We all remember the first time we were asked, “What do you do?”
Oh, that question …
I remember clearly the first time I was asked — the feelings that pulsated through my body, the nerves, the anxiety. How do I make what comes through these lips of mine remotely interesting? Anxiety still grips many of us while sitting in meetings, waiting for the host to go around the table and ask us to introduce ourselves and share a little bit about what we do.
But here’s the thing: Those four simple words are more important than you might think.
Every day, we file into orderly lines — to get lunch at a restaurant, to buy the latest iPhone, to buy a mocha frapawappa at Starbucks. Whatever it is we’re lining up for, one thing remains constant in all our minds: We want to get to the front.
So why wouldn’t we want to be at the front of the line, or top of mind, when that engineering executive goes seeking a new job candidate? Or when your acquaintance sees a job opportunity open up at their place of work?
Whether you like it or not, “What do you do?” is on the minds of everyone you meet, whether in person or online. In fact, research from New York University found that individuals we meet for the first time are making major decisions about us in the first seven seconds. They are sizing us up, positioning us subconsciously in their line.
We need to take full advantage of those seven seconds. So, if you’re looking for a job — or even if you’re not — one of the first tasks on your to-do list should be crafting an ideal “elevator pitch,” or, more specifically, an elevator pitch for engineers. This might sound “salesy,” but it’s crucial for ensuring you’re engaging precisely and effectively in these interactions, positioning yourself as best as you can in the minds of those who can help take your career to the next level.
So, where do you even start in creating your engineering elevator pitch? Condensing a lifetime of events and accomplishments into a simple, concise statement that still packs a punch can feel as challenging as trying to stuff Shaquille O’Neal into a Buick LaCrosse.
Here are some starting points for developing your unique engineer elevator pitch:
Know where you’re going.
Author Terry Pratchett put it this way: “If you do not know where you come from, then you don’t know where you are, and if you don’t know where you are, then you don’t know where you’re going. And if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably going wrong.”
When creating your engineering elevator speech, it’s crucial to start by nailing down how you describe your field and the type of job you’re pursuing. Until you can clearly explain the type of position you want, nobody can help you find it or hire you to do it.
Start with a bang.
In five words, create a distinctive title or phrase that will make people think, “Oh, that’s interesting, I want to hear more.” For example, consider the difference between “I am a mechanical engineer” and “I am a mechanical-preneur.”
The point is to capture people’s attention; you can explain later once you gain acceptance to step foot into line.
Explain yourself in a single sentence.
Grab some paper and write down everything you would want a future employer to know about you: your skills, your accomplishments, your experiences. Once complete, grab a red pen and tear it apart — delete everything that’s not critical or lacks impact.
Keep editing until you get it down to a few bullet points, which can then be transformed into a single sentence that encompasses the unique value of who you are.
Again, the goal here isn’t to give an exhaustive life history; it’s to position yourself in line so that you will be invited forward to share more. You are piquing interest.
Practice, and then practice again.
When you put this all together, you will have a script of sorts that will be your go-to when mixing with influential people. This script will give you the ability to spit out who you are and the distinctive benefits you provide.
Continue to edit the script until you can introduce yourself in less than a minute, which is how long most people sizing you up will give you to win their interest. Try out a few versions, and consider researching other elevator pitch examples for engineers for inspiration.
But also practice your engineering elevator pitch … and then practice again. This is not meant to turn you into a machine that robotically spews out a canned response. You need to know your unique value well enough that you can wing pivots while you deliver it. Depending on your audience, you may see certain areas of your story resonating with those you’re speaking to. In these cases, you can pivot and expand on those points a little more. But don’t go too far, as you want to maintain an information gap that leaves them hungry and wanting to know more about you.
So, here’s some homework:
1) I’m confident that you know at least one person who could benefit from creating an engineer elevator pitch, so send this article to them so they can get started. And it’s not just working professionals who can gain value here; an elevator speech for engineering students, for example, can be hugely beneficial while growing a career or embarking in the field.
2) Create and edit your engineer elevator pitch to be 20 words or fewer. This is the ideal length for short, quick communications such as email, LinkedIn chats, and the introductory paragraph of your cover letter.
This article was originally published on Engineering.com and is reprinted in its entirety with permission. For more stories like this, visit Engineering.com.