

“I’d love to meet up for coffee and learn more about what you do and your company.” Pay attention to how you end your pitch – you’ll want to state what you want to have happen next. At a networking event, make adjustments based on who you’re speaking to, whether that person’s a contact with a similar work background to yours, a friendly job seeker to share tips and ideas with, or a potential mentor. When making a connection on LinkedIn, for example, adapt your pitch so it includes what you have in common – an alma mater or a former shared workplace. Just like you may have more than one resume depending on the job you’re applying to, you’ll need a few different pitches tailored to your audience. Would you be willing to share your email with me?” You may need more than one pitch. Oh, and if you need someone who’s fluent in Japanese, I’m your person. I’m eager to get back to my career and apply some of the new skills I picked up during my work pause by taking online courses, including certification in CSX-P. So I’m pretty good at quickly adapting to new situations. I’m an IT specialist and a military spouse who has lived in five locations over the past seven years. I would love if you could set aside some time to talk next week.” Fortunately, now he’s back on his feet and I can’t wait to build on my past successes and help your company advance its business goals. It’s a pleasure to meet you and share my background in market research where I helped a major cruise line increase bookings 43% by taking a deep dive into their data and tapping into a younger audience. Now that they’ve started kindergarten, I’m eager to get back to introducing the next “Smart Pops” which was one of the most successful launches that I led at my former company. I know from having been a product manager for ten years at XYZ before taking a pause to raise my twins. “Hi, I’m Margaret! There are a lot of moving pieces to bringing a product to market.

But how should you address that in a 30 second elevator pitch?

They’re all legitimate reasons for having a gap in your resume. So you took time off to care for your kids, your parents, a partner, or yourself.
#Pitchperfect xyz full#
Some people find it helpful to write their pitch down with just bulleted points, others prefer full sentences. Write out your elevator speech so you’re sure you’ve covered the points above. And be sure to thank them for their time and get their contact information. Finally, don’t walk away without asking for what you want to happen next, whether it’s a meeting, a recommendation, or an interview.Express your enthusiasm to get back to work and what you bring to the table.Mention your career gap without dwelling on it.State what your experience is in an interesting and engaging way.This may seem obvious, but if you’re a bit nervous you may forget. Variations of your pitch can be used when you’re talking to a neighbor, when reaching out to people on LinkedIn, when responding to open-ended questions such as “tell me about yourself,” and when riding an elevator with the CEO. You need to get her attention quickly before the doors open and she steps off. Imagine you’re sharing an elevator with the CEO of a company you’d love to work for. So let’s get started! Keep it short and sweet. As daunting as it may seem to introduce yourself, engage the listener, and include an “ask” in such a short amount of time, it’s totally doable. Oh, and somewhere in that 30 seconds mention your career gap without it sounding like a negative. You’ve got 30 seconds to sum up who you are professionally, what you’ve accomplished, and why you are a great – make that outstanding – candidate.
