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PwC Is Giving $5,000 to a College Student Who Makes the Best ‘Elevator Pitch’ Video That Won’t Closely Resemble Any Conversation They’ll Ever Have in an Elevator

For any current PwC employees if you, in the off-chance, happen to run into Bob Moritz in the elevator at 300 Madison, you might say, “Hey, thanks for the iPad,” or “I don’t care what anyone says, I love the colors of the new logo,” or “You look great with your shirt off.”


On the other hand, if you’re a college student and you need a little extra cash, you might be willing to script together a few awkward sentences that you would say to BoMo or Dennis Nally if, in fact they were interested in being accosted by a wide-eyed eager beaver that is rambling on about their leadership roles in Beta Alpha Psi only to be cut off with, “Sounds great but I really got hit the john.”

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, you’ve got until March 25th to get your entry submitted.

Making an Impression [PwC Careers/Facebook]

PwC Wants You to Know Your Elevator Speech

By now busy season is causing many of you to burn the candle from both ends and I have little doubt that you’d have a few choice words if you found yourself sharing the morning elevator ride with your firm’s CEO.

No fake smiles or warm-felt appreciation for your job. But as much as you’d like to punch The Big Boss in the spleen and kindly ask for your personal life back, you’d find yourself grinning and bearing it, and maybe even thanking them for the excellent work / life balance initiatives.

Ha. Balance.

Well, PricewaterhouseCoopers still believes in the elevator speech, or at least their recruiting team does. Personal Brand Week kicked off on P. Dubs’ Facebook and recruitment pages yesterday with the first lesson. The week’s schedule is as follows:


Monday – your elevator speech
Tuesday – your passion
Wednesdsay – your network
Thursday – your online brand
Friday – open to change (career momentum)

As soft as these topics may seem, the worksheets provided on the site can be a starting point for those of you already in the midst of your careers. Forget the elevator and the high-up partners. This should go for everyone above you that you’ve worked for, no matter how briefly that experience might have been or where you happen to bump into them.

Take the elevator speech idea: knowing how to succinctly articulate your position and experience within the firm is important. It might sound trivial, but remembering the name of your first manager-who-recently-made-partner and name-dropping this individual can be beneficial. Same goes for what clients you’ve worked on. Mentioning how you worked on XYZ bank and that you found the work engaging and something you want to experience more of could spark the interest of the your target.

Like I mentioned, this conversation can take place anywhere. In line at the cafeteria. Your building’s shoe-shine or newspaper stand. Even the end-of-busy-season party is an opportunity.

There is a fine line between sounding sincere and sounding manufactured (ask Tiger Woods). The last thing you want to come off is an overzealous associate who stalked down the leading tax partner only to say how much you appreciated the opportunity to work 14-hour days. Be genuine but avoid sounding rehearsed.