Summary: Your "positioning statement" (or "elevator speech") is a concise and effective communication that highlights your profession, expertise and environment and concludes with a call to action.

Call to Action (that is, work for you):
Read this article and watch the videos. Craft the first rough, hasty draft of your "positioning statement", and start a new discussion sharing it with mentors and advisors, her eon ACP-AdvisorNet, so we can help you improve your positioning statement. From there, we can also help you craft your personal career development and ob search strategy.
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The "positioning statement" proposed in the video below has 4 sentences and can be spoken in approximately 25-30 seconds.

I suggest you also watch these 3 videos. Each is approximately 4 minutes long. I provide a typed summary of the first video below. (Feel free to provide summaries of the next 2 videos if you wish.)

(1) "Creating an Elevator Pitch" (4 minute video) by Michael Goldberg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iBCruAWL68#!

[Note: Fellow Veteran Pat Crow originally shared this video.]

(2) "Developing your Elevator Pitch (Elevator Speech) | Round 9"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQhkgw2BKfo#!

(3) "Selling and Networking are NOT the same | Round 10"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVH6rEiyz0#!

Here is the sample "Positioning Statement" from the video:
"I am a Professional Speaker focused on helping sales professionals with their networking.
My expertise is in the areas of networking, referrals and various aspects of recruiting.
I work mostly in the Financial Services industry.
I am looking to meet or to be introduced to a general agent from XYZ Corporation focused on building his or her sales team."

Notes from the Video:
Acronym: PEEC - Profession, Expertise, Environment, Call to Action

1) Profession: Who you are, what you do, and with whom.

Who you are:
I am a [insert title or role, e.g. "Professional Speaker" ] ...

What you do and with whom:
... focused on [insert what you do and with whom].

e.g.
"I am a Professional Speaker focused on helping sales professionals with their networking."

2) Expertise: Knowledge you possess related to your profession. Express in "threes".
"My expertise is in the areas of [ x, y, and z].

e.g. "My expertise is in the areas of networking, referrals and various aspects of recruiting."

3) Environments: Whom you serve best and therefore wish to serve most.
"I work mostly in the [insert industry or field].

e.g. "I work mostly in the Financial Services industry."

4) Call to Action: Specifically what it is you are after.
It is with whom you are looking to meet and what you are looking to accomplish.
"I am looking to meet or to be introduced to [insert functional role or title and the sort of company, etc.].

e.g. "I am looking to meet or to be introduced to a general agent from XYZ Corporation focused on building his or her sales team."

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Some follow-on thoughts. I'd love to listen to feedback and other opinions.

• The exercise of crafting a positioning statement forces you to clearly and concisely define your profession, expertise and experience, and prepares you to think about the sort of help you may want.

• I believe a "positioning statement" can be constrictive even if you are the only one to ever read or here it, because it forces you to clearly define yourself in your "professional life", and exactly what skills, expertise and experience you offer to potential employers and customers.

• I believe that establishing career goals and crafting a first draft of a positioning statement may be 2 of the first tasks that a Veteran in transition should complete.

Once you have crafted your positioning statement, you are better prepared to take constructive actions that may include: career networking, earning relevant certifications, joining and getting involved with relevant professional organizations, crafting your resume and LinkedIn profile, establishing clear and achievable goals for various mentorship processes, etc.

• Once you have successfully crafted your positioning statement, you can also begin contemplating the positioning statements you want to be able to deliver in 3-5 years and beyond. These "future" positioning statements can help you establish longer-term goals, and can help you take actions to successfully achieve these goals.