The Guide to Crafting a Winning Elevator Pitch

The Guide to Crafting a Winning Elevator PitchThe Guide to Crafting a Winning Elevator Pitch40Youre standing in line waiting to order your Chocolate Chai Tea Latte when you spot in front of you a very influential staffer who works for the company youd like to work for. Are you ready with a winning elevator pitch?Should you politely tap zu sich on the shoulder and strike up a conversation, or pretend to be engrossed in your Candy Crush Saga game instead? The difference in potentially getting a job interview or not getting an interview can largely rest on what you have to say in this moment.Heres how to craft a winning elevator pitch.Know what an elevator pitch is. An elevator pitch is essentially a 20-30 second overview of who you are, what youre interested in doing for work, and why youre qualified for the position that youre seeking. Its called an elevator pitch because you should picture yourself serendipitously sharing an elevator ride with THE person who can help you get whatever it is you want- a new job, a promotion, or a job interview. What would you say to them on that short elevator ride to get them to help you? Thats your elevator pitch.Know what to include.From the moment you take a deep breath and utter your first syllable, the clock is already ticking. Every second counts when you start your elevator pitch, so make each one noteworthy. Your elevator pitch should include a very brief introduction of yourself- your name, where you currently work or your career field, and what youre really passionate about doing.You should conclude your pitch with a request, which entails what you would like the person to do, such as accept your resume/business card, allow you to follow up with her in a week, help you find a position within her company, etc. You can even mention your remote job experience and how youve telecommuted for the better part of your career, too.Know how to get people interested. A winning elevator pitch should be practiced, but shouldnt soun d like youve rehearsed it for weeks either. You should speak slowly and steadily, but with enthusiasm. You know that its crucial to find a job that youre passionate about, so youll need to convey some of that passion while youre speaking as well. After all, the person youre speaking with cant get excited about you (and want to help you) if youre not excited about yourself and what you have to offerKnow how to be specific.Lets say youve captured your targets attention for a full five minutes. Youll need to make sure that your pitch is specific. Stating that youre looking for a job in marketing is not enough. Instead, you should opt to be as detail-oriented as possible, saying instead, Im really interested in marketing coordinator positions because I enjoy XYZ about that type of work. By being specific, it can help you focus your entire job search so that its much more clear to employers.You never know when youll bump into the next person who can help take your job search to the next level. And dont think that elevator pitches are only relegated to elevators you can deliver a winning elevator pitch in the grocery store, on an airplane, or anywhere else that you might potentially meet someone whos able to take your job search to the next levelReaders, do you have a winning elevator pitch? Let us know if youve used one and how it went in the comments section below

