©Janine Desgres Career Counseling & Training 2014. All Rights Reserved.  

     

Perfecting Your Professional Introduction

A Networking Guide for Job Seekers Written by Janine Desgres

Certified Career Transition Coach & Trainer

Email: jdesgres@verizon.net Work: (413) 337-1483 Cell: (413) 626-8097

Website: www.mycareercoach-veterans.com

   ©Janine Desgres Career Counseling & Training 2014. All Rights Reserved.  

     

Your Professional Introduction

In order to make the most of every encounter with your networking contacts, you must be ready to clearly communicate who you are, what you have to offer, and what you are seeking. This is often called your Professional Introduction, an Elevator Speech, Elevator Pitch, or 30-second infomercial—a sales pitch about yourself that you deliver in less than 2 minutes.

The term “Elevator Speech” refers to a practice many entry-level workers use in large

companies. As you stand in the elevator with an executive, instead of making small talk, you introduce yourself with a sales pitch that markets your skills and qualifications with the hope that the VIP will remember you when it comes time for a promotion.

Not only is your Professional Introduction useful for networking, it can also be used:

In the summary section of your resume or LinkedIn profile

At Career/Job Fairs and Informational Interviews

In response to the interview question, “Tell me about yourself”

Your Professional Introduction should include:

Your Name (if appropriate)

Your educational background

Relevant training

Relevant knowledge, skills, and experience

Key Strengths/accomplishments

What you are interested in doing

next/career goal(s)

   ©Janine Desgres Career Counseling & Training 2014. All Rights Reserved.  

     

Here are two examples:

1. Hi, my name is Leanne Dwyer and I’m a student at UMASS, majoring in Computer Science. To gain experience, I have been working at Staples for the past year, doing computer repair. I am skilled at solving various technical problems and have a lot of patience when explaining computers to other people. I’m hoping to find a position with a major corporation or university. Do you know of anyone in the industry that I might speak with?

2. Good morning, my name is Keith Edison. I’ve been in the Army for the last 20 years, serving at West Point Military Academy, teaching cadet courses in Information Security. Now that I’m about to retire, I’m looking to apply my strong leadership and teaching skills in a University or College in my hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. Do you know of anyone I can speak to about employment possibilities?

Prepare Your Professional Introduction

As you prepare your own version, think about what is most important about you that this person must know. If they are an employer, what is your value? What key skills do you have that would interest them? Have you accomplished something that would help them understand who you are as an employee? Communicating this information is key!

Your name (skip if the person already knows your name) _________________________________ Your current status/job title? (in school, retiring, changing careers, currently working as…, etc.) __________________________________________________________________________

What is your overall experience? __________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

What key skills do you have related to your career goal or industry? __________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

   ©Janine Desgres Career Counseling & Training 2014. All Rights Reserved.  

     

What are you most proud of about yourself as an employee? __________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Is there a brief, relevant accomplishment you’ve had that you want to share? __________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

What is your current career goal/target/plan? State it, then ask if the person:

Knows anyone who you might speak with about your goal

Has any information that might be helpful to you

Has any recommendations for next steps you might take

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Now that you’ve thought through what you want say:

Practice your introduction until it feels comfortable.

Develop a shorter version for those times when you have less than a minute.

   ©Janine Desgres Career Counseling & Training 2014. All Rights Reserved.  

     

Advanced Preparation

What if the person is someone you’ve already spoken to, but you want him/her to know that you are

looking for work?

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

What if you are meeting a small group of people? How will you adapt your introduction?

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

What if you are delivering this in an interview, in response to: Tell me about yourself?

(Hint: In this scenario, your introduction can be a bit longer, and should be focused on knocking the employers socks

off through excellent communication skills, confidence, and specific knowledge of how you fit the position to which

you are applying.)

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

   ©Janine Desgres Career Counseling & Training 2014. All Rights Reserved.  

     

What if you are meeting a recruiter at a Job Fair Table?

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

How would your introduction change if you used it in the summary section of your LinkedIn Profile?

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Excellent work!

You have taken yet another step in your career plan, and are now better prepared for networking, job fairs, interviewing, and social networking.

For more career coaching, resume writing, and job search assistance tips, visit: http://www.mycareercoach-veterans.com