Go practice your pitches

- Back in the day, when I was interviewing on Wall Street, there was a thing called a Superday, which meant you had made it to the final rounds. And so I went downtown New York City for my Superday, where I had 10 two-on-one interviews back-to-back, a long and grueling day, but given my skillset, I actually had fun doing it. And I left that evening feeling really good and confident. Later that evening, I got a call from a woman named Elizabeth in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group, and she said, "Jodi, thank you so much for coming down to interview today. Everyone really liked you." She said, "Here's the deal. We interviewed 10 people today, Jodi. We dinged eight of them. We gave one offer, and then there's you." And I started thinking, "I don't know where this is going." And she said, "Here's the deal. Everyone really liked you but they weren't sure you wanted to be an investment banker." And I said, "Of course, I want to be an investment banker, and Goldman Sachs is my first choice." And she said, "Great. Well, then let me ask you a question. Would you be willing to come back for another day of Super Round interviews?" And I said, "I'd love to." Right, there's nothing I want to do more than 10 more two-on-one interviews. So we schedule another day of interviews, and I call my dad that night. And I said, "Dad, you're never going to believe what happened. Goldman called, they interviewed 10 people today, they dinged eight, they gave one offer, and then there's me. And they said they don't know what to do with me 'cause they're not sure I want to be an investment banker." And my dad, in his infinite wisdom, said, "Well, good for Goldman you don't want to be a banker." (Jodi laughs) And in that moment, something clicked, and I decided, you know what? I do want this job. I want to work in investment banking. I need to go close the deal. And what I learned in that moment was that you can't sell yourself, pitch yourself effectively if you haven't bought into what you're selling first. I couldn't convince anyone that I wanted to be an investment banker until I owned it myself. When you are pitching yourself, if you don't believe what you're selling, no one else is buying. The great news is that you now know how to pitch yourself in a compelling, authentic, memorable way. You know that you're going to lead with your destination and then, and only then, you're going to look backwards and craft your backstory, and then you'll bring it all home for me by connecting the dots. That's the great news. You have the strategy, and it works every time. The bad news is that you need more than one pitch. It's not the same pitch every time. Depending on who you're speaking to and what your goals and objectives are, you've got to change that pitch. You've got to customize it. You've got to think about, what is my destination for this specific conversation or this specific audience? If you're kicking off a new initiative at work, that's a very different conversation than pitching yourself for a new role. So the great news is the strategy works every time. The not-so-great news is it takes work, it takes practice, it takes thought and intention, but I know you, and you've got this. And to help you along the way, I've got a worksheet for you, where you can put pen to paper and think about, specifically, your destination, backstory, and connect the dots for any and every opportunity that you are looking at. I can't wait to hear how this works for you. LinkedIn has an amazing community where we can all learn from one another. Take advantage of the Q&A, ask your questions, give feedback, be a generous learner. And remember, you got this. Thanks.