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Four Simple Steps to Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch

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You know that creating a solid cover letter and resume are key components to the job search process – but what do you do if you “bump into” the perfect networking opportunity on the street, at the gym, in an elevator, or at a casual networking event? Having a quick “pitch” prepared for those surprise moments can help you make connections and find new opportunities – all without needing to carry a stack of resumes with you everywhere!

In the book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell unpacks the notion of first impressions and shows that first impressions are overwhelmingly accurate. He uses the term “thin-slicing” to explain how people make first impressions based on just a thin slice, or quick interaction, with a new person. Gladwell argues that we do this out of necessity and that we can learn a lot from even the shortest interactions with others.

When it comes to finding the perfect job, first impressions are everything. Creating a solid elevator pitch is one easy way to put the “thin-slice” theory into practice!

What is an elevator pitch, and why do I need one?

“So, tell me a little about yourself.”

If you’ve ever struggled to answer this question during an interview, you’re not alone. However, a carefully crafted elevator pitch makes for the perfect answer!

An “elevator pitch” is just that – a short pitch that you could easily rattle off during an elevator ride (most people aim for 15 to 30 seconds). An effective elevator pitch takes full advantage of the thin-slicing concept. By creating a professional “pitch” centered on yourself, your background, your experiences, and your goals, you’ll be able to impress a hiring manager and position yourself as a strong candidate—all in those critical first few seconds.

An elevator pitch isn’t just for elevator rides – a job interview is the best time to break out your carefully crafted pitch. A thin-slicing study from the University of South Florida found that “Applicants who appeared attentive, not anxious, competent, confident, dominant, optimistic, and professional” during an initial 12-second impression were given “positive hiring recommendations.”

So, how can you maximize the impact of your first impressions with potential employers? By focusing on your micro traits—smiling, eye contact, hand gestures, visible, active listening—and crafting a solid elevator pitch!

Crafting a Compelling Elevator Pitch
Creating an elevator pitch takes a bit of time and preparation. Once you have, it completed and well-rehearsed, you can feel confident you will make a great first impression at your next interview or networking event. Here are four easy steps to help you create the perfect elevator pitch for your needs!

1. Know who you are addressing.

Just like you customize your resume or CV based on a specific job, it’s important to customize your elevator pitch to the person you’re addressing. Chances are, you’ll have a “core” pitch that you adjust based on the position, the institution, and the person to whom you’re speaking.

For example, if you’re creating a pitch to use at a networking event, keep it short (under 15 seconds) and general to any industry. If you’re working on an elevator pitch for an interview, it can be longer and more detailed (aim for around 30 seconds). In this case, consider how your strengths, interests, and experience pair up with the job description and the company’s motto or work culture.

2. Make a list and then cut it down.

Look at your resume/CV, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, and any other sources that outline your background, education, experience, and achievements. Create a bullet list of your top 20, most important details. Then, condense those to 10. Then narrow it down to just 5. The goal is to find pieces that will pique the interviewer’s attention. The rest of the information can wait until they read your resume or ask more detailed questions during an interview.

For example, if you’re applying to work for a travel company, the years you spent abroad may be more compelling than work experience or academic achievements. Focus on what matters to that particular institution and its culture—sometimes, it’s not the obvious superlatives.

3. Hit the key points…and do it quickly.

Every elevator pitch should accomplish the following goals:

  • Introduce yourself
  • Explain who you are
  • Articulate your professional goals and objectives
  • List a few reasons you’re the right candidate for the role

Be succinct and clear-cut—don’t inflate your experience with buzzwords, extraneous details, or a speed-read of your entire resume. After all, the goal of an elevator pitch is to leave your listener intrigued and eager to learn more!

4. Practice makes perfect!

Practice your pitch in front of a mirror and with friends or colleagues, and time yourself to make sure your pitch is somewhere between 15-30 seconds (depending on your purpose). Even better – film yourself giving your pitch, then play it back to look for any nervous habits or ticks.

