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