By Deb Wheatman
After sending out all of those letters and networking like crazy, you finally got the interview. You are prepared. You have your résumé printed on good paper; and you have studied your background so you don’t have to play the total recall game. You won’t worry about being able to match Charles Nelson Reilly with Gene Rayburn looking on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match_Game. The big day is coming – what do you wear? You know the company is a casual place to work. Do you dress up, down, or somewhere in between?
Since you are not yet an employee, the best thing to do is dress to impress. I understand that the company is a laid back atmosphere, and people can show up in jeans and flip flops. That’s fine – for those that are already employed there. You are TRYING to get employed; so, you need to dress differently than the people that already work at the company.
For the guys: Wear slacks in a dark color and a button down shirt with a collar and tie. You should wear a jacket too. The only caveat to this is that if the company is a start-up, extremely entrepreneurial, and the staff very young and hip, leave off the jacket. You don’t want to come off as stodgy or un-cool in some way. Part of what you are assessed on during the interview is fit, so dress is part of that. Otherwise, wear the jacket. You will look like you mean business. You will have plenty of time (and clothing, no doubt) from Hollister to get you going once you have your offer letter.
For the gals: Wear a pant suit or skirt suit with an appropriate blouse or top. Do not wear anything that is sleeveless. You can also wear a dress. No open toe shoes please. Keep it professional. Long hair? Tie it back to keep it neat. Last time I checked Barbarella http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarella_(film) was piloting a space ship not an Excel spreadsheet. Again, I would suggest something on the conservative side. Heels are fine; in fact, I prefer them, as long as they are not 4″ high. You want to be comfortable; but more importantly, you want to be able to walk. Finally, I am all about nicely done nails, as long as you don’t look like Vampira. Keep them neat with a conservative color. If they can be considered for the Guinness World Book, how will you do any work? Everything counts. Believe me, you are being evaluated from a number of different perspectives.
All joking aside, personal appearance is very important during the interview process. Your outward presentation gives off signals. Make the most of yours by dressing to impress!
Deb Wheatman is an authorized DISC Administrator and Chief Career Officer, ResumesDoneWrite.Blogspot.com. Connect to her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter.
About CAREEREALISM
Hi Deb,
I couldn't agree more. Looking our best in interviews is critical. It's the old “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Our appearance also conveys a lot of information about our self-confidence and self-esteem to others. There's a great book from Charla Krupp on little changes we can make to our appearance, on every budget, that can make big differences. See http://bit.ly/9SsymY for more information.
Cheers,
Donna
Hi Deb,
I couldn't agree more. Looking our best in interviews is critical. It's the old “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Our appearance also conveys a lot of information about our self-confidence and self-esteem to others. There's a great book from Charla Krupp on little changes we can make to our appearance, on every budget, that can make big differences. See http://bit.ly/9SsymY for more information.
Cheers,
Donna
Hi Deb,
I couldn't agree more. Looking our best in interviews is critical. It's the old “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Our appearance also conveys a lot of information about our self-confidence and self-esteem to others. There's a great book from Charla Krupp on little changes we can make to our appearance, on every budget, that can make big differences. See http://bit.ly/9SsymY for more information.
Cheers,
Donna
The 2nd longest job that I have done (10 weeks) where I have lived the last 5 years, I got hired partly because I dressed decently for the initial interview. I wore a blazer, dress shirt with a neck tie, and men's dress slacks. I was told after being hired the other candidate, who probably was more capable of performing job duties than me weirded out the person who would up being my immediate supervisor by not dressing well enough/unkempt appearance.
I witnessed a coworker hired with me on another temp gig who performed the job duties better than me eventually get fired for not adhering to work dress code.
Why no open toe shoes? I have really nice ones that aren't too high and I only wear them w/ a good painted set of toe nails.
What if it's a peep-toe? Does that count too?
Check out WorkChic.com for some tips on how to dress! (@workchic on Twitter)
Check out WorkChic.com for some tips on how to dress! (@workchic on Twitter)