Career Survival Guide: Part 3 – Personal Pitch...
If you have made the decision to seek another position, or even just want to test the water, a step that should come next so to develop a personal pitch for yourself. When we pitch our business, or service to other’s we call this an “elevator script”, or “elevator pitch”. The idea here is that if you are in a conference, or a convention, or any large meeting for that matter, if you take the elevator with others, you can express to them in one minute the core of what you do. My elevator pitch for my Career Coaching business goes like this…” So, you know how most people don’t like the work they are doing? (Nodding of heads here.) In fact, 71% of the employees in north America either hate what they are doing, or feel disconnected from their work. So I work with Clients to assess their job satisfaction. Then work with Clients to create a career vision, then map that vision into a workable plan.” So in less than one minute, I connect with the person I am talking with through stating a very real world problem, I describe my approach and skill (assessment) and also state at a high level what my service or mission is (working with clients to map their career). A personal pitch is similar to an elevator pitch, but you are pitching yourself; your skills, experience, education, and likes in the next job you want to get.
This personal pitch is a means to an end. It can happen without having an up to date resume. The exceptions are if you are attending a job fair, or another gathering where the main focus is to talk job placement. In this case, if your personal pitch generates interest, you can follow up with “would you like to see my resume?” But at most social occasions you can follow up with a resume if need be.
I’d like to suggest what makes for a successful personal pitch. It is good to consider a lead in question to have ready. For example, if you are good at organization, and are looking for a position where organization is a major asset, your question could be…”so you know how most people can’t seem to get organized? I am an ace at organization, and scheduling.” If you are good at getting systems to talk to each other, your question could be…”so you know how complex it can get at organizations when information is in half a dozen places? I make life easier by building services so the information can be shared more easily.” So think about a good question as a lead in, and make it a problem most everyone can relate to. Think of pain points that you make better, or make disappear.
The second part of the personal pitch is to list two to three things that you are good, or even better great at. For example, if you are a project manager and are good at turning troubled projects around, you could say “I am really good at getting troubled projects moving in the right direction again”. (I met someone like this, and the company I was working for at the time hired her based on her success of turning bad projects upright.) If you are a good numbers person, and enjoy doing that work, you can say “I love getting into the numbers and making sense of them so managers don’t have to.”
The last part of the personal pitch is the close. This is the time we ask for leads on a new position. If this is a phone call to a friend, family member, or personal contact, the close would sound something like…”do you know of anyone that can use my talent?” In the case of a career fair, the close could be…” can your organization use my skills, and experience?” Alternately, it could be…” would you like to see my resume?”
To illustrate a sample of a personal pitch for a person that is a middle manager, making a call to a personal contact the conversation would sound something like this:
YOU: “Hi Jane, it has been a while, how is it going?”
Other: “Hey John, it sure has been a while. Things are pretty much the same. Going well overall. How are you? What’s up?”
YOU: “So you might have heard there were some lay-offs at ACME Corp. Guess what? I was one of them.”
Other: “Oh no. Sorry to hear this.”
YOU: “You probably know it was a business decision, and I’m looking forward to the next chapter. I think you know that I was a middle tier manager at ACME. Over the last couple years, I have excelled at delivering quality software at faster speed to market. Using LEAN methodology, we were delivering software into production every month. We increased speed to market by 50%. Do you know of anyone that can use my talents to develop teams that deliver quality quickly?”
Other: “Hmmm…you know I have to think about this. I belong to a professional organization and I could spend some feelers there. Do you have a resume?”
YOU: “I do. I think I have your email. When does your group meet next?”
Other: “Next week. On Tuesday.”
YOU: “Is it OK if I ping you back say Thursday next week?”
Other: “That would be fine. Gotta run. We will talk next week. Take care.”
To recap, below is a check list of the key parts of a personal pitch:
1) Lead in Question (usually around a real word problem, or pain point)
2) Mention two to three skills, and experience (things that you are truly good at, and have proven your value)
3) Close (You ask for leads on a new position)
The power of a well written personal pitch is that when the opportunity to sell ones-self arises, (and this can often be unpredictable – a party, a phone call from an old friend, etc.) we will not trip over our words in describing our skills and success. We have rehearsed the personal pitch, and we are concise about summarizing our skills, and experience, and have a solid close in place where we ask for leads, and level of interest. If you have a well written personal pitch, and have it down pat, you will get right to the point, appear more confident, and display that you fully understand what you can do well, and are focused when making your key points.
