field tested advice for executives.

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By thejobcoach, June 11, 2009 12:51 pm

  THE ELEVATOR PITCH–Is Yours Working?

Your brand [Elevator Pitch] is the promise you make to a prospective employer.  Shivonne Byrne, Microsoft Branding Executive.

Do people respond to it with questions about your work, your success or processes? Do they want to learn more? Do they invite you to talk about your credentials? Do they offer to introduce you to others? Do they show interest so you can invite them to meet at a future date? Do they ask for your business card?

Simply stated, the Elevator Pitch is a powerful tool to gain the attention of a person who will offer leads, an opportunity and introductions to people who can provide them.  The whole idea of the elevator pitch is to communicate very quickly why they want to learn more.

The tactic you use is to relate what you do to what they do. Understand your client. If, for example, you are talking to a financial person and you are an IT professional, you probably don’t want to stress the latest technologies you implemented in record time. You do want to stress how what you did affected the bottom line or the impact your work had on the stock or upcoming IPO.

Critical to this conversation is your own understanding of what you do.

• What makes you unique and why anyone would care?
• Your pitch must be clear, succinct and interesting.

Your pitch becomes the basis for your resume and all your outreach.  It is the fulcrum of all your communications and the trigger that creates conversations, generates interviews and signals to contacts why they want to help you.

This is your opportunity to convey your passion for what you do and the importance of the outcomes. Need more reasons to create a great Elevator pitch?  Think about all those social networking events where you just didn’t know how to start a conversation, or worse, stammered when someone asked, “what do you do?”  Your elevator pitch at the ready, you can respond with confidence.

An article worth reading: Good Advice for an Elevator Pitch.  For a tutorial on elevator pitches download Elevator Pitch Essentials from Chris O’leary.  His guide is free and endorsed by Guy Kawasaki.  Of course, I would be remiss if I did not suggest you should purchase my book, Job Search Debugged, to get the full range of elevator pitch uses.

OK, that’s the theory of the Elevator pitch, here’s reality. In all my years in recruiting and coaching I’ve rarely found anyone who has their pitch down cold. It is difficult to see our own image. Often, the pitch is lukewarm and the words just stumble out because the job seeker isn’t comfortable with it. Or worse, it sounds canned and doesn’t change with the audience.

Tip:  Say your elevator pitch to a twelve year old.  If they can tell you what you do, you have a good pitch.  If not, keep working until yours is clear and simple.  Crafting your pitch isn’t the time to show you are the smartest person in the room; it is the time to say something so interesting, the listener asks questions.

The Internet has fundamentally altered job search behavior – the way employers identify, evaluate and hire is changed forever.  Email me for your free chapter:     BASICS FOR SIX-FIGURE INCOME CANDIDATES

Job Seekers must accept employer behavior has evolved and learn how to use digital job search methods to land their jobs.  Effective use of LinkedIn, blogs and search engine alerts combined with excellent use of job search engines gets you a faster outcome.

Download Job Search Debugged and learn how to:

• Get what you need from your network; job leads and introductions
• Avoid common traps that trip up the competition
• Create messaging that makes you memorable
• Use digital job search tools to optimize your search

Want a sneak peek at the table of contents?  Job Search Debugged Table of Contents.

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By admin, September 10, 2008 7:12 pm

The simple fact of networking is people want to help. You know you always feel good when you can lend a hand. Well, other people feel the same way when they can help someone find a new job.

All you have to do is communicate exactly what you need and what you expect.

Executives in $100,000+ jobs know networking is the most effective way to find a new job. Over 75% of executive jobs are filled by word of mouth. Executive jobs are typically not advertised or landed using job boards.

You know all you have to do is pick up the phone or send an email to request assistance to find leads though it is very difficult for a lot of people. And attending business social networking events to find leads is even harder. Yet, A recent job search coaching client uncovered 14 opportunities in less than three months because he knew what to ask and who to ask.

Let’s Simplify Networking: Craft an excellent elevator pitch or brand identity. “I am a technology executive with a track record converting software products to SaaS applications with no disruption to the bottom line.” Tell what you can do and the results and include a metric if possible.

Include a request for what you need. “”My last stint as VP Marketing allowed me to penetrate global markets with a hand-picked dynamic team of marketing professionals. We landed new named accounts and opened branch offices in four countries which made the investors very happy. I hope to replicate that performance with a new employer. Perhaps you know a company about to go global who might benefit from my experience.”

When talking to people who know your work you might say, “I would be grateful if you could introduce me to three people who know about program management jobs in Wireless.” Ask for a specific number of referrals and you are more likely to get what you want.

The Money Shot: When contacts struggle to recall what you do or to whom you need a referral, they probably won’t do it. To simplify networking ask for exactly what you want: “My background includes building an inside sales organization from the ground up. We contributed 65% of the company revenues in 18 months. I am looking for companies like [name of a prospective employer] who are focused on building or expanding their inside sales efforts. Can you introduce me to [hiring authority at target company] and two others like her as possible connections to leads?”

Simplify networking with these steps for a great pay off of leads and new connections. Keep in mind, they are simple techniques, but they are not easy.

For more advice on effective networking, read, “Networking Debugged.”

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