Career Tip 8: Elevate Yourself – Create an Elevator Statement that Elevates You

An elevator statement or, more simply, “elevator,” is one or two engaging sentences used to tell someone you just met about your career focus or goals. The word elevator reflects the idea that you could complete your introduction in the brief time span of an elevator ride. To be effective, The Job Dog recommends it should be concise and take fewer than 15 seconds to share.

If your elevator statement connects, your conversation may continue as you step off the elevator. An excellent elevator statement engages the interest of the other person.

Use your elevator in those encounters when you want to seize potential networking opportunities. Examples include the following:

• “I just graduated with a Civil Engineering degree, and I am looking for work in environmental projects affecting municipalities. I am really interested in international projects in third world countries.”
• “I am a Facilities Manager for healthcare systems. The part of my job I really like is managing rapid expansion in hospitals that need their facilities to stay ahead of their competition.”
• “I am an administrative assistant at State College and relocating to Columbus. I really like working with students and would definitely like to continue working in an educational institution.”
• “I am a CPA and have been a CFO in a company that tripled sales in the last five years. My company was recently acquired, and I’m looking for a similar position where the CFO must know how to generate revenues, not just reports.”
• “I am a manufacturing team leader who is fluent in Spanish. I particularly like working with people who have just begun their careers. I also like working evening or midnight shifts.”
• “I am a software engineer. I work on high-reliability medical applications. I travel North America on troubleshooting assignments.”

Elevators, if practiced aloud again and again, will sound more natural and not like a canned statement from a memorized script. We suggest you post your elevator on your morning mirror, on your car’s dashboard, or on your kitchen table.

The words you choose in that moment can uncover an opportunity that you would not have discovered on the Internet.

If you’re having a hard time getting started, here is a straightforward elevator template. You don’t have to fill in all of the blanks, but they are a starting point. You also don’t need to complete each line. Consider and use only those questions that are the most applicable to your situation.

Recommended Reading or Listening

Learn how to easily become a smooth, funny, and cleaver conversationalist.

–The Job Dog