Skilled Migrant Professionals February 2015 | Page 11
Career
BE ONE STEP AHEAD:
pitch yourself professionally
ALL PROFESSIONALS
NEED TO POSITIVELY
INFLUENCE OTHERS’
PERCEPTIONS. This
applies whether you are
looking to secure new
career or business opportunities, advance within
an organisation, or capture clients in the market.
Such situations could be:
Seeking new career or
business opportunities
Advancing within
businesses
• raming a professional profile
F
statement for your résumé
• eveloping your LinkedIn sumD
mary
• ntroducing yourself to a reI
cruitment consultant
• etworking at industry or proN
fessional events
• eeting with potential hiring
M
managers
• Launching a project or initiative
• Presenting to key decision-makers
• etworking to gain professional
N
credibility and visibility
As you can see, these business situations all demand that you can pitch
yourself professionally! The following tips will help you frame effective
pitches:
Assume nothing!
It is rare that you will be pitching yourself to someone with an intimate
knowledge of your background so aim to hit the mark and eliminate technical jargon and acronyms that can reduce the impact of your message.
Take a top-down approach
Pitching yourself effectively can be considered both a science and an art.
The science involves taking a structured, logical approach. The following
top-down stimulus questions can guide development of a professional profile statement for your résumé:
• ave you worked both in Australia and internationally?
H
• n which sectors of the economy have you worked (e.g. private, public,
I
and/or not-for-profit)?
• In which industries have you worked (or consulted to)?
• hat types of work settings have you experienced (e.g. corporate, conW
sultancy)?
• Which field(s) are you an expert in?
• ompared with others in your field(s), which areas do you specialise in,
C
or emphasise?
• ith which industry and/or professional associations are you active?
W
• Which employer/customer brands can you leverage?
• re there major project or career highlights worthy of brief mention?
A
• hat formal qualifications support your expertise and experience?
W
• hat leadership and/or personal style do you adopt to achieve your reW
sults?
Some of these questions may not be relevant to you or a situation but the
key is the sequence of the questions. They quickly take its recipient (e.g. recruitment consultant, hiring manager) on a logical, top down journey from
the general to the very specific.
Developing Markets
• Developing tender documents
• etworking to meet
N
prospective clients
• resenting your credentials,
P
as part of a wider client
presentation/proposal
by Barry J Horne
Executive leadership
coach, career
management
consultant, trainer,
and speaker
Craft cleverly
The art of pitching yourself professionally involves profiling yourself in an energetic and relatively unique way. By doing so, you are seeking to be distinctive and memorable. Extending the résumé example to the left, the primary
purpose of a profile statement is to secure an interview. To do so, it must:
• ositively and quickly differentiate you from other candidates
P
• Align with the goals of the hiring organisation
• ntroduce ways in which your résumé will provide evidence of your capacI
ity to contribute or add value
A résumé profile statement needs to be crafted with these outcomes in
mind. It should incorporate keywords relevant to the advertised opportunity
and use impactful words.
Be succinct
Space and/or time are often limited, so it is essential that your professional
pitch quickly focuses the listener/reader on how you, your area, or business
can help them. Similarly, when introducing yourself at a business networking
event you need to hit the mark quickly. You should tailor your professional
pitches according to space