Anne PELCZAR       ...PR and Marketing
Let's Connect:
  • Home
  • Anne's Career Blog
  • Resume
  • Portfolio
  • Clients/Media
  • Associations/Honors
  • References

How To REALLY Dress For An Interview... it's not what you think.

9/19/2012

6 Comments

 
This blog attempts to teach you how to apply the new rules of PR and marketing to your job search to successfully land the job you really want. Sometimes, it’s the subtleties about PR that make the difference – and they’re so subtle you barely recognize them as PR when reading these posts. Well, let me shout this one from the rooftops: This post is as PR as it gets!

Recently, I’ve seen tons of discussions about how to dress for an interview and how to make the best first impression with what you’re wearing. And unfortunately, I am seeing many really bad posts out there that give blanket advice to an entire country and all industries combined; often written by people who call themselves specialists. I should start by saying that you should never follow blanket advice, particularly not when it comes to dressing for interviews.

Let’s review the norm of how to dress for interviews that hopefully everyone has learned: Black, navy or charcoal suit, button-down white shirt, black, close-toed shoes, natural make-up, no perfume, hair styled conservatively, possibly tied back. And generally, if all else fails, these ARE the rules you want to follow. But because we are applying smart PR to our career search, we are smarter than just following blanket advice. We are learning how to customize!

So let’s take a closer look at dress code.

Fit In... not just your clothes.

The way you dress for an interview depends entirely on the industry you work in. If you are applying for a job in banking or pharma – yes, please follow the standards above. These industries are the most formal. If you are applying for a job in a conservative area and you can assume the people working at the company are rather conservative – yes, please follow the rules above more or less.

As a general rule, though, you should follow the industry-standard of how to dress ON the job. If the industry as a whole, or the company you’re applying for, dresses casual or very business-casual (as in “jeans”), step it up a notch. I would avoid going to an interview in jeans at pretty much all costs. But follow the rules of the industry, because….

PR RULE NUMBER ONE: ASSIMILATE!

Study your audience and do what it takes to appeal to that audience. The basis of every PR campaign is lots of research. You learn what your audience members are like, what they like, and what moves them – particularly what moves them to a change in attitude. The attitude change YOU are trying to accomplish is for the interviewer to go to loving you from simply being cognizant of you. So what do you do? YOU FIT IN! We’ve talked about this before: The interview is mainly there to establish if you fit in. You’re already qualified. So show them in every possible way that you know your industry (THEIR industry) and that you know how to fit in, down to dressing right for it. This rule pretty much rules out a black suit and a button-down shirt for A LOT of fields!

PR RULE NUMBER TWO: GO WITH THE BEST AVAILABLE!

As you are using your PR skills to get the job, they are using their PR skills to get the best hire. They probably don’t know that that’s a PR tactic, but they are doing it nonetheless. So how do you know you are getting the best candidate possible? How do you get the best possible guarantee of a candidate to truly be the best out of the whole pot? Simple: You are hiring someone who is currently employed. There’s a very simple mantra explaining that: If you are currently not employed, you can’t be THAT good, right? Someone would have already snatched you up. Well, we know that’s not necessarily true, but our psyche tells us otherwise. And you can like it or not, you will not change this way of thinking.

The Employed Get Hired.

As a matter of fact, I was talking to a hiring manager and she said she won’t even interview anyone who is not currently employed. Why? Because the unemployed are desperate to take ANY job and they will tell you anything to get it. She doesn’t trust them. I didn’t agree with her, but that doesn’t matter. So if you are currently unemployed, the trick is, once again: To cater to your audience.

If you are currently unemployed, do your best to look like you ARE employed. Don’t lie, but use your PR tactics to make yourself look like you are currently working. There are many facets to this concept; for this purpose we will focus on dress code, since that is the subject of this post. So let’s think for a second of how an employed person goes to an interview.

HOW AN EMPLOYED PERSON GOES TO AN INTERVIEW
When you are employed and you are starting to look for a different job, you will most likely not rub it into your current employers face. So your interviews are either after hours right after your work is over (and the other company is hopefully still open) or you take an extended lunch. (Or you lie and make up a reason for why you can’t come in.) The point is: You don’t have all day to go from looking like you do for work to looking like the perfect interviewee in black suit and perfect hair and makeup. You don’t have two hours in the AM to spend in front of the mirror; you have to get to work. So you will look the way you look to go to work. Well – guess what: That’s what people at that other company also look like! Of course that day, you put on slacks instead of jeans and a nicer shirt instead of your good old cotton. But the point is: You look like you are someone who is employed in the industry. Because you actually ARE! You fit in because you are ALREADY IN! Do these people get hired? YES! All the time! Because employers know they fit in.

What do we learn from this novel observation? If you want to make yourself look like you’re currently employed, you literally make yourself LOOK LIKE you’re employed! It’s THAT easy. Dress like you’re going to work. Nicely. You’re not going to be able to SAY that you’re currently employed, but you will LOOK like you are. And that brings you one step closer to fitting in – because you are subconsciously telling them you’re fitting in… without even using one word or your resume. Now, just doing that won’t get you the job… but at least you’re one step closer.

