Elevator Speech

[silvergray545]

I have a career fair coming up and I'm looking for an internship/full time job. At school, they've been saying to make sure you have a good elevator speech prepared before you talk to these companies. I need to "sell myself" but I'm not quite sure how to. I've been googling it but I almost always find things for people that are already established in the business world. I have zero related work experience in my field of study.

My question is, what do recruiters like to hear in an elevator speech knowing that I'm a student with no related work experience? I'm involved in a couple different associations on and off campus. At one of my previous jobs, I held quite a bit of responsibility. When people see my resume, they ask me to tell them about what I did almost 90% of the time.

Any suggestions on what to include that will make the speech short, sweet and impressive?

[Vanity]

Tell them why you want to be in their company. Do research on the ones you're interested in and see yourself in that position, and then tell them why you can see yourself being in that position.

I hate hearing past experience descriptions as a stand-alone. You have to talk the future to get heard (IMO).

[silvergray545]

Originally Posted by Vanity

Tell them why you want to be in their company. Do research on the ones you're interested in and see yourself in that position, and then tell them why you can see yourself being in that position.

I hate hearing past experience descriptions as a stand-alone. You have to talk the future to get heard (IMO).

Thank you for the response, I appreciate the advice. I'm glad you said you don't like hearing about past experiences because I was going to refer to that. I'll stick to what I'm doing currently in the associations that I am a part of and relate to how it could help me in the real world.

[MTP335]

I agree, Do company research. It looks really bad that you are asking for a job, but dont know about what the company does.

Also think and present like this:
-Goal
-Role (you played)
-Result

[bulldog_yyc]

Don't pretend to know "the field" more than the company considering that you don't have any practical experience. If they are publicly traded, flip through their investor slides and news releases to see the latest developments or other sector specific news that you can bring up and ask what their opinion is - easy way to start a conversation and they get to talk about themselves (which corporate recruiters and HR people love to do).

However, looks like you are passionate about your industry for one reason or another - make sure you communicate that should the conversation go towards an interview. Hard working, attention to detail, committed to similar goals/values are all things they will be looking for in a person at your stage of your career.

[shah269]

"Hi my name is XXX and you must be YYYY, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm currently looking to join a forward leaning team that is ready to take on today's challenges with tomorrow's ideas. May i have your contact information so that we may discuss this further?"

look i'll be honest with you, the way things are at this time....it's all about who you know not what you know or hell what you can do. It's a shit economy. But maybe the ballsy approach will help you out! Give it a shot! You never know! And good luck!

[silvergray545]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I went to the career fair on Tuesday and I felt pretty good about it. I had a list of 14 companies that I wanted to talk to so I did research on every one of them. Took me like 3 hours just to do that. I also took notes and wrote down questions that I had after researching them. After introducing myself, some recruiters started firing questions at me right away. So I didn't use an elevator speech all the time. But I made sure I used parts of it when they asked questions about me personally.

But like shah said, it's about who you know. I'm hoping to hear more from the firms that I have already networked with. But I'm also hoping that I made a lasting impression on the one firm that I really want to get in to.

[shah269]

I'm sure you will do well. Remember smile, dress to impress, and if you don't know something it's ok...life is good

[Comet]

preparing a speech is a sure way to hit a wall, because you are so focused on what you want to say that if they throw in a curve ball, you'll be like a deer in headlights.

Know the company, know yourself, and be confident.. Confidence and assertive attitude gives off the vibe that "yes, I can take what you throw at me" and that's what people want to hire most of the time.

Also, reciting a memorized speech is not confident or assertive. It shows that you can't handle on the fly changes to situations.

That's just my 2 cents however.

[amanda hor$t]

have a few "this is why i'm a badass" stories. risky, but if it's a hit it'll be memorable.

[Hawkeye]

What is an elevator speech... never heard that one before. Then again I guess it all depends on the field you are going into.

[txz4]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

What is an elevator speech... never heard that one before. Then again I guess it all depends on the field you are going into.

Imagine you step on to the elevator with someone you would like to do business with. What would you say in around 30 sec to make yourself memorable and let your intentions be known.

I had a class where it was an exam grade to deliver a proper elevator speech to the class, SO many people froze up. If you can deliver confidently and knowledgeably you're doing well.

If you get to the interview stage, pour over every bit of company history and info past, future, and present you can get your hands on. Know stock trend (if a large company) and why, as well as problems they are having.


I walked into an interview for a company on the day their quarterly earnings came out. stock went up, and i got to congratulate my interviewer (who had shares) on his gains.

[JoeyO]

Job fairs are a waste. Many companies have no intention of hiring and only do it for the public relations and to secure their spot for when some day the economy possibly turns better.

It's like the companies that came to my campus. It was a just a ritual for them and many of them told me they had a "hiring freeze" in place. My reaction was WTF.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by txz4

Imagine you step on to the elevator with someone you would like to do business with. What would you say in around 30 sec to make yourself memorable and let your intentions be known.

I see, that makes sense kind of. I thought it was to pump yourself up on the way to the interview, haha.

Luckily moving around within the same company I have not really had to interview in a while!