The unemployment rate is at the lowest in almost 50 years, making the job market highly competitive for employers. Job seekers today are likely already employed and have countless job opportunities at the tips of their fingers, so it’s critical to sell top talent on the opportunity joining your team presents when you have their attention.
At Hireology’s recent human capital management event, Elevate 2018, one of the speaking sessions touched on the importance of employers developing an elevator pitch to get prospective job applicants excited about joining the team. Michelle Primm, Managing Partner at Cascade Auto Group, highlighted why her team is always prepared with an elevator pitch, and other employers should do the same – you never know when you might run into someone who could be a great fit for your team.
Traditionally, elevator pitches have been associated more with job seekers than employers. Job seekers can embrace elevator pitches to highlight their skills, experience and goals on LinkedIn, in cover letters, during interviews and anywhere else they might interact with potential employers. But in today’s applicant-driven economy, it’s just as critical for employers to have an elevator pitch to share with job seekers.
Whether your team is attending a career fair, visiting a local college or technical school, or randomly run into someone who might be a good fit for your team, you should be prepared with an elevator pitch to job seekers. Here are a few tips to develop a compelling pitch.
Keep it Brief
While most top talent today is already employed, 72% of U.S. adults keep an eye on open roles, no matter their employment status. With most of today’s top talent only passively job hunting and the abundance of ways to find new jobs – including job boards, social media, via personal connections, and more – you’ll only have a limited amount of time to sell job seekers on joining your team.
Similar to a job seeker’s elevator pitch, your pitch should be no longer than 30-60 seconds. Written out, this is equal to 70-140 words. Any longer than this and you’ll risk losing prospective applicants’ attention to other open roles. You don’t need to include every requirement and responsibility associated with your open roles, but rather, you should focus on the top selling points to get applicants excited about the opportunities your team presents.
Highlight Your Benefits
With such a brief window to capture job seekers’ attention, your elevator pitch should immediately answer the “What’s in it for me?” question by listing your benefits. These can include a brief overview of your culture – such as whether you’re family-oriented, dedicated to diversity or other aspects of your culture – opportunities for growth, vacation time, retirement benefits, your commitment to work-life balance, and more. By quickly highlighting any benefits you offer, qualified talent will be eager to apply to your open roles.
Share Details on Long-Term Career Growth
Job seekers often include an overview of their goals in their elevator pitches. You can use this part of the pitch to discuss your company’s growth goals, career paths on your team and how you invest in employees’ continued growth. If a job seeker is interested in a particular role, walk the job seeker through your career path for that department so they can envision a long-term career with your team. Also highlight any resources your team has for employee growth and development, such as training sessions, certification reimbursement, and more.
Prepare for Next Steps
Once you get prospective applicants on the hook with a compelling elevator pitch, you should be ready to move forward with next steps for those who are a fit. If you don’t move quickly, you risk losing top talent to other job opportunities in today’s competitive job market.
Always have business cards on hand to share with job seekers if you meet them in person at a job fair or elsewhere. And whether you meet with strong prospective applicants in person, talk to them on the phone, or send them a LinkedIn message or email, try scheduling interviews as soon as possible to keep candidates engaged. Hireology data found that 33% of recent hires found new roles within two weeks of starting their job search, and another 26% secured new roles between two weeks and one month after starting the search. By moving the hiring process along quickly after you make initial contact with job seekers, you’ll be more likely to hire qualified candidates before your competitors do.
An elevator pitch is one of many important pieces in a successful hiring strategy. For additional tips on engaging top talent at a time of record-low unemployment read our resource, “The Hireology Employment Brand Playbook.”
