“So, Tell Me About Yourself” — How To Pitch Your Skills And Experience

You might feel comfortable writing about your professional identity, creating a resume or building a LinkedIn, but what happens when those conversations move offline?

Some common scenarios you might find yourself in as a student:

• You’re at a career fair, and you want to visit the booth of a biotech company that really interests you.
• You’re in a lab meeting, and the Principal Investigator asks about your career goals.
• You attend a career panel hosted by your student society and you have the chance to talk with one of the professionals after the moderated conversation
• You’re at a virtual networking event, and a senior professional asks the most common, and sometimes most dreaded, question in the professional world

Any of those people are likely to ask you this: “So, tell me about yourself.”

Answering this question is a chance to take the professional identity you’ve built on paper or online and bring it to life through in person interactions.  Once you have a sense of you who you are, you’ll want to be able to express that to other people in conversation or job interviews.

This chapter will guide you through a simple, but effective framework to talk about your skills and experiences confidently and concisely in any professional setting.

How To Create A Great Elevator Pitch

An “elevator pitch” is a short, persuasive introduction to who you are, what you do, and what you’re looking for.

The name comes from the idea that you should be able to deliver it in the time it takes for a short elevator ride.  It as a structured and confident answer to “Tell me about yourself.”

For a science student, a great pitch isn’t about bragging; it’s about presenting evidence. Just like in a lab report, you state your objective, show your methods, and present your results.

Your elevator pitch should have four essential ingredients:

Watch: How to Create Your 30 Second Elevator Pitch

Putting It All Together: Where To Practice Your Elevator Pitch

A pitch that lives only on paper is not helpful for your career development. You need to practice speaking it out loud to other people to build your confidence and learn how to integrate it into conversations.

Here are some environments where you can practice your elevator pitch:

• Career Fairs and Employer Events: This is the perfect venue. Recruiters expect you to have a pitch ready.
• Informational Interviews: When you reach out to someone on LinkedIn for a “coffee chat” (virtual or in-person), this is how you’ll start the conversation.
• Talking to Professors and TAs: Use your pitch when introducing yourself during office hours. It’s a great way to build rapport and show you’re serious about your studies.
• In the Mirror: Practicing your delivery, timing, and body language by yourself is the best first step. You can also record yourself on your phone or over Zoom and watch it back.

Remember, your pitch is not a static script. It’s a living document. You will adapt it for every situation and every audience, and it will evolve as you gain new skills and experiences.

Quick Chapter Recap

• An elevator pitch is a structured, confident answer to “Tell me about yourself.”
  • It is a crucial tool for bringing your professional brand to life during in-person and virtual interactions at events like career fairs, networking events, and meetings with professors.
• A strong pitch for a science student is evidence-based.
  • Present your skills and experience by covering four essential elements: who you are, what you offer, a relevant accomplishment as proof, and a clear goal or “ask.”
• A pitch requires practice and adaptation to be effective.
  • It is not a static script to be memorized but a dynamic tool that should be practiced aloud and tailored for each specific audience and situation you encounter.