Finding Your Pitch at the Interview

This is a guest post by Sherry Zou for Student Stories. 

If you think a well-polished resume and professional attire are all you need for an interview, you are clearly wrong. At an interview, an employer is not only judging you by your outward appearances, but also by your speaking skills. In other words, an employer is looking and judging you from all perspectives; most importantly your 60 seconds pitch when an employer asks you to tell him or her about yourself in the beginning of the interview.
The 60 seconds pitch is your time to shine and that pitch may distinguish you from all other applicants. From my years of being in interviews, an employer wants to hear the pitch in order to get to know your education, major, and why do you think you are an excellent candidate. A pitch should be short in sentences and simple enough to catch the attention of an employer.

A pitch can be written in advance and can be prepared for your audience. If you are beginning to enter the work force, you should definitely prepare your pitch, tailoring it to the job description and employer. Slowly as you practice, your will get the gist of it and your pitch will sound amazing.

So what is the perfect pitch? The answer is there is no such thing as a perfect pitch. Everyone is different in terms of their voices, personalities, and looks. You are different and unique; therefore you should prepare the pitch that best convinces the employer of your excellent candidacy for the position. In addition, you should not be afraid to showcase little of your characteristics as a person during the pitch.

People say too much is a bad thing and that is extremely true for the pitch. You want to let the employer know the right amount of information about you and at the same time you do not want to be too boring. In other words, you want to add different tones of voice to your words when saying phrases like “I am passionate about”, “My career goal is”, and “I have experience in”. When adding different tones to different words, an employer that you are talking to will become more engaged in the conversation.

About the Author:

My name is Sherry Zou and I am currently studying Experimental Psychology at Saint John’s University located in Jamaica, New York. My career goal is to become a clinical psychologist with an emphasis of treating children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders. My hobbies are knitting, crocheting, painting, and drawing.