It can be awkward and embarrassing to introduce yourself to someone new in person. And even more so when you’re speaking directly into your smartphone camera! It’s especially tricky when you know you need to keep it short. Creating a 30-second elevator pitch is a perfect way to structure your introduction to employers, and you can use it for your intro video on your pepelwerk Talent profile!
Your 30-second elevator pitch is just a quick bit of information that explains who you are and what you do. It does not have to be complicated or overly scripted. The best way to proceed is to bullet point what you want to say. So that you remember everything you want to say in your 30-second elevator pitch, you can use a sticky note on your phone or laptop as a cheat sheet.
Getting started with your 30-second elevator pitch
Before you record your video, brainstorm on your work persona. Your persona describes versions of you in different scenarios. While your personality is your foundation, your persona describes how your personality approaches situations, problems, or social settings.
Your elevator pitch for attracting Employers: The Basics
Introduce yourself
Begin by stating your name and provide a short description of your purpose through work. It’s a perfect spot to include your natural talents and abilities, or even a philosophical viewpoint about how your talents contribute to the working world.
Here are some examples:
- Hi, my name is…
- I am naturally gifted in math
- People always ask me to…
- I was born to connect people
Tell them what you want to do
This seems obvious, but many people struggle with communicating what they do from a work perspective. Job seekers find it difficult to answer this question because most people can try anything and until you try it you don’t know if you can do it. Why? Jobs are different for every company. You can call the job the same thing and the goal may be the same too but how it gets done, who you work with and the tools you have all differ by Employers.
When it comes to looking for a job, say what you want to do in terms of interest. At least if you’re interested in it, companies know you will have a higher chance of doing the job well.
Check out these examples:
- Music is my passion and I am interested in work that lets me ….
- I am passionate about the environment and work that lets me….
Help Employers understand why you can do it
Even if you have no formal work experience, that doesn’t mean you can’t explain why you can do a job. Experience on a resume explains the work that other companies have let you do for them, not whether you were good at it. You want to get paid for your skills and attributes, so don’t over complicate it.
Some examples are as follows:
- I can learn new things quickly
- People tell me I’m a good listener
- My communication skills are strong
- I’ve accomplished…
- I will do a great job for you because…
Pick the best (and most persuasive) ideas
After you do your brainstorming, pick the ideas that you think capture your work persona the best. Once you have all of your ideas pulled together, you could find that you’re an enthusiastic person about everything or that you have a specific niche. Either way, a video introduction is a great way to let people see you as a whole person and not just a piece of paper.
Pull your elevator pitch together
Here are a few examples of how to pull your elevator pitch together:
- Hi, my name is Mara Brizo. I am a high-energy, optimistic person with an interest in social media because it creates communities. The work I’d like to do is in the beauty or fashion industry, as I’m really good making people feel beautiful.
- Hello there, my name is Rich Summer and I have a talent for building things from nothing. The way cities work fascinates me. In my spare time, I engineer cities out of legos or match sticks – whatever I can find to create architecture and practice my craft.
- Good morning, my name is Auggie Moore and I am a programmer that specializes in proprietary software development. I’d like to use my skills to help the environment. My passion is in solving problems through software – people always ask me to troubleshoot their software bugs!
Set up your recording
Now that you have your content sorted, you are ready to make your video! Brush your hair and straighten your clothes, sit up straight and remember to smile.
Stabilize your phone at about eye level with a travel tripod or a stack of books. Try to remember that another human will look at your video, so focus on the camera lens, either on your laptop or cell phone, to create eye contact. To get great lighting for your video, just face a window on a bright day. Be mindful of what’s behind you! Natural lighting flatters everyone and it allows Employers to see your face. Oh, and be friendly. Make it your best first impression…because it is the first impression for prospective Employers.
Not a pepelwerk Talent user? Download the app today!
We hope you found this guide to creating your 30-second elevator pitch useful and that you’re ready to introduce yourself to Employers. The pepelwerk job matching app for Talent is all about matching your skills, attributes, and interests to suitable Employer job opportunities. Download the app, set up your Talent profile, and we’ll find you the job matches!