Books 5 books youve never heard of that will change your life

Books 5 books youve never heard of that will change your lifeBooks 5 books youve never heard of that will change your lifeReading is important to me. Its how I spend most of my days. Its also the source of knowledge, which is why I read well over 100 books a year. Reading alone, however, isnt enough. What you read matters.Most of us read the wrong things. As Haruki Murakami put it, reading what everyone else reads means youre probably going to think what everyone else thinks. All those books from high-school? Everyone else has read them, too. The best-sellers? Same.Thats not to say these books arent valuable. They are. Theyre just not going to help you get unique insights, see problems in a different way than others, or even help you solve more problems. They will however make you sound like youre smart because you can talk about the things everyone else is talking about. However, there is an old adage that when you do what everyone else is doing, you shouldnt be surprised to get the same results everyone else gets.While thinking the thoughts that other people have is enough to get a seat at the table, its not enough to win the game.To win you need to see things that other people cant see. You need to connect things that other people cant connect.Reading can help you develop insights, connections, and understanding that baffle others. To do this, you cant, however, follow in the same footsteps as everyone else because that leads you down the same path.With that in mind, here are five books that youve probably never heard of (and one you have) that will change your life and enable you to see the world in a new light.1. Collected Maxims and Other Reflections by La RochefoucauldLa Rochefoucaulds critical and pithy analysis of philanthropisch behavior wont soon be forgotten. A list of people influenced by his maxims include Nietzsche, Voltaire, Proust, de Gaulle, and Conan Doyle.The readers best policy, Rochefoucauld suggests, is to assume that none of these maxims is directed at him, and that he is the sole exception.. After that, I guarantee that he will be the first to subscribe to them.2. The 48 Laws of Power, by Robert GreeneIve never read this book in a cover-to-cover sense, but Ive read each of the laws. More than that, Ive broken each of the laws. Ill give you an example. The first law is Never outshine the master.Once I worked directly for a CEO. I worked as hard as I ever have to show off my talents and skills, and at every turn it backfired over and over again. The lesson - make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power. I wish I read this book earlier in my career.It certainly would have been helpful.3. Xenophons Cyrus the Great The Arts of Leadership and War by XenophonThis book sat on my shelf for a year before I picked it up recently. This is the biography of Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, who made the oldest known declaration of human rights. The book is full of leadership lessons.Heres an example Brevity is the soul of command. Too much talking suggests desperation on the part of the leader. Speak shortly, decisively and to the pointand couch your desires in such natural logic that no one can raise objections. Then move on.4. Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His SonThis no-nonsense collection of 20 letters from a self-made man to his son are nothing short of brilliant, as far as Im concerned. This is a great example of timeless wisdom.The broad theme is how to raise your children in a world where they have plenty, but the lessons apply to parents and non-parents alike. Check out a sample.5. Models of my Life by Herbert Simon This is anautobiography of Nobel laureate Herbert A. Simon, a remarkable polymath who more people should know about. In an age of increasing specializing, hes a rare generalist - applying what he learned as a scientist to other aspects of his life. Crossing disciplines, he was at the intersection of information s ciences.He won the Nobel for his theory of bounded rationality, and is perhaps best known for his insightful quote A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.And one more just for good luck but youve probably heard of this one.Meditations by Marcus Aurelius OK, this is a draufgabe pick, as I figured a many of you might have read this already. However, the translation matters. Get this one. The best way to sum up this book is asimple and powerful guide to life.This book was never intended for publication it was for himself. How many people write a book of epigrams to themselves during a war? Get it. Read it. Live it.This article originally appeared on Medium.Shane Parrish writes for Farnam Street.

Why do married men and women work longer than unmarried

Why do married men and women work longer than unmarriedWhy do married men and women work longer than unmarriedI stumbled on an interesting statistic this morning as I was perusing the web for, well, interesting stuff. This one is about the average working hours of married men and women vs. those who are unmarried.According to theBureau of Labor StatisticsMarried men work an average of4.6 more hoursper week compared with unmarried men.Married women work 1.6 hours more.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreInterestingSome thoughts that might account for this discrepancyMarried men and women are older and have developed a more sophisticated work ethic?Married men and women are deeper into their careers where workloads are heavier and job demands are greaterTheir home life isnt the best, and work is their escape?Also interesting The average number of weekly hours worked by those in the sw eet spot of their careers (between 25 and 54) was just over 40 hours which, if you look at some of the working hours among those in the personal finance community, isnt bad.In fact, working just 40 hours a week feels like a cherry gigI worked 40 hours a week early in my career, but that quickly escalated to 50, 60 and sometimes much more. But, Ive also known folks to regularly pull 120 hour work weeks which, frankly, sounds downright awful.Other interesting working statisticsThe BLS is a wealth of information, and Im a sucker for statistics even though Im well aware they are, what my former statistics prof used to tell us, the art of deception.Fromthis surveyMany more people workedon weekdaysthanon weekend days 82 percent of employed persons worked on an average weekday, compared with 33 percent on an average weekend day.Multiple jobholders were more likely to work on an average weekday than were single jobholders- 92 percent, compared with 81 percent.On the days they worked, 83 pe rcent of employed persons did some or all of their work at their workplace and23 percent did some or all of their work at home. Employed persons spent more time working at the workplace than at home- 8.0 hours, compared with 3.1 hours.Among workers age 25 and over, those with anadvanced degree were more likely to work at homethan were persons with lower levels of educational attainment- 46 percent of those with an advanced degree performed some work at home on days worked, compared with 12 percent of those with a high school diploma. Workers with an advanced degree also were more likely to work on an average day than were those with a high school diploma- 73 percent, compared with 68 percent.Notice the increasing propensity of the workforce working from home for at least part of their job responsibilities. Nearly a quarter are doing thatAnd, the more advanced your degree is, the more likely youll work a portion of your job from home. This might indicate that advanced degree holders are working more with computers and other technology-related jobs, most of which can be done from anywhere.This article originally appeared on ThinkSaveRetire.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people