4 Tips for Creating an Elevator Pitch for Job Seekers + Worksheet

Last Updated on March 15, 2024 by Career Reload Team

Have you ever used an old salesperson’s trick, the elevator pitch in your job search? Whether you call it an elevator pitch or an elevator speech, with the help of it, you crystallize your skills and the benefits you offer into a brief pitch.

According to the story, a good salesperson convinces a potential customer during an elevator ride, in less than a minute. During this time, you need to tell what the company or product represents, what the products do, and what customer benefits the products offer.

An elevator pitch is also worth learning when looking for a job because when applying for a job, you are surprisingly often faced with situations where you have to crystallize your skills and at the same time stand out from dozens of applicants.

A good job seeker summarizes the skills into clear sentences. When time is short, you should focus on the essentials and leave out the less relevant things. A good elevator pitch answers an important question for the employer: Why should you be hired?

4 tips on creating a working elevator pitch

The length of the elevator pitch varies depending on the situation. There is more time for a job interview, but you have to be briefer in a telephone conversation, at a recruitment stand, or in an elevator.

This four-point basic formula can be altered for different situations:

1. Who are you?

Start with the easiest part. In the beginning, tell who you are. The purpose is not to tell your personal history but to get started. Think about what makes you an interesting candidate for your employer and worth hiring. Tell us your name and briefly, for example, your work history, something interesting about your educational background or hobby.

2. What do you know?

After the introduction, tell us what you know and what you are good at. You could list three points of your skills to convince the listener (because three points are often easy to remember). Exaggeration or lying should be avoided, but now that you are selling your skills, you should be proud of what you know and boldly point this out.

3. How can you benefit the company?

This is the most important point in the elevator pitch: a value claim. So why would you be useful to the company? Why should you be hired?

These are questions that the recruiter is considering. Help them by telling the answers to the questions directly.

What benefits you list should be tailored to the employer. If you’re preparing an elevator pitch for a job interview, research the backgrounds of the recruiting company, think about what they’re looking for, and figure out where they’re going.

After that, think about why they would hire you. What exactly do you offer them? Do you know something that others don’t or are you eager to learn? Are you a good team player? Do you have the experience they might need?

4. Concretize with the help of a story

If you have time, illustrate what you said earlier by telling a short story about one of your work, school, or leisure projects. What kind of success have you achieved?

For example, did you get particularly good feedback from a customer? Did your co-worker or fellow student praise you as a teammate? Did you receive praise from your supervisor for a particular situation? Stories are a great way to flesh out your skills.

It is a good idea to repeat and practice the prepared elevator pitch so that you will remember it when there comes time to use it.

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Career Reload Team

We’re a team of writers dedicated to providing insights and tips for navigating the professional world. With a collective wealth of experience across various industries and roles, our team understands the challenges and opportunities that come with seeking meaningful work and advancing your career. We help job seekers to better their careers by offering career advice & free resources. Download free Word resume templates and resume templates for Google Docs.