• Why do I need it?
• What do I say?
• Who do I say it to?
• Doesn’t it make me seem self-important?

What is the Elevator Speech?

Networking is the most important part of the process of looking for a new career, and the Elevator Speech is your number one tool to utilize.  You can have many variations based on your audience.  For the purposes of this article, we are going to assume your audience is someone in your profession who ideally has the authority to hire.   The Elevator Speech however is not about asking for a job, it is about making connections with the right people!

As the title implies, the Elevator Speech should be no longer than 30 seconds.  The average person will give you a ‘free pass’ to talk for 30 seconds before they either lose interest or have to get back to what they were previously doing.  Take advantage of the window of time that you are given to convey your message in a compelling manner.  Make sure to not abuse the time you are given, by adhering to the 30 second rule.

What Do I Say?

So how do you create a persuasive message that will grab the listeners attention, when you don’t even know them?  You do so by focusing on your key accomplishments as they relate to the type of position you are seeking.  I tell people that all hiring managers experience the same issues for like positions.  For example, if you are speaking to a purchasing manager they will almost always be dealing with the same general issues regardless of industry.  Your job is to identify what those problems are for that industry and share with them how you have helped solve similar issues.

It is very important that your Elevator Speech not come across as a desperate person asking for a job.  This is the quickest way to lose the interest of the person to whom you are speaking.  Many of the people you will speak with are not currently hiring.  Most of them will however have contacts at other companies or in other departments within their own company.  In order to get access to those contacts, you must approach the conversation as someone that is networking and looking to make contacts in the industry.  The person you are speaking with will let you know if they have a position that fits your background.

Always Ask Questions

At the conclusion of your Elevator Speech, you should have five to seven follow up questions that convey the depth of your knowledge regarding the career you are seeking.  A good manager can tell almost as much about your experience from a well worded question as they can from your response to a question.  Add impact to your questions by doing the appropriate research to understand what issues the company and the industry are currently facing.  Your success will directly correlate with the degree to which they perceive you as knowledgeable in your chosen field.

Once you have written your Elevator Speech down on paper, you MUST PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!  I strongly encourage you to speak it out loud to friends and family at least 80 times before you present it to a prospective employer.  That way, what you are saying becomes second nature and you will be less likely to stumble or lose your place during the course of the conversation.

Example of an Elevator Speech

Here is an example of a potential Elevator Speech for someone in the Purchasing profession.  Use this as a guide and modify it as appropriate to fit your specific situation.

Hello Bob, my name is Steve Gray.  I am calling in regard to some networking that I am doing in the industry.  My background includes 15 years of purchasing experience across a variety of industries.  I have a great ability to design and develop processes where no structure previously existed.  On one such green belt project I was responsible for helping to save the company $2 million dollars by consolidating our vendors and negotiating better deals with a preferred group of suppliers all while maintaining strict quality standards.

Do you know of companies in the industry that area that are experiencing similar issues?

How are you currently handling the push to reduce vendors and expenses?

What resulting effect has that had on overall quality for you?

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Cost – $30 or sign up for two or more sessions for $25 each Prepayment Required

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Cost – $30 or sign up for two or more sessions for $25 each Prepayment required

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For more information on Career Search Strategies contact Steve Gray at 704 877 5522 or SGray@careersearchstrategies.net

The commissioners pulled back their application for state money to improve the county airport yesterday so Elyria can apply for a grant to upgrade an industrial site to benefit A-D Technologies, formerly known as Arnco Corp.

Up to 150 jobs will stay in Elyria if the city’s grant application for $580,000 is approved by the Ohio Department of Development. The grant is designed to fund improvements to allow A-D Technologies to move from three buildings that total 150,000 square feet at 800 Garden St. into one 210,000-square-foot building that belonged to the former Progressive Processing Co. next door.

Up to 30 more employees could be hired once the project is completed, according to Jeff Naymik, marketing communications manager for A-D Technologies, which makes water and sewer pipes and underground conduits for telephone, cable TV and electrical power lines.

Naymik said his company is very excited about the project.

“The next step is to get approvals,” he said. “But we’re glad everyone pulled together.”

Arnco Corp. merged with Dura-Line Corp in 2007 to form A-D Technologies, based in Knoxville, Tenn., Naymik said.

“If we had not gotten this grant, we would have had to make a decision (whether to leave Elyria) based on capacity,” he said, noting the company has five plants across the United States.

Don Brackenhoff, Elyria economic development director, supervised the grant application. It includes about $400,000 to demolish 280,000 square feet of wooden structures and about $180,000 to upgrade a CSX rail spur. The city should learn by June 1 whether the state approved the grant application, Brackenhoff said.

Ohio counties are each allowed to apply for one grant up to $750,000 each year from the industrial site improvement fund of the Ohio Department of Development.

The commissioners had decided at their March 26 meeting to apply for money to extend sewers, utilities and a road to make the Lorain County Airport more viable as a future industrial park, according to Lorain County Commissioner Ted Kalo.

Elyria’s grant application was due to the commissioners’ office by noon March 20 for consideration at their March 26 meeting, Brackenhoff said.

“I called and was told it would be OK to turn it in a few hours late,” he said. Brackenhoff turned the proposal in at 2 p.m. March 20, but the commissioners never got it for their meeting, he said

Yesterday, Elyria Mayor William Grace spoke to the commissioners about the city’s proposal, apologizing for the communication breakdown.

Lorain County Commissioner Lori Kokoski said she hopes the county can submit its airport proposal next year.

“As Mayor Grace said, if there had been more communication before last Thursday, we could have saved a lot of work on the airport grant,” she said.

In other action, the commissioners prevented Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti from having to lay off a deputy to cover an unexpected $60,000 shortfall in worker’s compensation expenses.

Stammitti said he was given $73,000 at the start of the year for worker’s compensation expenses, but the actual cost was about $133,000.

Lorain County Administrator Jim Cordes said the $60,000 will come from future appropriations.

“It’s push-pull these days,” he said. “If you push here, you have to be pulled somewhere else.”

But a temporary county-wide sales tax increase of 0.5 percent, which takes effect today, is hoped to raise about $15 million for the criminal justice system, Cordes said. The increase will bring Lorain County’s sales tax to 6.75 percent, and voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to keep the tax.

Source: The Morning Journal

Our interview is again with Mr. Ron Hoechstetter – Sr. Recruiter for CarePartners Health Services. For employment opportunities in the areas of occupational therapy, speech language pathology and physical therapy – be sure to visit their listings on LOCALJOBS.COM today.

Podcast #3 of 3: Therapy Jobs at CarePartners of Asheville NC

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Podcast #1: Overview of CarePartners