CREATING YOUR SELF-INTRODUCTION

University of Arizona Graduate Center

GRADCENTER.ARIZONA.EDU/CAREER-SUPPORT

The Importance of Your Your Self-Introduction

Despite all the very cool and innovative things you might be doing in your grad program or postdoc, if

people don't have familiarity with your specific research area or discipline, it doesn't mean much to

them. It's your job to communicate who you are and what you have to offer to as diverse an audience as

possible. Don't assume someone who works at a tech company speaks Java, that someone at an

accounting firm speaks revenue law, or that someone in higher education speaks critical pedagogy.

When creating your self-introduction, the most important thing to remember is this: your self-

introduction is meant for employers, so focus on communicating what's most important for them to

know and leave the rest out.

What to Avoid in Your Self-Introduction

Here are things your introduction should NOT do:

• NOT make you sound like a one-dimensional corporate drone

• NOT bore or confuse people with too much technical jargon

• NOT leave people wondering what exactly it is you do

• NOT leave out your personal passions or side projects (if relevant)

• NOT sound sleezy or like you're selling something

• NOT undersell or oversell your skills and experiences

Crafting Your Self-Introduction

Now is the time to craft your self-introduction. Once crafted, you can use pieces of your introduction

whenever you need (e.g. when introducing yourself to employers, when talking to people at networking

events, in your online professional profiles, in your resume or cover letter, and during interviews). Key

pieces of information to keep in mind when drafting your introduction:

• Focus on what's most important - It's easy to overwhelm someone with too much information.

Rather than focusing on cramming as much as possible in a 30-60 second introduction, focus on

the bigger more important things you've done that will be of most interest to the employer.

High level overviews, with some details sprinkled in, will be enough and should prompt the

person with whom you're speaking to ask questions.

CREATING YOUR SELF-INTRODUCTION

University of Arizona Graduate Center

GRADCENTER.ARIZONA.EDU/CAREER-SUPPORT

• Pay attention to framing - How you explain things matters. Use active voice (e.g. I use, I

synthesize, I work with) instead of passive voice, include details when they really matter (e.g.

name dropping a certain technical skill), and make sure you end with a call to action (e.g. ask a

question).

• Prepare to break it up - Ideally, in social interactions, you'll be engaging in a conversation. This

means the person you're speaking with will want to share information and respond to things

you say. Rarely do we just walk up to someone and talk at them for a minute or more. With that

in mind, prepare to be interrupted or asked questions while delivering your introduction.

Time to get to it! A good idea is to grab a piece of paper or open a new Word document. Feel free to go

rogue and do your own thing, or use the following template to write out the pieces of your

introduction:

• Your name and your current role/position (e.g. PhD candidate studying..., Postdoc

researching...)

• Reason why you're talking to the person (e.g. interest in a particular opportunity, company,

field, or industry)

• Statements highlighting fit (e.g. talk about 1-3 skills or experiences you have that make you

someone they should want to talk to)

• Question, to shift conversation to person with whom you are speaking (e.g. what information

can this person provide you?)

Final Reminders

Your self-introduction, like your resume, should be tailored to each interaction, paying particular

attention to who you are speaking with and what your goal is for the interaction. Further, the only way

to improve your self-introduction is to use your self-introduction so get out there and get talking to

people. It’s okay if you stumble or struggle in the beginning. The goal isn’t that you deliver your

introduction perfectly every time, but that you put yourself out there to meet other people.