The Elevator Pitch

Sell Yourself in 1 Minute! 

In the time it takes for an elevator to go from the lobby to the parking garage, can you sell yourself to your next potential boss? To do so, you need a well-developed “elevator pitch.” This is a way to share your expertise and credentials quickly and effectively with people who don't know you. Whether you use it as an opening in an email or text message or delivered in person during a short encounter, say, in an elevator, everyone needs an effective pitch. You never know when you will stumble upon an opportunity to sell yourself, and when you do, you want to be prepared.

Elevator pitches can be used to promote yourself in a variety of ways:

• If you’re job hunting, use your pitch at career expos and job fairs, or in your Twitter bio or LinkedIn summary;

• When you attend professional functions, use your pitch to introduce yourself at networking or other events;

• During a job interview, when the interviewer says, “Tell me about yourself,” consider your pitch a condensed version of your answer and let it be your starting point.

What to Include in Your Elevator Speech

Understanding what should be included in your elevator pitch can make it easier to craft one that has the greatest impact. Here are seven steps to create the perfect one-minute elevator pitch:

Start with Who You Are

Be cordial. Introduce yourself, smile and add a pleasantry like, “It’s nice to meet you.” Add one sentence about who you are. 

State What You Do

Don’t try to include your entire work history or lofty career goals. Include only the most relevant information to the current situation. If you’re not sure what to include, write everything down and then start cutting out information that is not necessarily your goal.

Identify the Types of Organizations You Have Served

Showing you’ve worked with a few different types of businesses is a great way to highlight your adaptability and experience.

State What Makes You Different

Find something unique to your skill sets or work experience. Being able to distinguish yourself from other potential job seekers is important! 

State What You Want

Laying out exactly the position you’re looking for or what kind of role you can fill allows the potential new employer to clearly understand your intentions.

State What You Want to Happen Next

Saying something like, “I’d love an opportunity to discuss potential opportunities with your team” makes it very clear what the next steps can be.

Put it Together

“Hi, I’m [NAME]; It’s so nice to meet you. For the past [X] years, I’ve worked as a [JOB TITLE], producing everything from [RECENT WORK] to [RECENT WORK] at [ORG 1] and [ORG 2]. My [UNIQUE TRAIT] would make me a great fit for a position with your team. I’m interested in working for a company that needs a [JOB TITLE] with the ability to [HIGHLIGHT A SKILL YOU POSSESS]. I’d love an opportunity to discuss potential opportunities with your team.”

Even though it's a short pitch, your elevator speech should grab the listener’s attention and spark their interest in you. 

Selling Yourself in 30 Words

You can use your elevator pitch to create written self-promotion taglines of 30 words or less to use in several areas. The written pitch is as important as your verbal pitch because it often serves as the first “interaction” you have with potential employers. Here’s what you need to do:

For a Written Pitch, Here’s What You Need to Do:

• Create an impactful and very clear LinkedIn profile headline that let's people know who you are
• Abbreviate your pitch and sell yourself in 30 words or less in the “About” section of your LinkedIn page
• Create a tagline for your email signature or Twitter bio

Create a line for Your Linked in Profile Headline

You are marketing yourself through your profile headline. That’s why you should treat it like a mission statement — encapsulating who you are and why people should connect with you.

Abbreviate your pitch and sell yourself in 30 words or less in the “About” section of your LinkedIn page

The goal of this section is to present a concise, yet compelling, snapshot of your professional identity. With its 2,600 character limit, the summary gives you approximately 370 words to explain who you are, what you do, and what makes you unique.

Create a tagline for your email signature or Twitter bio

It should explain the unique value that you offer as clearly as possible. When brainstorming tagline ideas, consider your benefits, value propositions, and key differentiators that you bring to the table as an employee.

Pro tips from the IT staffing pros:

1. Keep It Short and Sweet: Your elevator pitch is a sales pitch. Be sure you can deliver your message in under a minute. Focus on being consise in “meaty” written taglines.
2. Stick to the Essentials: Say who you are, what you do, and what you are looking for or want to achieve.
3. Be Positive and Persuasive: Focus on what you want to do, not what you don’t want to do. In person-to-person connections or Zoom calls, smile, lean in, be upbeat. Use colorful, positive verbs and concise language in written pitches.
4. Practice, Practice, Practice: Deliver your elevator speech to a friend or record it, so that you can be sure that your message is clear.
5. Proofread: Get several people to proofread your written pitch and give you feedback. The last thing you want to do is post a grammatically incorrect introduction on your Twitter feed or LinkedIn bio. Even if you delete it, that grammatical error will live eternally in the virtual sphere!

What’s Next?

Not sure where to go next? At Akka Modis, soon to become Akkodis, we focus on connecting your skills and intelligence to top IT and engineering opportunities. Partnering with us can help you take your career to the next level. Check out our current openings or contact us today!