There’s excitement in the air for many seniors, as your college career hurtles towards its conclusion, and the outside world beckons. Soon, you will be hunting for a new job with your freshly minted degree. But that degree, significant as it is, doesn’t have a voice of its own. You’ll need to be able to sell yourself to potential employers. Sometimes, this will be in formal interview settings, after you’ve submitted a résumé to a job you really want. You’ll be able to lay out your full case for your aptitude and skill.
But sometimes it will happen by serendipity – you being in the right place at the right time, able to talk to someone with power in your chosen field. And in those cases, you might only have a moment. Being able to do this well is frequently called the ‘Elevator Pitch’ – what you can tell a captive audience in, say, a minute to ninety seconds of a typical elevator ride. And frequently, it can make the difference in your transition from where you are now to the job you want to be in.
This month, the Career Services office and Business Club here at IU East are giving you the opportunity to perfect your technique for this important quick-sell approach. On January 31st, they’re holding an Elevator Pitch competition that will give you the chance to practice your skills and win great prizes at the same time! You can register at Eventbrite for free and get a leg up on your job search skills.
And the library can help you too, with plenty of powerful resources. Not just for this competition, or for scoring a job – but with books and articles detailing any minute-or-less proposal you might be called upon to make. Check out books like The Power of the Pitch: Transform Yourself into a Persuasive Presenter and Win More Business by Gary Hankins, The “It” Factor: Be the One People Like, Listen to, and Remember by Mark Wiskup, Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less by Joseph McCormack, Interview Skills: Presenting Yourself with Confidence by Sajitha Jayaprakash, Hooked: How Leaders Connect, Engage and Inspire with Storytelling by Gabrielle Dolan, or even Job Interviews for Dummies by Joyce Lain Kennedy.
And our databases have plenty of articles, as well, from academic and trade journals – try titles like Getting Your Elevator Pitch to the Plate, How to Make Your Case in 30 Seconds or Less, and The Entrepreneurial Elevator Pitch: An Empirical Test of One Pedagogical Approach.
You’ve got the skills and talent for a great job – now you just have to sell yourself! And if you need help finding what you need, ask us at iueref@iue.edu!