By Gregory Fish
I speak from the position of having been an employer of 25-35 people for over 30 years. I had a small construction company in Oregon, and had to do all of the hiring and firing for many years. It was not easy to find the right people I needed for my business, but through the interview process I could learn a lot about a potential candidate that could make the difference in their life and the life of my company. I cannot cover all of the elements of being prepared for an interview in this short dissertation, but I will try to hit on some very important points. I believe that your appearance can be one of the most important factors.
Appearance
Be sure that you have dressed in your finest clothing in relation to the position you are applying for. If management, then a suit is preferable, but if you are applying for a laborer position you may wear the best of the clothing you would show up for work in. I remember a skilled carpenter showing up for a carpentry position in clothing stained with fillers, finish and paint. The blue jeans had holes in them and the T-shirt he was wearing did not quite cover his body. (Like a plumber working under your sink). When he came in he put his filthy coffee container on my desk and sat down like he automatically had the job. Needless to say, I would not hire someone for my company who could not dress appropriately for a job interview. How was he going to dress while working in my customer's homes?
Hygiene is very important at this time also. Be sure your hair is combed, you have had a fresh shower, shaved or trimmed your beard, and you smell good, although too much perfume or cologne is not appropriate. If you're a woman you should be modestly dressed, since the style of your clothing will determine what the interviewer believes is the type of clothing you will wear every day to work. Low cut dresses or high skirts will be too much of a distraction. It would be best that you leave your piercing hardware at home and try to present yourself as clean cut as possible. I know there are all those laws about not discriminating against people for their appearance, (we are not talking about race or nationality here), but everyone discriminates in some way or another. There will be nothing said at the time, or comments made to anyone, but the interviewer is sizing you up to see whether he or she wants a person of your "caliber" working in his business. Are you going to represent the company well with your looks and attitude? If you lost out on a job after your interview, was it your appearance?
The other factors not considered here are attitude, composure, personality, life vision and perceived future loyalty to the company. I will write about those in future articles. Since I closed the business due to the economy a couple of years ago, I have had to sit on the job seekers side of the desk. I got the job, but I had to use the points that I have talked about above to help me out.
Gregory Fish has over 30 years experience in the corporate world.
Having been the president and CEO of a residential and commercial
contracting company, Mr. Fish knows the determination and stamina it
takes to succeed in the business world. Mr. Fish is now using his
learned skills at conducting interviews to help the current group of job
seekers better themselves for the job market. For more information go
to the Why Can't I Find a Job? [http://www.whycantifindajob.org]
Website. While there read more about Job Interviews
[http://www.whycantifindajob.org/job_interviews.html], Jobs at Home and
Jobs Abroad.