Elevator Pitch

Today I interviewed a HR Director, Robert S. – he’s looking for a job if anyone needs a good HR Director. We started talking about all the ways we network - LinkedIn, Facebook, seminars at outplacement firms, alumni networks, and all the various groups affiliated with LinkedIn, like OCEAN. I just joined OCEAN so I had no opinion on it – yet. We talked about likes and dislikes of networking and the one thing he said he really missed is the elevator pitch.

I had to ask – elevator pitch? An analogy for -- “elevator pitch” -- it’s the 30 seconds you have in an elevator to pitch the Vice President you just happened to run into. It’s your commercial, your 15 minutes of fame in the world of finding a new job or getting a better job. So, Bob (we were on not so formal terms by now) gave me his pitch. It was a good one.

We all need a good “elevator pitch”. You need it for your Facebook page, LinkedIn page, for the 30 seconds standing in front of the networking group. Yes, even in this email/texting/instant messaging age we still sometimes have to talk to people. You need a stutter-free pitch that demonstrates who we are quickly without too much fluff. Have you refined your elevator pitch lately? Work on it and get it down pat, it’s a good thing to have.