Your goal is to sound confident and conversational—sounding rehearsed will come off stiff and disingenuous. The more comfortable you become with your pitch, the easier it will be to adapt and evolve it for individual hiring managers and positions.

One final tip: Smile!

A small, friendly smile can be a positive micro trait that leaves the interviewer with a good first impression. Beyond that, a U.K. study revealed that “we can hear a smile in someone’s voice” whether we’re face-to-face or not. That simple visual and vocal shift can help boost your candidate profile by maximizing that “thin-slicing” moment.

So get out there and tell everyone a little about yourself! With a solid elevator pitch, you can get the attention of potential employers at networking events, confidently set yourself ahead of the pack during job interviews, and hopefully land your dream job!

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The Intangible Qualities Higher Ed Employers Look For

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Right now I am working on several very senior administrative searches. I hear hiring managers say they need to hire someone who can handle “organizational ambiguity” and/or have “emotional intelligence”. Just today a manager said he had to hire someone who could maintain a sense of humor even in “the darkest hours”. So what does this really mean and how can you as a job seeker prepare to address these qualities that do not have to do with the functional skills that are described in job descriptions?

Adapting to a Decentralized Environment

What is behind these bona fide needs is the fact that academic institutions take decentralization VERY seriously. That is not to say that there are not centralized offices in Finance, HR, IT, and the Office of General Counsel that enforce compliance around issues that could put a university at risk legally or that could create negative press.

Anyone working in especially large Universities needs to simultaneously respect and comply with the mission of such central offices while at the same time operate within the individual school or department that hired them. Navigating these waters is not easy.

How can you present yourself as someone who can do so?. If you are currently working inside higher ed you most like understand the intricacies of matrix reporting. And even if you are trying to break in from the corporate sector if you have worked in a large financial institution or service provider, you may also be able to draw parallels.

Have Examples Ready

What the interviewer will want to hear from you are concrete examples of when you had to make decisions to satisfy your direct boss while at the same time maintain good relationships with central offices that are trying to protect the organization at large. You need to do some thorough reflection of instances in your past work environments that relate. Remember it boils down to developing and fostering relationships with stakeholders close to you and those that are at somewhat of a distance.

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The Pros and Cons of Leaving a Position Without a New One

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As always, I try to write about real situations as opposed to giving abstract advice. Very recently we did hire someone into an administrative role who was open about having left her most recent job to focus all of her energy on a job hunt.

Normally employers are very suspicious upon hearing this, assuming there was some sinister back-drop to the decision. Why would someone leave a job without a new one to move into? It is a valid question, but does not always mean that the person left on bad terms or is prone to discontent.

A Real Life Example

Our individual in question said that after five years with her last employer she had slowly moved up but there was no longer any potential to progress further. Additionally, the person to whom she reported resigned to relocate to another position outside the area. She felt strategically that the timing was right for her to take the risk. She had saved up enough to be out of work for a while and was confident in her ability. She was not, however, so naive as to think her job search would necessarily be easy. As she had planned, she devoted herself full time to her search, seeing that as her full time job.

Prepare to Prove Yourself

If you are contemplating doing something similar, the single most important variable is the ability to get good references from people that can back up your story at the same time they speak to your abilities. While we did have the usual trepidations, the person’s references did validate everything she had said. Additionally, the fact that she was not working made it easier for her to accommodate our last minute frenetic scheduling process that was a function of our wanting to fill the position before the end of the year.

So if you are thinking about taking this kind of risk yourself two things are important–securing references that know you well and can corroborate your story line and knowing yourself well enough to know you can handle the normal anxiety of a job search without an income flow while you are searching. It does take courage.

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How to Make Your Performance Appraisal Work FOR Your Future

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The annual performance review provides your employer a framework to recognize achievements of individual staff members over the past year and begin the conversation about new and ongoing performance goals for the upcoming year. Higher education employers conduct these reviews in June, since we are on a July 1 to June 30 fiscal year.

It does not matter what sector you work in, performance reviews are anxiety producing. You certainly are not alone in feeling that emotion. In fact there is a lot of current literature from reputable sources these days making the case that performance appraisals do not work to motivate employees. But the fact of the matter is if you have one upcoming you should try to turn it into an opportunity that really benefits you.

