The Unemployed Life
Why You Should Sell Yourself Short
It used to be called an Elevator Pitch.
In this social media age, it’s known as a Twitter resume. And it’s still a potentially powerful asset.
I don’t mean an actual tweetable resume–despite what some experts advise, it’s hard to believe that people are getting work that way. I mean a distilled version of your story. What you’re about in a powerful sentence.
It can get the attention of someone you’re meeting for five minutes. It makes you memorable. And the process of getting to that summary forces you to figure out what you really have to offer.
Make lists. Boil them down. Think in vivid, active terms. I wish I had before I spoke on an alumni career panel earlier this week. We all nattered on about where we’d been and what we’d learned along the way. After it was over, I realized I’d forgotten to say: “I help run the business section of a major New York newspaper, and co-founded the leading website about the downturn.” Duh.
Take a lesson from Steve Jobs, who is great at creating Twitter-short descriptions of his products. Oh–and when you’re done (assuming it’s before Jan. 25) enter your twesume in a Hired Guns contest, to win a personal coaching session with the talent agency’s dynamic founder, Allison Hemming.
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brilliant. retweeting.
[...] Why You Should Sell Yourself Short – The ladies over at RecessionWire give us the lowdown on how to go about pitching yourself in today’s social media crazed climate. They tell you how to perfect the 30-second elevator pitch for the Twittersphere — the aptly named Twesume. (And yes, it makes me wince a little when I say that) [...]