Why Should I Hire You? In 60 Seconds or Less.

Photo by Jellaluna.

If you’re in the startup world, you’ve probably heard of an “elevator pitch.”  An elevator pitch is the short and sweet, 3-sentence-or-so summary of what your company does and the value your product or service provides.  The idea is that if you were to run into some highly relevant industry exec or top investor in an elevator, you only have about 60 seconds or so (depending on the number of floors!) to pitch them on your company.

As a Rails developer, you probably think you aren’t responsible for your company’s elevator pitch… and maybe you aren’t.  But you are responsible for your own elevator pitch.  What does it mean to have a personal elevator pitch?  It means when a potential employer or potential future colleague asks “What do you do?” “What’s your story?” or “What’s your background?” you have a thoughtful and thorough (yet succinct) explanation of the value you provide as a developer.

Scripting your own personal elevator pitch is a good exercise in figuring out what your strengths and goals are as a Rails developer - where you’ve been and where you’re hoping to go.  But it’s also incredibly useful in your job search because it provides your employer with an easy way to remember you.  Instead of remembering you as “that guy Brian who works at ABC Company…” they’ll remember you as “that guy Brian who is passionate about scaling Rails applications to X users and has enormous expertise migrating legacy apps to Rails 3.”

Give them something specific to grab onto and remember about you.  Don’t be overly technical, but provide enough details so that a CTO and CEO could equally understand the value you bring based on your elevator pitch alone.  Your elevator pitch should be intriguing and make them say, “tell me more…”

So, what’s your story?  I’m starting the timer at 60 seconds… go!