A brief summary of the experience and background of a job candidate is considered an elevator pitch. The term happens for the sole reason that a candidate must be able to explain briefly all about himself including his qualifications to the hiring manager within a twelve-floor elevator ride. Generally, an ideal elevator pitch should limit within 15 to 30 seconds.
Imagine a person is in the elevator when the door opens all of a sudden to let in the sharp-looking hiring manager. If the person happens to be the recruiting authority of the candidate’s dream job, here exactly lies the scope of starting an elevator pitch. The candidate turns excited at the unexpected opportunity opened before him, but he has less than one minute to create the desired impression.
Although the situation given above is an example of where happens an elevator pitch, the concept is in fact just a metaphor as there could be a number of other situations where people need to be ready for such a pitch. The idea is all about grabbing one’s chance as fast as possible. An elevator pitch can be quite handy in job fairs, social and networking events where the potential recruiters to be impressed are attending.
Interviews are perfect occasions for the elevator pitch to work. This is significant particularly when the candidate faces the famous question of ‘explain yourself’. During such instances, elevator pitches help the candidate gain confidence in introducing him to company representatives.
For not missing the decisive opportunity, here are some tips on preparing an ideal elevator pitch.
Tips to follow while preparing the ideal elevator pitch
Noting down points on a paper strip:
The candidate is best advised to write the plans down on a piece of paper to find out the relevant matter to be included and those to be excluded. Editing must be done carefully. Unnecessary data must be removed and focus must be on presenting oneself professionally and effectively for those that have very little time.
A Solution for All Questions:
The pitch prepared by the candidate should simply mention who he is, what he does and what he was looking for. All such questions must be answered by a good elevator pitch.
Short Content: Keeping it short should be the watchword for the candidate preparing an elevator pitch. The concept should be not everything regarding a candidate in thirty seconds, but all about the person and his career ambitions that need to be highlighted in one to three sentences. That means the most relevant items must be chosen by the candidate that he would like to share.
Must Gain Listeners’ Attention: The ideas of the candidate along with his organization or background must be highlighted by the pitch optimally to gain the attention of the listeners. For achieving this the elevator pitch needs to prepared using confidence and assertiveness in the person’s language as well as approach.
A Professional Tone is Ideal:
For presenting the candidate’s best self to the recruiter in front, the achievements and goals comprised in the pitch by the candidate must talk about themselves. Bragging could prove to be negative as regards to effect on the listener. But hesitation or lengthy talking for getting to the point must also be avoided as such moves could spoil the pitch’s purpose.
Should be Listener Friendly: The person supposed to be listening to the elevator pitch of a candidate would be generally thinking, what the pitch carried for him. Therefore, the candidate preparing the pitch should ensure that the pitch sounded he would be a massive asset to the listener’s organization. The pitch also needs to make the listeners think of the candidate as a must have besides evoking expectations that the applicant was capable of bringing in something special.
Then Refrain from
Limiting Oneself:
Candidate must see that a standard statement is not repeated all the times. Maintaining more than one prepared pitch in hand could do a world of good as the candidate may face different situations. Preparing pitches for various aspects of the person’s career is advised besides choosing the most relevant facts for the situation faced at the time.
Speaking Too Fast:
There definitely is the dilemma of presenting all his achievements, in short sentences for the candidate. Still, the candidate is advised not to cram information worth a minute or two into a thirty-second slot. Here speaking coherently in full sentences is a wise thing.
Being Robotic: The candidate needs to understand that frowning and using monotone are hardly part of being professional. A smile and being sincere are welcome additions always. But the candidate should not sound in his pitch as if he was trying to remember what he had memorized from some sources.
Using Acronyms and Industry Jargons:
The candidate needs to know well that not all have the same knowledge as he does. There might be a craving in the candidate to sound knowledgeable of the industry he belongs to. Nevertheless, the hiring managers might simply not understand specific technical terms bragged about by the candidate. Therefore, knowing the audience to refrain from using excessive jargon would be an advantage for the candidate.
Over or Underselling Oneself:
The candidate should not sound like an over-ambitious salesperson in selling himself. This would seldom benefit him exactly like his underselling himself. Being moderate in the pitch by not overdoing or repeating terms or skills is much advised. Then the candidate should also keep off pushing a disinterested listener into a lengthy conversation.
Elevator pitches are tremendous first impression renderers. A confident and relaxed pitch would definitely add to the personal touch of the candidate to make it a unique presentation; of course as something that would serve much beyond the aspirant’s expectations.