The Interview—What Should You Wear?
Did you know that 55% of another person’s perception of you is based on how you look?
Congratulations! You landed the hard-to-score job interview. Now comes the next hurdle: What should you wear? What you wear to a job interview will determine whether or not you will even be considered for the job. It is true! In these days of political correctness and human kindness, some assume that being judged by clothing just isn’t right. I mean having a resume written so well that it almost heralds the Second Coming should be convincing enough. Right?
Wrong. “Dress For Success,” is a job-hunting commandment for a reason. What you wear to a job interview is the visual piece to influencing your prospective employer that you are the one for the job. Let’s explore this notion. What do you immediately think of when you see a group of people wearing bright orange jumpsuits, or depending on your neck of the woods, white suits with big black horizontal stripes? Or, how about people dressed in scrubs? Let’s go just a little bit further, would you recognize Santa Clause without the Big Red Suit? Well, the big white beard might be a give-away, but if you saw Santa wearing shorts and a Hawaiian-print shirt, he sure wouldn’t look ready to go to work, now would he? What you wear to a job interview is like a magic key that has the power to unlock your future.
Countless unbelieving candidates have lost out on being considered for their dream jobs purely because they broke the, “Dress For Success,” commandment. In fact, I had a candidate show up for a professional job interview dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. The employer told me that he simply could not take that person seriously, no matter how great the resume. See?
Dressing well for your interview is really quite simple. And, that is the key word, “Simple.” Dressing professionally means leaving sagging pants, stilettos, and spandex in the closet. Again, remember clothing defines the wearer. Wearing a skirt so tight that the rear view looks like two cats fighting to get out of a burlap sack is not the image you want to present for a professional office. Below are two simple lists with the basic ideas. Keep reading…
Women
Solid color, conservative suit
Solid color, conservative slacks, or skirt
Coordinated blouse
Moderate shoes
Limited jewelry
Neat, professional hairstyle
Sparse make-up and perfume
Manicured nails
Men
Solid color, conservative suit
Solid color, conservative slacks
White long-sleeved shirt
Conservative tie
Dark socks, professional shoes
Limited jewelry
Neat, professional hairstyle
Go easy on the aftershave
Neatly trimmed nails
Regardless of the dress code at your prospective place of employment, it just makes sense to dress your best for the interview. A quick Internet search with, “How to dress for a job interview,” in the search bar will reveal a plethora of ideas on the subject. One of my favorites is http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2011/11/08/how-to-dress-for-a-job-interview.
Above all, remember that your recruiters at The Temp Connection are invested in your success. If in doubt, just ask and we’ll steer you in the right direction. When it’s time to go to work (and job hunting certainly is work), be like Santa Clause and put on “The Big Red Suit.”
