The Two Minute Drill: A Verbal Resume in 120 seconds

With so many people out of work these days, competition for every opening is fierce. You need to seize every advantage and be as prepared as possible for every interaction that may lead you to your next opportunity.

When you’re on a job hunt, clear communication with lots of people is the best way to speed the process along. To do that well, you have to plan and practice. That is what the two minute drill is for. It is also called an “elevator speech” or “elevator pitch” which comes from the idea that you might get an audience in an elevator and you have a very short amount of time to pique someone’s interest to call you in for an interview or meeting.

The two minute drill is a concise summary answer to the question: “Tell me about yourself”. This is a well rehearsed, organized explanation of your life focusing on your professional experience and attributes.

Why is this important? Developing a good two minute drill will be useful in:
• Networking meetings
• Interviews
• Casual conversations with friends and others who say “how can I help?”, because before they can help they have to understand your professional value proposition.

How well you deliver this one answer can determine whether or not a contact passes you along to their contacts, a friend thinks of an idea for you or a first interview leads to a second. So many things in a job search are out of your control. Here is one thing you can control – take the opportunity!

Here is an outline of a standard two minute drill:
I. Pre-professional (growing up, school, college, etc.) 10-15 seconds
II. Early career (First few years, what did you do, etc.) 15-30 seconds
III. Recent work history & key accomplishments 45-60 seconds
IV. Reason for leaving, 5-10 seconds
V. What’s next / where I’m going, 10-15 seconds

Total: 2 minutes, 10 seconds if you max each of these, so don’t. Keep this to 2 minutes or less. Practice! If you can, video yourself. You’ll pick up things that may distract from your message. (I haven’t done that, but should – I’m a plague of tics!)

It’s not great, but this is an example of my two minute drill. I've bolded the things I consider key accomplishments / highlights.
________________________
RUSS KNIGHT'S TWO MINUTE DRILL:

PRE-PROFESSIONAL
My family moved to Oklahoma from Chicago when I was 10 and I was heavily involved in Boy Scouts, where I earned my Eagle and other awards. In college I served in student government and won a campus wide election to serve as the vice president.

EARLY CAREER
Out of college I worked for a bank as a credit analyst where I found creative ways to dispose of special assets and volunteered at my church and with Young Life ministering to high school students. I left the bank to pursue vocational ministry where I organized, recruited and led a volunteer team, took some seminary classes and decided I could serve better as a volunteer. From this experience I developed a belief that sales is a service. In 1999, the president of the bank recruited me to come back to work for him as they had started an electronic payment company and he needed some help.

RECENT WORK HISTORY
I served at ChoicePay for five years in several roles, promoted to sales and landed $1MM in sales before I left after a management change to work for Fort Knox National Co. out of Louisville. (1:05) At Fort Knox I developed a system of grading client relationships to reduce meeting time and improve management communication. My role was to shore up existing client relationships, primarily with HSBC in several locations and was especially proud of a turn around with Credit Acceptance in Detroit, where they were threatening to leave and with consistent attention and some minor system modifications, I was able to turn them into a strong reference and won a contract extension. I worked from my home and traveled to see clients extensively.

REASON FOR LEAVING
On the front end of the recession, I was let go along with 55% of the company. I was hired for a short time by Certegy and spent some time with a mobile web startup, before joining NorthStar in the summer of 2009 to sell our collections services. I have strong recommendations from many former employers and co-workers.

WHERE I’M GOING
My current focus is to sell primarily to banks and grow existing revenues. I volunteer with and have started a new employment ministry at my church. (2:00 on the number).
__________________
Some experts advocate for 12-14 accomplishments and mine is a bit lean in that department. Some additional polishing here would probably draw out a few more.

If you’re pursuing your search correctly, you are out connecting with people every day. This summary overview of you will help your audience connect with you and better understand where you come from, what you offer and where you are going.

Blessings to you in your search today. I hope this is of some use.

Networking & Networking Meetings

You are not alone in your job search and there are people willing to connect with you – why? BECAUSE YOU HAVE VALUE!! You are worth investing in! For me, connecting a job seeker with someone else I know is a way to bless you both. Networking is a valuable investment in relationships – not just for your current job search. If you’re new to town, or feel like you don’t know many people, the only drawback is your starting list of people may be smaller, but include everyone you can think of.

In visiting with friends who are looking for work, I am often surprised to find so many who aren’t doing this in a deliberate way. In case you haven’t started this or maybe haven’t even heard of this process, I want to step you through the process of networking and a networking meeting. So let’s say you haven’t started this yet, maybe you’re feeling like you have no prospects or nothing working at the moment. This should change that – really. There are two goals with this process: (1) is to develop and grow professional relationships; and (2) to get at least two contact names or even warm introductions from the person you meet with.
1. Make a list of everyone who will take your call: Former co-workers, former classmates, neighbors, parents of your kids friends, people you volunteer with, people you go to church with, professionals you use – doctor, dentist, attorney, accountant, investment person, etc. – literally anyone you can think of who will take your call. Write down their name and phone number together.
2. Start calling. You are asking all these contacts for a face-to-face meeting for “ideas and input about your job search”. You want to schedule a time to come to their office to meet for 20 minutes. Here are a few possible answers and my suggested response for you. 20 calls a day is not too many. Customize this for you. Write out a script if you’re uncomfortable and practice this.
a. THEM: 20 minutes? Sure, I can do that. YOU: Great! What works in your schedule? I’m going to be near your office X day/time…
b. THEM: Well, I know we aren’t really hiring right now. YOU: That’s no problem – I’m not coming to ask you to hire me. I just want your input and advice about my search. I’m only asking for 20 minutes.
c. THEM: I’m really swamped right now. Why don’t you email me your resume and I’ll look it over and see if I can send it on to a few people. YOU: Additional contacts really are what I’m after, but I think it would be helpful for me to come by and meet with you face-to-face if you’re willing because I need to be out connecting with people and I’m trying to get better at this. I don’t need to meet with you right now, could we maybe schedule it for later in the month? You know how hard it is for us (accountants, chemists, analysts, etc. – fill in your position here.) to be in a sales role, and I’m out trying to promote myself. (You might think of a better response to this, but this answer is a real roadblock to what you’re trying to accomplish.)
d. THEM: I just can’t give you the time, I’m sorry. (or some other firm rejection). YOU: I understand. Sorry to bother you. (They may offer to have you send your resume, so go ahead and do that to be polite, but I wouldn’t expect much. Move along.)
3. If you’re full-time job searching, you could really fit 6 – 8 meetings in per day if you’re really pressing this hard. (I never did have that many or press this hard, but I think it would have helped speed my search along.) 4 is probably more reasonable. 2-3 is still a good day.
4. Once you get the meeting, here are a few things to remember:
a. The person your meeting with is worried you are going to ask them for a job they don’t have. Put them at ease; you can say something to set the tone like: I really appreciate you meeting with me. Please know I’m not here to ask you for a job, but rather advice about my search and contacts that you know that I should connect with.
b. If you can, lead the meeting by offering to start by telling them about your background and experience. (Here is where you go through your well-rehearsed “Two minute drill”)
c. You could also ask them to tell you about their background.
d. Ask them if they can think of anyone they know who you ought to connect with who might have some additional ideas about your search?
e. Take good notes. Not only is it a respectful gesture, you probably won’t remember what they say if you don’t write it down.
f. Remember: your goal is 2+ names and contact information of people you can talk to about your search. Even better would be if they agree to call the person (with you there or after the fact) to make a warm introduction.
g. Keep an eye on the clock. After 20 minutes you need to be backpedaling towards the door: I want to honor your time, I know you’re busy, thank you for meeting with me today. Even if they encourage you to stay and say it’s no problem, they have time, get out. Why? You may need a follow up meeting with them and they’ll remember if you took 20 minutes or 45 minutes, no matter how nice the conversation was. You also want them to pass you along to others. They will be more inclined to do that if you stick to 20 minutes.
h. Parting comment. Thank you for taking the time, this was helpful. Please keep my resume handy/warm in case you hear about anything that might be a fit for me. Would it be OK if I touched base with you in 3-4 weeks to just check in and update you on my search? Yes. Great. Thanks again for your time today.
5. After the meeting:
a. Send a hand-written thank you note. Everyone says they do this, but few actually do it. Be part of the few. Remember, you are building a relationship so this is an investment. Write this note that same afternoon and get it in the mail the next day.
b. Follow any direction your contact gives you about following up with the people they gave you. If there is no obstacle, call those new contacts (your level 2 contacts) soon – preferably same or next day. Nothing in your job search moves as fast as you want it to, right? so when you have the chance to move it more quickly, take that opportunity! If your contact says “this lady is in the middle of a big project at work, so wait a couple weeks to call her.” That’s an obstacle, but follow the direction.
c. Look over your notes, even if you’re still in their parking lot, and add anything as needed. This is a good record of your search and they may have said something that you missed in your notes. Write it down while it’s fresh.
d. Follow up on the phone with your contact to report on your progress. “You know those two people you gave me have led to 11 additional contacts and an interview with Acme, Inc. that I’m really interested in. Thank you for the contacts, that was very helpful. Can you think of anyone else I should talk with about my search? Thanks again. I’ll continue to update you about my progress. Would it be OK to check in again in 2-3 weeks?” You can change up the method of continued follow up – phone, email, a note, etc. – it’s your choice. Don’t rely too heavily on email though – it can be easily lost or disregarded.
6. Why is this so important? It is an exponential growth in your business relationships.
a. 50 contacts to start yield 100+ contacts at level 2, which yield 200+ at level 3, etc.
b. If you stick with this, by the time you’re out to level 5-6, you’re a networking rock-star! This is where you start to see job offers.
c. Don’t quit at level 2!! Keep going. You have to expand beyond your current circle of contacts!

OK, well as usual my message is longer than I intended. I hope this lengthy missive has been a worthwhile investment of your time today.

In case you haven’t connected to a group of other people who are looking for work, I strongly recommend that. It was a great encouragement to me. If you live outside of Tulsa, search for churches that offer ministries for people who are out of work or connect with some other type of support group. If you can’t find one, start one! In Tulsa, I’m a part of the Thursday brown bag lunch at First United Methodist (11th & Boulder, downtown), I would strongly encourage you to do that. They meet from 11-1pm and it’s a great time of encouragement and practical input about your search. If you’re free make it a regular part of your week.

At Asbury UMC, we offer OJT (Overcoming Job Transitions) – a monthly workshop designed to give you encouragement and practical input about your search. Our next event will be on Tuesday, 12/15 at 6:30pm. Please contact me with questions. Blessings to you in your search!

Reach out and connect!

Here is another blog talking about similar things that may be of use. http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2009/07/28/seven-secrets-of-networking