And now you always know how to dress without having a meltdown over your wardrobe. Don’t you love PR!?


6 Comments
Mark Payne link
9/23/2012 05:41:12 am

It is very sad to hear there are companies out there who will not hire someone who is unemployed. The person who decides they will never hire anyone who is not employed is uninformed and nieve. The economy hit many good people very hard. I know several people who are unemployed and they would be a big asset to any company, and anyone who hired them would be lucky to have them.
It is also sad to think a small mistake in a person's wardrobe could make or break their chances of landing a job. I think your advice is sound, and everyone should dress neatly and conservitivly when going to an interview. Any person who's job it is to hire employees should use better criteria than appearence to make a good decision on who should work and who shouldn't work.

Reply
Anne
9/23/2012 08:00:16 am

Hi Mark,

I agree with you completely; companies should not disregard unemployed people. There are many reason for why people are currently not employed - most of those reasons NOT because they don't know what they're doing. That being said, it really doesn't matter what WE think. The point is to know how to cater to your audience, and do that. Whether you agree or not is secondary.

I also don't think that you get hired or not based on what you're wearing, as long as you look proper. It's just one more thing you can do to show them you fit in.

Reply
Stefan
9/26/2012 11:49:28 pm

Hi Anne,

I found this really interesting and helpful (as I type this from a train, post-interview).
I have always questioned what to wear to interview and how it can influence the employer. I have just returned from an interview where I wore a shirt, jacket, tie... everything you outlined above. On the other hand met an agency a month ago in a T-shirt and jeans (It was literally last minute).
Despite being polar opposites, I felt much more comfortable in the t-shirt and jeans (as you can imagine) however, does the informal nature make you feel less prepared?

I think fitting your dress to the company and how you would dress in your current employment is sound advice! I heard it from a PR man that you should 'never wear a suit to a PR interview' ... I'm still a skeptic, but in a lot of cases, it seems he was right!

Stefan

Reply
Anne
9/27/2012 12:19:50 am

Stefan,

I hope your interview went well and you get the job! Thanks for liking this post. It's the little insights sometimes, that open up a whole new perspective you never thought of before.

I would say that dressing up makes you feel more "prepared" simply because it makes you feel more professional. That being said, I did talk to a manager once - he himself was there in jeans and T-Shirt... and I was sitting across from him in my suit. See, dressing up can make you feel uncomfortable too!

When people that interview you dress in jeans and T-Shirt, presumably, they are very relaxed people and expect their employees to be just like that. This attitude should then reflect in your speaking style, which, if you want to make the leap, would be influenced by how you're dressed.

I think it's quite amazing what clothes can do to us on a subconscious level. I mean, has it ever happened to you that you went to a party and you stood out like a sore thumb because you didn't get the attire memo? Well, I think you can relate that to interviewing as well. Being dressed like them will make you feel comfortable, put you in the right mood and state of attidude and shows them you're already one of them.

And PS: The PR guy that said to never go to a PR interview in a suit was a wise man!

Reply
Deanna
10/12/2012 01:56:19 am

Please elaborate on why to never go to a PR interview in a suit.

Reply
Anne link
11/3/2012 12:06:20 am

Hi Deanna,

The general rule of thumb is to wear something nice (nice business, not a suit) because PR is just not that formal of an industry. As I tried to make clear above, your dress code should reflect your knowledge of the industry as well. If you show them you even know how they're dressed and you can fit in on ANY level, you're showing them you did your homework.

Another reason, I believe, is a good one, is that you don't look like an interview rookie. The career center at your school tells you to wear a suit to an interview because that's the "safe" thing to do - so everyone new to interviewing wears suits. What does that tell the interviewer? That you really haven't worked before. And if you want to get in to PR, especially into a good agency, you must make yourself look like as experienced as you can. Yes, your resume speaks better than your clothes, but let's face it - they're probably looking more at YOU than they do at your resume; and you'll be representing their agency, not the piece of paper. Do you visually appear like you know what you're doing?

So, all in all, our goal here is to make ourselves as marketable as possible. You do that by knowing your industry and fitting in. That's particularly important in PR, because to do exactly that (to appeal to your audience) will be your job. So particularly in PR or marketing, you have to show your interviewer that you know how to research an audience and that you know how to pitch (yourself) with all facets that belong to such a pitch (incl. clothes). They actually do pay a lot of attention to this aspect in interviews - that's really your real test.

I hope that answers your question! Good luck with your interviews!

Anne

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

     Anne Pelczar specializes in utilizing the new rules of marketing and PR for professional success.
    This is my personal blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer.


      Get the latest and greatest by email:

    Submit
    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    March 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011

    Categories

    All
    Career Advice
    Coverletter Writing
    Detecting Scams
    Interview Dress Etiquette
    Interview Secrets
    Networking Strategies
    Personal Marketing
    Resume Writing
    Self Marketing
    Self-Marketing
    Smart Networking
    Thank You Notes
    Worst Jobs
    Worst Mistakes
    Writing A Winning Resume

    RSS Feed


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.