Bravo to Ed Hunter, Executive Coach and Consultant - The Elevator Pitch - Poem: The Perfect Job

Ed Hunter was here two years ago at the Willow Grove Giant Supermarket. Weather was snowy but people were motivated to attend. View blog here. 

This year the weather was bitterly cold. Hat and gloves mandatory, as well as warm coat.

I'm always afraid no one's gonna show up.

Was I happy! The room was filled. I asked where people learned about the event.

When I came in the room, with three minutes before showtime, the room was filled up!

I had taken a short nap at home beforehand while watching a TED Talk.

I shook Ed's hand when I walked in, noting how tall he was.



This is NOT Ed, but certainly could be.

Ed shared a bit about his own history. Use these techniques in your own job search.

He found a start-up business online.  He told them how wonderful it was. The idea was golden. The new founder had just grad'd from Wharton Biz School at the University of PA. And his new company was funded by the Marketing Research Director of Wharton as he so much believed in the idea.

Ed did very well in the interview and they hired him.

What went wrong?

The company was moving out to California. Ed had a wife and two kids and family and friends here, so he recused himself.

Job search is like baseball. If a good ERA is 300, well, so are your attempts to find a job. If you get one out of three phone calls or emails back, you're doing well.

Important! You can't let your potential employer know how needy you feel. It's okay to tell someone, I'm in transition.

The Elevator Pitch is what you might say to someone in the time it takes to ride the elevator. It's a short ride on the Giant elevator. You don't have much time.

He had every person in the room come to the front and tell us:

I am a...

I currently....

What I'm looking to do next is...

What about you?

He had us write down the first names of people who spoke. Rich, Ada, Ruth, Ellen, Denise, etc.

Rich got up.

"I'm a filler," he said. "Anytime Ruth has a program, I fill up a seat to make sure she has at least a couple of people here." He aspires to be a filler at the Academy Awards to accompany someone onstage.



Rich and Ada Fleisher. We had delicious food put out by Robin Franklin. Rich wanted something sweet, so he ate a small blueberry muffin.

When you respond to someone's email, use words similar to theirs. It never hurts to write the word "professional," such as accounting professional, but not if you're with Price Waterhouse.

On your resume, put a summary on top but do not use the word summary as it's evident. Write in sentence fragments. Put in your skill set, things employers are interested in. May say "recognized by employer as having a driving work ethic."

Be sure you're speaking the truth and not exaggerating as when you meet for an interview, the guy/gal may wanna hear all them, plus any interests you've put down.

Why are these interests unacceptable:  Reading, watching TV, going to the movies.

Uninteresting and everyone does them.

Select unusual ones, like collecting a certain type of copper key.

Cover letters. Should you or not? They're difficult to write. Only write them if they're required. People are likely to make mistakes on cover letters.

I stood up and said to Ed, The time is officially over, but if you wanna stay here and help other people, feel free. People had soooo many questions.

I showed him the gift we got him

A shamrock plant. When I left about 15 people were in line waiting to talk about their resumes and ask other job questions.

I told one young man about the POWER program for Montgomery County residents, listed on our website.


Okay if you'll now excuse me, I'm gonna watch TV and then I'll read.

After the program, I watched a PBS show:

THE STORIED LIFE OF MILLIE BENSON recounts the inspiring life story of author, reporter and adventurer Mildred Wirt Benson.

Benson, who died in 2002 at the age of 96, is better known as Carolyn Keene, the ghost writer of the first 23 Nancy Drew mysteries who was responsible for the developing the famous young character as an independent, bold and risk-taking female sleuth.

THE STORIED LIFE OF MILLIE BENSON is an inspirational story for viewers of all ages, particularly for avid Nancy Drew fans. The program features contemporary video, archival films and photographs, interviews, and commentary by literary experts and family members who knew her best. The program provides an "insider's view" on how serial children's books of the 1920s through the 1950s were conceived, created and marketed.

How I loved those books! Read this surprising Wiki piece about whose idea it was about Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins. .




YOUR PERFECT JOB

Holden Caulfield, we remember,
the character - or was he a
real man? - taught us the
meaning of an authentic person,
not a phony - and wanted to catch
children as they played a game
on the rye field, else they'd
tumble down the abyss.

What would YOU like to be?
Would you like to work at
Meadowbrook Farm and ring up
sales for patrons who put plants
in a green wagon, dragged it
all around until they thought
I've got enough. And then said
Hold on, I forgot the zinnias.

Be honest. Be bold. We're
among friends. What would
YOU like to be?

Looks like I got the job, as
a message just came in over the
Internet. Even though Burt
Wasserman, a friend of mine,
has died in hospice.

I am to be the official
taste tester at a supermarket
that will remain nameless of
all the teas and the coffees
that appear on the shelves.
And what I say goes.

If I think the Yogi Licorice
Tea is unfit for human con-
sumption, it will no longer
be sold.

I will name my own price.
And with the money I earn
I just may visit your house,
your apartment, with an
assortment of Twinings and
Sons, Dunkin Donuts and
Starbucks coffees.

Who shall I visit first?