When applying for a job, even if you are just dropping off your resume, be sure to always dress as if you were actually going in for an interview. Your first impression is so important, so be sure to dress accordingly.
I want to share with you a story of exactly how important this is. When my son was a senior in high school, he saw an ad in the paper for a position in the warehouse/delivery department of one of the major department stores in Austin, Texas. He had been working part-time for several years as well as helping in our family owned business from the time he was about 14-15 years of age. So I helped him put together a resume, documenting his experience.
That afternoon he was headed out the door, dressed in a pair of nice blue jeans and a buttondown shirt, to take in his resume and apply for the position. I told him he would make a better impression if he would dress in his suit and of course his response was, "Mom, this is for a job in the warehouse." I told him that was fine, if they asked him when he could start work, tell them you have workclothes all ready in the car, just give you time to change.Reluctantly, he went back and changed into his suit.
When he arrived at the store, he took a seat in a room filled with many other young men, all dressed in jeans and tee shirts. A young woman, came into the room and went over to him and said, "You must be here applying for the position in the men's department, follow me please." So rather than tell her he didn't even know there was an opening in that department, he went ahead and followed her into an interview room. It turned out that the position in the men's department had not even been advertised yet! But because of the way he was dressed, he impressed them. His resume, even though short of retail experience, except for working for a small mom and pop burger place and helping with our family business, where he would occassionally speak with our clients about the products we offered, and his good grades at school and participation in a service organization, was enough experience to get him hired.
Arriving home after his interview he told me he had gotten a different job than he had actually gone in to apply for. It started out at more money than the warehouse positon, he would also be able to earn commissions on his sales over and above his base salary. Besides that, he would be able to get discounts on any purchases he would make in the store.
It doesn't matter if you are male or female, it is always very appropriate to wear a suit to an interview. If you do not have a suit, wear a nice jacket of some kind. I have seen women wear a nice blazer combined with a skirt and blouse, or over a dress to make it look more professional. I have also seen men wear a nice sports jacket with a pair of Dockers or a nice pair of jeans with a dress shirt and a tie. Be sure that your shoes are polished and the heels not run down because you will be evaluated from the top of your head to your feet the minute the interviewer approaches you to shake your hand.
Speaking of handshakes, if necessary, practice shaking hands with someone. Be sure you have a nice firm handshke, not overpowerig to where you are going to crush the other persons hand and not wishy washy like a limp dead fish!
Be sure to make eye contact with the person you are meeting and if he has approached you but hasn't called you by name, introduce yourself, now is not the time to be shy, be confident as you approach them, put out your hand to shake their and say "Hi or hello, I'm John Doe or my name is Jane Doe."
If you find yourself out in the market place looking for a new job after having been employed for many years by your former employer, you are going to find that the interviewing process has changed alot in the last few years. It used to be you could go in, apply for a position and usually walk out employed after that one interview. Not any more! Many companies in larger cities now use a multi interview process, beginning with the Human Resource department interview. They then make their recommendations to the different department heads as to candidates warranting additional interviews in the hiring process. This could be anywhere from 3-4 additional interview steps to go through. You would meet with the department head, then be intereviewd by the person who would be your immediate supervisor. In some companies you will be interviewed by serveral people all at the same time. