Elevator Pitch Examples for Engineers

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An elevator pitch is a succinct way to explain one’s goals and skills and why they stand out from the crowd. It’s often used at the beginning of a job interview, as a base for cover letters, or even when happening upon an old friend that mentions an appealing job opening at their company. 

While they might sound simple on the surface, elevator pitches aren’t so easy to perfect. You want to pitch yourself in a unique but concise way, and there are a few things you should always try to include in your pitch. 

Below, we’ve compiled a list of everything that makes a successful engineering elevator pitch as well as a template you can follow to get started.   

Include These Items in Your Elevator Pitch 

When talking about where you hope your career goes or your past accomplishments, it’s easy to begin rambling. Just because someone asks “What do you do?” doesn’t mean they have time to listen to your entire career journey. This is why it’s important to keep your elevator pitch to 30 seconds or less.  

Here are the items you should always include in your 30-second pitch: 

1. Who you are and where you’re going. How would you describe your field or your ideal job? You should be able to clearly describe the position you want, otherwise the person you’re pitching to won’t know how to help. 

2. Your skills, accomplishments, and experiences. This is everything you think a future employer should know about you. For example, are you efficient in code? Or do you have a history dealing with cybersecurity breaches? A good way to get started brainstorming what qualifications to highlight is making a list and then taking a pen and crossing out everything that isn’t absolutely critical to understanding who you are. You should narrow this down to a sentence or two. 

3. Finally, end with a question or a call to action. Don’t let the conversation end as a monologue. When you're done pitching, you should ask an actionable follow-up question and secure your next step. 

   1. After thanking them for their time, you might ask: “What kind of skills or experience do you look for in the employees you hire?”  

   2. Have your business card ready when applicable, and request their contact information so you can follow up with them at a later date

4. Practice and practice again. Now that you have a successful 30-second pitch, keep practicing. You never want to sound overly rehearsed, but you should be prepared for any questions they may ask and know how to quickly get back on track. Remember also not to give them too much: you want to pique their interest and have them longing to learn more. 

If you can fit it in, you may also include any type of connection you have to the potential employer. Did you attend the same graduate school or frequent the same local coffee shop? 

Engineering Elevator Pitch Examples

Let’s put these tips into action. While your elevator pitch might change depending on whether you’re pitching to a former colleague you run into on the street, one person or a group, or at the beginning of an interview, the template can remain mostly the same.  

Here are two examples of pitches for engineers: 

1. “Hello, my name is John Jones. I’m currently a software engineer at Cisco Systems and have a wide breadth of experience researching and designing software programs that solve real-world problems. I’ve developed new architecture for network equipment systems, from routers to voice-enabled network applications. I’ve been a huge fan of your company for years, and saw that you had an opening for a principal software engineer manager. What kind of skills do you look for in the employees you hire?”  

2. “Hi, I’m Sally Smith. As a civil engineering manager for the past two years, I’ve led multiple cross-functional teams in conceiving, designing, and maintaining large infrastructure projects in the public and private sectors. Notably, utilizing my geotechnical engineering experience, I was recently able to move forward on developing a large chip manufacturing facility for a major company. What types of employees do well within your organization?” 

If you want to ensure your pitch doesn’t exceed 30 seconds, try to make it 20 words or less. You may have a longer version available, but it never hurts to get it down to the absolutely essential items.   

Discover More Elevator Pitches: 

• The 7-second Challenge: Do You Have an Engineering Elevator Pitch?

• Elevator Pitch Examples for Students  

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