Unlike the corporate world, stellar performance does not necessarily translate to a lucrative bonus or a high percentage salary increase for the coming year. So you should think about what you CAN get out of this discussion with your boss. Supervisors have hopefully been trained on how to conduct these sessions with a focus on more than just giving feedback. They should be able to give you a sense of the broader goals of his/her whole team, the department and the University at large.

No matter how anxious you are do keep in mind that your supervisor may be equally anxious as is so often the case. So one of the best approaches is to convey an upbeat attitude no matter what you are feeling, thereby perhaps even relaxing them. Even if you are bored or unhappy on the job and your personal goal is to make a career move in the near future, it is important that this discussion go well and you leave your manager with the impression you are on-board with the departmental objectives. That does not mean, however, that you cannot express your desire to grow professionally while doing your current job. Have in mind courses you would like to take, conferences you might like to attend, or committees you might want to serve on. Performance appraisals have a direct impact on the next step in your career whether that is internally or externally.

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The Question of WHY You Want the Job

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It is highly likely that the lead-in question from an interviewer in higher education could be “why are you interested in this position?” It is one that I personally use—or some variation on it.

An easy trap that candidates fall into is “Because it’s at xxxxx” . This response is particular common when candidates are interviewing with prestigious institutions. That is not all what interviewers want to hear and in fact causes them to find the response annoying.

While the prestige may be one of the draws for you, interviewers want to hear about why you are interested in THE OPEN JOB. They want to hear about your passion for Finance, or IT, or Admissions, etc, etc. Hiring the right person to join their teams and carry out the responsibilities of their unit is what matters to them. Of course fitting in with the culture of the whole institution is important, but early on you need to convince them that you really want to do what they need someone to do. If, however, you happen to be an alum of the school in question you can certainly weave that fact into your answer later in the interview, pending of course that you had a good experience at your alma mater.

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3 Tips for Writing a Successful CV

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Along with qualifying examinations and original research, career-seekers beginning or advancing careers in higher education will need a polished, persuasive curriculum vitae (commonly called a vita or CV). Unlike its briefer cousin, the resume, a CV is a comprehensive and exhaustive review of the credentials and qualifications of someone who has chosen to live their professional life in an academic position in a four-year or graduate educational institution. Where a resume is praised for brevity and concise language, a CV can be expansive and detailed. Here are some tips to ensure your CV is persuasive and complete without being loaded with fluff.

1. Detail Your Academic Life

The entire purpose of your vita is to demonstrate your qualifications and credentials for advancement. In higher education, a full curriculum vitae is used when applying to academic positions in four-year or graduate institutions. The full CV will include a detailed accounting of an applicant’s academic life. Take advantage of the opportunity to describe your experiences instead of simply listing responsibilities. Sections to include will vary based on the discipline, so make sure you ask someone from your field to fill you in.

2. Tailor Your CV to Fit the Focus of the Institution

Instead of trying to create a “one size fits all” CV to plop in front of anyone with a job opening, craft your vita to attract the potential employer’s attention. If you are applying to a research-based university, move the Research section of your CV to the beginning. Applying to a school that places more importance on teaching? Move your Teaching Experience up front. Doing a little online research can help you accentuate experience that will appeal to your dream institution.

3. Focus on Formatting

Your CV should be developed with the same attention to detail used to write your dissertation. Mistakes in spelling, grammar, and usage reflect poorly on you. Don’t let a typo cause your CV to move from the hiring desk to the garbage can. Make sure you have someone familiar with curriculum vitae development preview your work before pressing send. I know someone who for years did not get a callback for any academic positions, yet had stellar credentials.

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Want more CV/resume and cover letter tips? Download our free ebook, How to Apply for Higher Education Careers (Revised Edition).

The Truth about Workplace Feedback

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The next time you receive feedback in the workplace consider this: To compete against the most educated and experienced professionals in higher ed, jobseekers need more than a good resume or CV – they need to have soft skills (and the references to back them up).

