5 Reasons Why an Elevator Pitch Will Help Your Job Search

Although it sounds short and sweet, don’t be fooled! An elevator pitch is a 30-90 second description of what you are looking for in a job and why you’d be a great fit. It requires concise and casual language, but at the same time it needs to be impactful and stimulate something in the audience. A delicate balance is required. If crafted well, your elevator pitch should entice your audience to want to learn more about you. Leave them hanging just a bit, and you’ll have something to share in a future meeting.

Preparing your elevator pitch can be tricky. Especially if you’re someone who likes to talk and overshare alllllllll the details. BEWARE! Save the details for later and look at the elevator pitch as a tool to get the next meeting/interview/sit-down. Then you can get more into the nitty-gritty. Although it may take time to craft the perfect pitch, it’s worth the effort. Here’s why:

Benefits of an Elevator Pitch

1. During a job interview, an elevator pitch requires that you research the job you want, therefore learning even more about the organization you are targeting for employment.
2. An elevator pitch can helps you network with all types of people throughout your job search.
3. While researching and writing your elevator pitch, you’ll become more comfortable with the language of the industry and how to translate it into layman’s terms.
4. An elevator pitch gives you the confidence you need during a job search. When you have a solid feel for what you want, then you can discuss the topic self-assuredly.
5. You’ll be forced to research each person and/or organization you talk to in order to customize your pitch accordingly. It’s like a teaser to a prime time TV show, and you need to think about your audience.

Image via Gideon Tsang/Flickr.