CAREER CONNECTIONS SERIES : DJ Singleterry – The Prep
Elevator pitch. STAR stories. My Story.
These are all phrases that ran through my mind as I thought about the upcoming Goizueta Career Connections event. My conversations with alumni and my Career Management Center (CMC) coach all stressed the importance of these and other ways to “sell” yourself to employers, but how that was all supposed to come together was a Scooby Doo worthy mystery to me.
I spent some time early on crafting my story, but after an hour without much progress I figured at the very least I was going to have some research on the various companies to speak with recruiters about. I began by leveraging some of the resources we had just reviewed with GBS’s business librarian Ann Cullen. Hoover’s provided some great research on the consulting firms I was targeting, while Mint Oxygen gave me an overview of current trends in the consumer goods industry. However, no matter where I started, I always seemed to end my research at the same place Google, a great way to find the latest news/buzz about what is on the mind of any senior manager or business consultant in almost any business or industry. Having gathered all this information I began making my review sheets and forming my questions, when I noticed that many of my previous work experiences and skills were similar to the competencies these firms were looking for in potential candidates.
With this realization I went back to developing my story. I identified those tangible skills that matched up with what firms were looking for and then went through and identified professional experiences and quantifiable results for each. Quickly one thing led to another. After identifying what skills I had it was easy to determine what skills I needed to have the “complete” package. In no time at all I was throwing around jargon such as elevator pitches, STAR stories and transferable skills. I still did not totally know what to expect when it came to interacting with recruiters/alumni, but I felt like I had a great sense of who I was and where I wanted to go and with a lot of faith and a little luck the rest would work itself out.