Your references should be able to share specific examples from a solid track record of building respect and rapport with your peers. Ironically, your best opportunity to build a glowing soft skills record is when you’re receiving tough feedback because you may have fallen short elsewhere. Every time you receive feedback in the workplace it’s an opportunity to strengthen your rapport while demonstrating true leadership potential.

Even if you are the kind of person who takes feedback in stride, we all get thrown off on occasion by workplace stress or specific individuals who might trigger non-productive responses. Developing a feedback frame-of-mind will help you get your mental footing so you can turn solicited or unsolicited feedback into a professional advantage. Consider the following tips for developing your feedback frame-of-mind:

It’s not about you

Believe it or not, many people are not completely comfortable giving coworkers feedback. Giving feedback may be seen as a risk of conflict that could damage a professional relationship. But people push through the discomfort of providing feedback because they are trying to communicate a need (though some people are more tactful than others). Often their need is simply to be heard or to have their experience of you validated – so how you respond to their feedback can help move the relationship forward or reinforce the belief that you are not listening.

A good way to hone in on the need being communicated is to remove yourself from the equation and remember the act of receiving feedback is not about defending yourself – it’s about hearing the person and understanding what they need from you to make your work together more successful. Whether you agree with the feedback or not is something best left for future consideration and discussion. Here are a few ways to demonstrate that you hear what the person is saying:

Practice open body language when listening. Crossed arms indicate you are closed to what the person is telling you.
Verbally and visually acknowledge the points the person is making by nodding or saying “I hear what you are saying.” Repeat back the points you think they are trying to make to ensure you are hearing them correctly.

Saying Thank You Shows More than Humility

Saying thank you is not only an acknowledgment that you respect someone’s opinion. It says you are open to thoughts and ideas other than your own, because you and your coworker share the mutual goal of your organization’s success. This builds an important component of professional trust and creates a bridge for moving forward together. When people give feedback they aren’t always sure how that feedback will be received and how it may affect the working relationship going forward. Sometimes this causes people to not voice feedback (especially to peers prone to defensive and angry responses), which builds resentment and damages the working relationship. So when you say thank you, you are telling a person that you are strong enough to receive uncomfortable feedback and not let your emotions interfere with collaborating and innovating together.

Accepting Feedback Shows Leadership Potential

The need to demonstrate leadership potential is no longer limited to corporate ladder-climbers. In today’s higher ed job market, leadership skills help set you apart from the competition. A good leader knows that everyone has room to improve at every point in their career. Listening to feedback and acknowledging room for improvement shows you can put the needs of the organization before your ego. It also shows you are forward-thinking and open to finding new ways to move yourself and the organization forward. Being aware of areas for improvement also ensures you don’t have personal blind spots keeping you from reaching your career goals. External feedback is such a critical source of information for professional growth that you should be actively looking for opportunities to open the door to receive feedback, not just waiting for it to fall in your lap.

The Email Advantage

Use email to your advantage and don’t fall into the trap of responding instantly. When you receive feedback via email, consider it an opportunity to get into your feedback frame-of-mind before responding. If possible, consider waiting 24 hours to respond. Email can lure you into cramming too much into the feedback interaction, such as defending yourself, offering alternate perspectives or pushing back with a little feedback of your own.

Follow the same rules as in-person feedback. Say thanks, reassure the person that you are hearing them and that you’ll carefully consider what they’ve said, and save everything else for a future conversation. If other people are cc’d on the email consider keeping them on the reply-all as you respond politely to the feedback and suggest a follow-up discussion offline to dive deeper into the details of the situation.

Accepting feedback is a muscle that is developed over time and has to be exercised. Don’t be hard on yourself if you receive seemingly negative feedback. It’s like the old saying about publicity—the only bad feedback is no feedback. Receiving any feedback—negative or positive—is an opportunity to strengthen rapport and to develop professional skills that are to your advantage in today’s job market.

