You’ve been on the hunt to find a job for weeks, and you finally got that long-awaited follow-up email from a potential employer! You’ve made an interview appointment, Google Mapped the office to make sure you can get there, and now you’re sitting in front of your computer with butterflies in your stomach wondering how it’s going to go. It’s intimidating, but worry not—we can help. With Job Interview 101, the simple series from RegionalHelpWanted, we’ll teach you how to prepare for job interviews, how to exceed a hiring manager’s expectations, and how to seal the deal and get hired.
Let’s start off simple. How should you dress? Shallow or not, the first thing you notice about a person is the way they look, and first impressions are extremely important. As soon as you walk into that room the interviewer will have formed an opinion of you. If you walk in looking like a slob, your beautifully-formatted resume and stellar recommendations can only do so much: not only will the interviewer think you’re lazy, she’ll wonder why you bothered coming if you’re not interested in impressing her. You might be able to inch back onto her good side with charm and smarts, but why put yourself in the red right off the bat?
The most important part of your interview attire is also the simplest: look professional. There’s no one outfit that will work for all jobs, so you have to get a feel for the company beforehand—if you’re applying for a job at a bank, you may have to dress more formally than if you’re applying to a local public radio station.
The second rule is this: you want to stand out in everything but your outfit. If you walk into a law firm wearing a bright pink-and-blue striped blouse, huge dangly earrings and four-inch gold heels, or if you walk into a coffee shop wearing a three-piece tweed suit with a pocket square, your impact may be more comical than impressive.
Enough of what not to wear. What does that interviewer or hiring manager want to see? For guys, a surefire recipe is dark jeans, black shoes and a blue, white or grey button-up. Add jacket and tie as needed, depending on the workplace. For girls, the same outfit would work fine: black or grey skirt or pants, blue/white/grey shirt, and short black heels. Professionalism is unisex, and professional outfits aren’t much different!
The next crucial piece is neatness. Make sure everything is unwrinkled and well-fitting. You wouldn’t send in a resume riddled with typos, so why walk in with a shirt that hasn’t seen an iron since it was made?
Finally, make sure you’re comfortable! If you bought a shirt just for this interview and the collar is rubbing your neck raw, you’ll be on edge and less charismatic than your best. Wearing clothes you know well is another way to make sure everything fits properly, but of course there’s a difference between your trusty blue striped button-down and the old white shirt with frayed cuffs you got for your first job in high school.
With these tips in mind, go prepare your wardrobe! Your interview awaits. And with our help, you’ll be the best interviewee they’ve ever had. Click here to view: Jobs in Albany.