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Dress to Impress
February 24, 2008 by sheeny41@yahoo.comPicture yourself as a President and CEO of a prestigious law firm. All of your employees are well mannered, neatly dressed, and smiling, showing you, that they are happy to work for their employer. Things are going great but you still need someone to fill that position as an Administrative Assistant. Then it hits you, you just remembered today you scheduled an interview for that position. You go to your office to prepare your desk and a list of questions
Your secretary, Mrs. Brown, lets you know your ten o’clock appointment has arrived. When you look up at the clock, you realized they were five minutes late. You tell Mrs. Brown to send the interviewee in. In the door, walks a gentleman who is dressed in what seems to be casual clothing. The image that your office requires is business professional and neatly groomed. The interviewee has on cargo pants that have not been ironed, a white dress shirt that has a small stain, which looks like it could have been from syrup or coffee, and a tie that is way too small for anyone to wear.
The appearance of clothing can have an affect on what a person thinks about you. If you hired him, your clients may not feel comfortable with letting the firm handle their serious and delicate case. His un-groomed appearance has made you feel like he did not take the position serious. His hair was not combed and cut to an appropriate length, he wore earrings in both ears, and his facial hair appeared to be a five o’clock shadow. Immediately, to yourself you should be thinking this is not someone you want to hire.
It is wrong to judge a book by its cover but no one really follows that rule. When you go into an interview, you want to dress the part. Dressing appropriate lets the employer know that you are serious about the position. Going into a law firm with cargos and a polo shirt is okay if you are one of the clients but an employee should dress business professional to make the client feel comfortable that their case is in the right hands. Many people know that dressing up for an interview is essential but they don’t know what to wear.
For men and women clothing is somewhat similar. Pressed suits are the best choice because the pieces match each other. It makes it simple for you to put your attire together because you don’t have to find pants and a jacket that match or compliment each other. Another thing to remember about suits is to never wear patterns or bright colors. Basic colors like black, dark blue or even brown look more professional. Also, if you are a woman, it’s even more impressive to wear a skirt suit, of course one inch below the knee. For simple grooming tips, men should appear to be clean shaven, no earrings, hair cut and combed, should not wear excessive amount of cologne, and no sight of tattoos. Women should not wear heavy amounts of jewelry or perfume, pantyhose should not have runs, and hair should be well combed and brushed.
If your hair is past the shoulders, it is preferred that it is pulled back into a neat ponytail to give a more professional look. Another key to both women and men’s attire is to wear a watch and arrive 10 minutes early to let the interviewer know that you are aware their time is valuable. In case you will be late due to an emergency such as at outfit malfunction, traffic, or car trouble call the employer. Let them know how late you will be and ask if they would like to reschedule the interview. For the reason that most employers are conducting 10 or more interviews per day and may not be able to delay the other interviewees. Their time and your time is valuable, don’t waste it by not dressing the part and showing up promptly. -
‘Experience comes from Internships’
February 14, 2008 by sheeny41@yahoo.comInternships are essential to getting the experience you need to start your career. If someone would have told me that almost every job prefers that you have done an intern I would have started interning my sophomore year. Most internship’s are non-paid and sometimes very tedious. However, the outcome in the end is that you’ll have experience in your corner when its time to knock out those interviews. One thing to keep in mind is make sure you’re getting the most out of your internship. It’s okay to get coffee, file a few papers, and lick some envelopes. However, make sure you are letting the employer know that you are there to learn. I actually knew a person who done all of those things and more. One day her boss’ cat had gotten scared to death and ran under a car not wanting to come out. Therefore, she called upon her loyal intern on her day off to come and rescue the cat. She came of course, crawled almost all the way under the car becoming covered with oil and dirt and saved the cat. The next day at the office her boss announced to everyone that she was the new Production Assistant. Although that would be great if that could happen to everybody but chances are very slim to none. Therefore, shadow someone at the company who is in a position that you someday hope to be in. Ask if you could even try some of the hands-on skills to help you build the proficiency you need to perform in your career because thats where all of the experience will come from.
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Experience is a must!!
February 06, 2008 by sheeny41@yahoo.com“I’m sorry but we’re looking for someone who has a little more experience.” This is the famous line that I hear time and time again from, what it seems like, every interviewer. What makes this line a really bad choice of words for an interviewer to say, is that the job is actually entry-level. I know I may not have more of a professional experience in my field but I feel that extra curriculum activities really help to enhance skills. It’s bad enough that most salaries for entry-level positions aren’t much but to be turned down for not having enough experience for an entry-level job seems ironic. What does that leave to learn in an entry-level position if you already have the experience? I thought that going for an entry-level position meant that you take what little you learned (and your degree) and apply new skills to help build and strengthen them. Or maybe I’m looking in the wrong direction of where I’m supposed to get this experience. It would take good advice and motivation to make an individual want to strive and get the experience, which, would potentially come from parents, family, friends, or school. I went to Mansfield University of PA, where getting permission to go on an internship was harder than actually going to the internship interview. It wasn’t really put into student’s heads that you must go out and get an internship because employers are looking for workers with experience. What was actually pressured to students was to get involved in campus activities to have that hands-on experience. This is easy enough for anyone to join and make full use of what they had access to. In my opinion, being involved in activities that related to your field, should count as some kind of experience. Or maybe I could be wrong. Should getting involved be considered as preparation for an intern or preparation for an entry-level position? Also what is the big difference between an internship and entry-level besides the pay? Please someone help me to differentiate and receive an entry-level position.
