Presentation Statements

taken from the "Career Repair Kit" by David Royston-Lee

During your search for a new position, you will be in contact with a whole variety of people and organisations – for example, prospective employers, recruitment agencies, business and personal contacts – all of whom will be able to assist you in some way.

It is important for you to prepare thoroughly, so you can present yourself in an effective manner when talking or writing to these people, and give a proper account of your experience, skills and abilities.

Our own experience suggests that there are six different presentation statements which you should prepare. These cover the principle areas of information which people will probably wish to know about, relating to you and your career.

We will refer to these statements and their use in subsequent chapters. The timings we give are intended to be a guideline only. The most important fact about all our presentation statements is that they should be as succinct as possible and designed to make an impact on the listener. It is likely to take a few attempts to get them right. It is worth trying them out with your consultant or a colleague to practice and improve them.

They are:

Who I am

A concise statement, lasting no more than 30 seconds, of who you are and what you do and what you are good at – for use at any time and in any place.

What am I looking for?

A 30 second outline of your preferred work situation or next job.

Leaving story

A brief explanation (about 30 seconds) of why you left your last employer.

Key strengths

An outline of your talents and skills that are likely to be of most interest to a prospective employer (Often to be used in conjunction with the career history and the Who am I statements).

Weaknesses

We prefer to call these understrengths and turn them into manageable qualities.

Career History

An overview, lasting no more than three minutes, summarising your career to date.
The exercises which follow on the next few pages will help in the preparation of your Presentation Statements.