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How To Ask For a Raise – 3 Useful Tips

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Do you feel that your salary does not adequately reflect the value you add to your institution? Maybe you are directly responsible for your department’s success or consistently receive great performance reviews. Perhaps you are simply compensated less than junior academics in your field. You might also feel that your daily responsibilities go far beyond your job description.

These are all valid reasons to begin a discussion with your superiors regarding compensation. Many employers are willing to consider upping your pay if you make an increasingly positive impact on the organization.

Asking for raise can be daunting. If you are justified in your reasoning, you should approach your supervisor about a possible pay increase. Here are a few tips for success.

1. Gather Evidence of Your Contributions

How can you demonstrate to your superiors that you are worthy of a raise? You need to prove that you’ve made contributions to the institution beyond merely coming to work every day. What were your contributions to research, curricula, campaigns, and other important projects that were extremely valuable to the institution? Do you consistently receive positive evaluations from your students and peers? Have you been asked to represent your institution at events? Find evidence that you have contributed to your employer’s success and added value to your institution. This evidence will help justify your request for higher pay.

Show you invested in your skills: Education doesn’t stop when you’re done with your degree. What other certificates or continuing education have you earned after your start date? Better yet, did it come out of your pocket? Even if your employer paid for additional skills training and education, you have justification to request a raise since your new skills make you a more valuable asset.

2. Research Higher Education Salaries and Raises

When asking for a raise, it’s important to prepare yourself with reputable data from sources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What’s the national average for higher education salaries and raises relative to years of service? You should also check job boards for job postings with responsibilities that are comparable to what you have. If you do find some, see if salaries are listed and keep those numbers in your back pocket. Show that you’ve done your homework and are knowledgeable about how your situation compares to the market.

3. Wait for the Right Moment

Waiting for the right moment to ask for a raise can be tricky. Keep in mind that you should avoid asking for a raise during your performance review or right after a budget meeting. In these situations, your superiors are likely to be under pressure and less willing to listen to your pitch.

Instead, wait until you’ve finished a major project that proves your value to the institution. If you’ve recently been given more responsibilities, this is also an ideal time to ask for a raise.

Be sure to prepare for your discussion by practicing what you’ll say the night before you ask. Have a friend or peer help you roleplay. This way, you’ll be confident and rehearsed by the time you have your meeting.

Thinking about your next career move? Check out our latest job postings or create a free account to save your job searches and customize your daily job alerts.

Salary Negotiation: A winner’s mindset

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Salary negotiation is often the elephant in the room. Whether you’re discussing a job offer, you’re a freelancer talking to a prospective client or you’re already in a job and want to talk about a raise, it’s the conversation that we tend to avoid even though it is probably one of the most important and often the decider over whether we take a job or continue in a position.

Before entering into negotiations, you need to do some mental preparation to make sure you know your worth and don’t settle for anything less than you deserve. We often play down our talents and find it difficult to say what we are good at. You might be an incredible sales person but selling yourself is the hardest thing of all. However, it’s very important here to stand firm, know not only what the position is worth but what YOU are worth. You’ve been picked for a reason and you need to use this reason to maximize your salary potential.

Winner’s mindset

It’s all about mindset. On paper, even at interview you may have been the best person for the job but do YOU believe it? If you don’t, you are not going to do yourself justice during any negotiations. You need to believe it, feel it, live it, breath it. Get into the mindset that you are the only person for this job and you need to be compensated accordingly. So how do you do that?

Visualize it

Visualize yourself doing the job, imagine how it would look, what you would do. Feel how you feel when you’re doing the role well. Now imagine the paycheque. Think about the amount exactly and what you do with the money. By visualizing your goal, you can make it seem real. Your self-conscious can’t differentiate between reality and perception so the more often you visualize your goal and the more real it seems, the higher the chances that when it comes to negotiations, you’ll except nothing less than what you want.

Tell yourself

It may sound woo-woo but telling yourself every day that you are great at your work, that you are the only person for this job and that you are worth X amount of money will send a message to your brain to start building this belief in your mind. Over time, your sub-conscious will begin to create change in you based on your new belief.

