Trapped in the Elevator…Speech

An “Elevator Speech” is a statement that is supposed to encapsulate your worth in a time-frame equivalent to the length of an elevator ride.  This has me wondering though…If your elevator speech takes up the entire ride in the elevator, how can the listener have time to respond?  Or better yet, how do you know that your verbal sputum is of any value to someone if you are the one doing all the blabbing? Who the hell likes speeches anyway.  In the case of  trying to obtain an interview with an employer, even with a full job description implanted in your brain, you still don’t really know what the employer finds valuable.  How can you sell something without even knowing what the customer wants to buy?

I would like to propose, instead of an Elevator Speech, we use the “Two-stop Sherlock” method.  This approach requires you to learn as much as you can about the employer and their company within the time-frame equivalent to a couple of subway stops.  Instead of boring others with monotonous recitations about yourself, the goal should be to ask enough questions to learn where the other person places the most value.  After two stops, if you ask the right questions, you will likely be given contact information and where to contact them later.  Here is an example dialog using the Two-stop Sherlock method.

Authority figure (AF):  So tell me about yourself Fergus.

Fergus Samuelsson (FS):  Thanks for asking.  Would you like to hear about my experience as a crane operator or the story about how I came to America?

AF:  The story on how you cam to America sounds very interesting.

FS:  It is.  When I was four, my mom was the Norwegian powerlifting champion.  At one lifting competition the actor Paul Lynde was in the audience as he was in town doing dinner theater over at the Lutefisk Theater.  Before she went up to do her lift, she mentioned something to her trainer off to the side and Mr. Lynde happened to overhear her speak.  No one knows what she said but nonetheless he was enchanted.  Before we knew it he moved our entire family to America where my mom worked as Mr. Lynde’s bodyguard, personal therapist, and confidant for the next few years.  Pretty unique huh?  What kind of work do you do AF?

AF:  I work for a company that manufactures hydraulic systems for construction equipment for the most part.

FS:  That sounds interesting.  What do you do there?

AF:  I am the Operations Manager…(The person you are trying to impress is now giving you their version of the elevator speech and I will spare you my childish dialog attempt this time)…and that’s how I ended up working for Bluetronics.

FS:  That’s great.  In your time working at Bluetronics, for what types of positions do you normally hire?

AF:  Typically we look for candidates with strong manufacturing experience but that also have working knowledge of the distilling process as we manufacture our own liquor here as well.

(Let’s assume you don’t have a lick of distilling experience but you know what it is.)

FS:  How does the process of distilling vodka differ from that of say whiskey?

(Let them tell you and find something within that process that relates, even if slightly, to something you have performed in your background.)

AF:  When you distill vodka, it is key to use a certain type of potato, grown in a controlled environment.  Otherwise you are really leaving it up to chance.

FS:  Yes, that makes a lot of sense.  When I worked for a widget manufacturing company we had to ensure that each part was exactly the same without any imperfections.  If we let anything else through it would compromise the integrity of the product.

AF:  Exactly!

FS:  AF, I’m sure you are busy and I don’t want to take up all of your time.  Is there a time perhaps later in the week when I can stop by to check out the facility?  It sounds fascinating.

AF:  Sure, here is my card.  Call the number and have Sally setup a time to have you in.

FS:  Excellent, I will see you then.

Even a minuscule amount of related experience in a completely unrelated manufacturing segment can be enough to land an interview that, even if it isn’t being officially referenced as such, is one.  If  FS had gone into this conversation explaining about his crane operation experience there would have been no value gained by AF and there would be no way to appropriately ask for an invitation to meet again.  Save the speeches for someone who cares and understand that in cases of working to gain employment, the focus isn’t on your needs but instead on how you are going to provide that employer value. Ask questions and relate your background to what it is they consider valuable and everything else will fall into place.