I would like to rant to you today about something old and antiquated that drives me nuts: the notion that all job interviews warrant the wearing of The Interview Suit.
I'm not telling you to go burn your interview suits (although that would be awesome). Some of you probably work in places where they're the norm, and you probably don't mind wearing them. Forty years ago I'm sure they were the norm in lots of places. But, thankfully, times have changed and many companies have changed their cultures and dress codes along with them. All I'm saying is that for the job you're looking for, you might not have to break The Suit out of hiding after all.
What irritates me about The Dreaded Interview Suit is this idea we're taught by career services offices in every college any of us ever attended that we won't get hired unless we wear that Suit to every interview at every company until the end of time. Wrong. SO WRONG! What we should wear to the interview depends entirely on the industry, company, and job we're going to be doing!!!
This is what my recruiter brain hopes for in the ideal job seeker:
1. LEARN about the company's culture. This means researching them to the point of knowing what the employees who will be your coworkers wear to work everyday. This means digging around on Linkedin, facebook, the twittersphere, and even news articles to find out what it's really like to work at this company. If your research leads you to believe this is the type of company that has an open-bar Christmas party and a holiday for opening day of duck season, you can probably leave The Suit at home.
2. LEARN about the industry you're getting into. I knew nothing about the oilfield before I got this job. My future boss (Jedi) knew this, and thank heaven he told me to dress business casual for my interview. I had already gotten The Suit out, thinking I better be on the safe side, but I am telling you right now if I had walked into that office in a suit, no one would have allowed him to hire me. Girls in suits do NOT fit in in a frac field office. I should have done enough research on the company and the industry to know this on my own. Luckily I was Saved by the Boss. You might not be so lucky, so learn this stuff now.
If you're going to work for an old-school bank or chamber of commerce, go ahead and wear The Suit. If you're going to work in a manufacturing plant with a tiny office crammed in front of it, tame it down a bit. You don't want to have to opt-out of a plant tour during the interview because you can't fit a hard hat onto your overdone hair. If you're interviewing for a position in retail and you haven't been to the store multiple times to get an idea of how people dress, I hope they don't hire you.
3. LEARN how to showcase your personality - the right way. We all love leopard print. So much. And it's perfectly fine to incorporate it into your interview wardrobe, if you do it carefully. And by carefully I mean that you should never wear a jacket made of leopard print. Make sense? I always think shoes are the best way to give people a hint of your personality, as long as you don't go to extremes. Leave your clubbing shoes at home, but don't be afraid to wear the cute red pumps you just bought - as long as you can walk in them!
If nothing else, know this: making it to the in-person interview usually means it's down to you and a small handful of other similarly qualified people. USE this chance to be DIFFERENT from the rest of the handful and show that you are a good FIT for this company. That's what the in-person interview is about - finding the person whose personality is going to add to the (hopefully good) company culture. Good resumes are a dime-a-dozen. Good personalities are not! If you are reading this, I am SURE you are a super wonderful person, and this is your chance to dress the part!
I would love to hear what you guys are experiencing out on the job market! Leave a comment and let the fun begin!
No comments:
Post a Comment