I am in the process of job hunting. As a huge favor, someone I work with sat down
with me to go over my LinkedIN account, my resume, discuss networking strategies,
and to help me prepare for interviewing.
It’s not as if I haven’t done the whole job search thing in the past,
but it’s been a few years, and refreshers are always helpful.
He gave me a number of great suggestions! One of which was to have 2 “elevator pitches”
of varied lengths ready. For those who
don’t know this term, it means that if you had to “sell yourself” in the time
it takes to ride up in an elevator with someone, what would you say? He suggested in addition to the traditional quick
two minute version, to also have one that is a tiny bit longer. The five minute pitch.
I actually had a former employer look at his watch at the
start of the interview and say to me “Ok, I’ve got 5 minutes. Why should I hire you?” I had a great response, even though I hadn’t
been prepared for this interview technique.
At least I think my response was great, because I got the job. Of course, after my quick elevator pitch, he
went on to interview me for another 20 minutes, and then I had to come back for
4 more interviews with other people at the company. But eventually,
I did get the job.
Thinking about this “elevator pitch” made me think about how
to do this and sound confident, but yet, not cocky! It’s a really thin line between these two. While you may think you’re coming across as
confident, you could accidentally end up appearing cocky. I honestly don’t think that people actually
TRY to come across as cocky. Although
there may be some who do.
Then, of course, because my mind sometimes has a very strong
stream-of-consciousness going on, I started thinking about the online dating
profiles that I am having OH SO MUCH FUN reading! There was one that was sooooo cocky that the
guy even admitted in his profile that he is cocky. He said he may “appear arrogant and
unattainable”, but that’s because he is.
I actually laughed out loud when I read this! And not in a good way. This guy had been the one to contact me,
trying to establish some kind of connection.
So, I have to admit, it was a bit of an ego boost that I ranked high
enough to be considered worthy of his attention. (can you hear my eyes roll from there?) But when I read that, I immediately was
turned off! BIG TIME!!
Because I was thinking about how to appear confident and not
cocky in an interview, I started to look through more dating profiles to see
how someone can tread that thin line, and not cross over to the cocky side. And I’m telling you, it’s not an easy line to
traverse! Not only does it depend on
what YOU say, but also how you say it, and on the mood and general attitude of
the recipient. Are they in a good mood? Do they have a sense of humor? Or are they a very straight-laced kind of
person? Did they possibly have a rough
day? Have they dealt with self-absorbed
jerks in the past and just have no time to put up with that kind of crap?
It made me wonder how my elevator pitch that I gave at that
one interview actually worked. Now
that I think back on it, it could have totally backfired. I did come across a bit cocky. Thankfully, my boss (future boss at the time)
was a bit cocky himself and he appreciated that approach.
All this thinking I’m doing on this subject tells me is that
I need to do a lot of drafting and practicing before I head into the interview
scene. I will probably videotape myself
doing my elevator pitches, to try also read the facial expressions I use and my
body language. That also plays a huge
part. Something said with a little bit
of a smile comes across a lot different than if it’s said completely straight faced! Or with a smirky kind of smile. That can make what you say come across more
on the cocky side.
Ugh! So much to think about!! But I’m CONFIDENT that I can do this!!
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