If you have made the decision to seek another position, or even just want to test the water, a step that should come next so to develop a personal pitch for yourself. When we pitch our business, or service to other’s we call this an “elevator script”, or “elevator pitch”. The idea here is that if you are in a conference, or a convention, or any large meeting for that matter, if you take the elevator with others, you can express to them in one minute the core of what you do. My elevator pitch for my Career Coaching business goes like this…” So, you know how most people don’t like the work they are doing? (Nodding of heads here.) In fact, 71% of the employees in north America either hate what they are doing, or feel disconnected from their work. So I work with Clients to assess their job satisfaction. Then work with Clients to create a career vision, then map that vision into a workable plan.” So in less than one minute, I connect with the person I am talking with through stating a very real world problem, I describe my approach and skill (assessment) and also state at a high level what my service or mission is (working with clients to map their career). A personal pitch is similar to an elevator pitch, but you are pitching yourself; your skills, experience, education, and likes in the next job you want to get.
This personal pitch is a means to an end. It can happen without having an up to date resume. The exceptions are if you are attending a job fair, or another gathering where the main focus is to talk job placement. In this case, if your personal pitch generates interest, you can follow up with “would you like to see my resume?” But at most social occasions you can follow up with a resume if need be.
I’d like to suggest what makes for a successful personal pitch. It is good to consider a lead in question to have ready. For example, if you are good at organization, and are looking for a position where organization is a major asset, your question could be…”so you know how most people can’t seem to get organized? I am an ace at organization, and scheduling.” If you are good at getting systems to talk to each other, your question could be…”so you know how complex it can get at organizations when information is in half a dozen places? I make life easier by building services so the information can be shared more easily.” So think about a good question as a lead in, and make it a problem most everyone can relate to. Think of pain points that you make better, or make disappear.
The second part of the personal pitch is to list two to three things that you are good, or even better great at. For example, if you are a project manager and are good at turning troubled projects around, you could say “I am really good at getting troubled projects moving in the right direction again”. (I met someone like this, and the company I was working for at the time hired her based on her success of turning bad projects upright.) If you are a good numbers person, and enjoy doing that work, you can say “I love getting into the numbers and making sense of them so managers don’t have to.”
The last part of the personal pitch is the close. This is the time we ask for leads on a new position. If this is a phone call to a friend, family member, or personal contact, the close would sound something like…”do you know of anyone that can use my talent?” In the case of a career fair, the close could be…” can your organization use my skills, and experience?” Alternately, it could be…” would you like to see my resume?”
To illustrate a sample of a personal pitch for a person that is a middle manager, making a call to a personal contact the conversation would sound something like this:
YOU: “Hi Jane, it has been a while, how is it going?”
Other: “Hey John, it sure has been a while. Things are pretty much the same. Going well overall. How are you? What’s up?”
YOU: “So you might have heard there were some lay-offs at ACME Corp. Guess what? I was one of them.”
Other: “Oh no. Sorry to hear this.”
YOU: “You probably know it was a business decision, and I’m looking forward to the next chapter. I think you know that I was a middle tier manager at ACME. Over the last couple years, I have excelled at delivering quality software at faster speed to market. Using LEAN methodology, we were delivering software into production every month. We increased speed to market by 50%. Do you know of anyone that can use my talents to develop teams that deliver quality quickly?”
Other: “Hmmm…you know I have to think about this. I belong to a professional organization and I could spend some feelers there. Do you have a resume?”
YOU: “I do. I think I have your email. When does your group meet next?”
Other: “Next week. On Tuesday.”
YOU: “Is it OK if I ping you back say Thursday next week?”
Other: “That would be fine. Gotta run. We will talk next week. Take care.”
To recap, below is a check list of the key parts of a personal pitch:
1) Lead in Question (usually around a real word problem, or pain point)
2) Mention two to three skills, and experience (things that you are truly good at, and have proven your value)
3) Close (You ask for leads on a new position)
The power of a well written personal pitch is that when the opportunity to sell ones-self arises, (and this can often be unpredictable – a party, a phone call from an old friend, etc.) we will not trip over our words in describing our skills and success. We have rehearsed the personal pitch, and we are concise about summarizing our skills, and experience, and have a solid close in place where we ask for leads, and level of interest. If you have a well written personal pitch, and have it down pat, you will get right to the point, appear more confident, and display that you fully understand what you can do well, and are focused when making your key points.
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