Pitching for new projects through the Second Shift involves a few different considerations and approaches for me.
Perhaps the methods I’ve used to sell myself will help you find meaningful and challenging work through this dynamic platform.
Here are my key thoughts:
1. I’ve worked in asset management for over 13 years now and the thing that hiring managers seem to never have enough of is time. As such, I rarely deliver a pitch that is longer than 3 short paragraphs. If I were hiring and I had a stack of 25 pitches to go through, I might just start with the short ones myself!
2. In the content marketing arena, many gurus will tell you that your headline must be great, as we live in a time of extreme attention deficit disorder or ADD. Although your pitch won’t include an explicit headline per se, consider that every detail you share needs to drive home why you’re the only choice for the job. While prior relevant experience will lead you to be chosen in many instances, most of us have varied experience and can highlight prior engagements or education selectively. I often write and rewrite my pitches to make sure I’m eliminating details that aren’t specifically relevant to a project listing, making sure to highlight what builds my case directly.
For example, I’m a Member of the Leadership Counsil of a charity that fulfills a mission that I find personally rewarding and meaningful. In that context, I have raised money and come up with event plans geared toward new donor audiences. This is very relevant experience for a non-profit development role, but I would highlight other experience if pitching for an asset management fundraising role. I don’t want anything to distract the hiring firm from accepting my initial offer of a call to connect. The goal of a first pitch is to secure the interview call after all.
3. As hiring firms need to quickly weed out candidates who aren’t really interested, I always research a firm online before pitching. I usually speak to a meaningful and relevant finding at least once in my initial pitch, to show that I care enough about the project to learn about the firm behind it.
4. I always maintain very professional language in my pitches. While personal stories may be appropriate as a differentiating factor in certain instances, this is a job you’re chasing. If I were hiring, I would choose a person who seems focused on getting the job done on time, under budget and perhaps at a higher level than I expected. I’d be looking for a candidate that I could hire again and again should future needs arise.
I want to thank the amazing team at the Second Shift for maintaining this wonderful platform. You’ve established a useful portal for smart, talented women to secure flexible and interesting work.
Thank you again!
Nancy V.