Dressing
for an interview
Always remember, in job-hunting, first impressions are
critical.
You
are marketing a product - yourself - to a potential
employer and the first thing the employer sees when
greeting you is your attire; just as you like a product
with a good packaging, an employer likes to see his/her
potential employee to be attired well. Thus, you must
make every effort to have the proper dress for the type
of job you are seeking.
Will
dressing properly get you the job? Of course not, but
it will give you a competitive edge and a positive first
impression. Should you be judged by what you wear? Perhaps
not, but the reality is, of course, that you are judged.
Throughout the entire job-seeking process employers
use short-cuts - heuristics or rules of thumb - to save
time. With covering letters it's the opening paragraph
and a quick scan of your qualifications. With resumes
it is a quick scan of your accomplishments.
With
the job interview it's how you're dressed that sets
the tone of the interview. How should you dress? Dressing
conservatively is always the safest route but you should
also try and do a little investigating of your prospective
employer so that what you wear to the interview makes
you look as though you fit in with the organization.
If you overdress (which is rare but can happen) or under
dress (the more likely scenario), the potential employer
may feel that you don't care enough about the job. How
do you find out what is the proper dress for a given
job/company/industry? You can call the Human Resources
office where you are interviewing and simply ask. Or,
you could visit the company's office to retrieve an
application or other company information and observe
the attire current employees are wearing - though make
sure you are not there on a "casual day" and
misinterpret the dress code.
Hints
for Dress for Success for Men and Women Attention to details
is crucial, so here are some tips for both men and women.
 |
Make sure you have: clean and polished conservative
dress |
|
Hair
clean and tidy |
|
Minimal
cologne or perfume |
|
Shoes
well-polished |
|
No
visible body piercing beyond conservative ear piercing
for women |
|
Well-brushed
teeth and fresh breath no gum, candy, or other objects
in your mouth |
|
Minimal
jewellery |
|
No
body odour |
|
Trimmed
fingernails |
|
Finally,
check your attire in the rest room just before your
interview for a final check of your appearance to
make sure your tie is straight, your hair is combed,
etc. |
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