Prove it

As you start to build this new belief, you will find that you start living it. You will see things from this new perspective. For example, if you hit a target at work, you will start to genuinely believe that it’s because you are the best person for this job rather than it being a stroke of luck and this will boost your performance further and cement your new belief.

Be positive

Always use positive language when you’re talking and visualizing. As the well-known saying goes; ‘believe you can and you will, believe you can’t and you won’t’.

Conclusion

Salary negotiations are never easy but getting into the right mindset is the best starting point.

Thinking about your next career move?

Check out our latest job postings or create a free account to save job searches, upload your resume, and get daily job alerts.

Nikki Vivian is a Career Coach and owner of From Kids to Career, which was set up to support women who are returning to a career, or looking to move in a new direction after taking time out to raise a family. Nikki works with Mums to find their true passions and to re-build confidence that can be lost after a break from the work place. She believes passionately that being a parent does not put you at the bottom of the pile when it comes to your career. Nikki owns CV writing company Confident CV and has 8 years experience working in Careers for Cardiff University.

How to use your Skills as a Parent to Land your Next Job

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When you become a parent, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that ‘that is all you are now’. This can be especially true if you take a break from your career to raise your family, as being out of the game can knock your confidence. In reality, this notion couldn’t be further from the truth. The skills and experience you had before having children are still there and in addition to them, you’ve gained a whole lot more.

When looking for a new job, don’t disregard experience that you’ve had in your parenting life as insignificant. It isn’t always necessary to draw on experiences from your career when demonstrating your skills to a new employer. It’s perfectly acceptable to use examples from your personal life and being a parent is more than valid. Obviously you’ll have to be careful how you craft these experiences into usable examples but it is certainly possible. Here are some skills that you will have developed since becoming a parent.

Organization

The amount of organization required when you become a parent multiples beyond comprehension. Before children, you may have managed your own time, maybe the time of work colleagues, scheduled meetings, worked to strict deadlines, became an expert at prioritizing task. As a parent, you do all of these things still but you also have to factor in other people, their time too and how your commitments impact on each other. Coordinating your day so that everyone is happy and essentials still get done is no mean feat.

Communication

In the past, your examples of communication skills may have been limited to a professional capacity. Whilst it is great to be able to say you can communicate with people at all levels, present confidently and use social media, how about communicating with a child or a baby? This is an entirely new way of communicating. Being so in-tuned with someone that you know what they want just by a sound they make, or making them understand through gestures alone is quite amazing. If you are a whizz at baby sign then this is definitely an example that shouldn’t be missed.

Negotiating

Never underestimate the amount of negotiating you do as a parent. Getting your children to school in the morning, getting them to bed, ensuring they eat a decent meal, even putting shoes on can require lengthy negotiations when your children are young. If you don’t have many professional examples to draw on, find an example that you can refer to in detail and demonstrate a negotiation tactic that you employed successfully.

Working to budgets

When you become a family, there is more to consider when it comes to your finances. Little people are expensive and the chances are you’ve had to make some cutbacks or adjustments to your spending. It’s highly likely that you or your partner took maternity leave or reduced hours which means income will have been stretched. These are great examples to show how you can work to budget and make necessary adjustments.

Work ethic

Employers want to know you are hardworking and committed. Parents are the perfect example of this. As a parent you will have learnt to be efficient, organised and you will know all about hard work. These are great qualities to offer a new employer.

Conclusion

Being a parent is an amazing thing and equips you with so many skills. Don’t gloss over these, use them to your advantage.

Thinking about your next career move?

Check out our latest job postings or create a free account to save job searches, upload your resume, and get daily job alerts.

Nikki Vivian is a Career Coach and owner of From Kids to Career, which was set up to support women who are returning to a career, or looking to move in a new direction after taking time out to raise a family. Nikki works with Mums to find their true passions and to re-build confidence that can be lost after a break from the work place. She believes passionately that being a parent does not put you at the bottom of the pile when it comes to your career. Nikki owns CV writing company Confident CV and has 8 years experience working in Careers for Cardiff University.

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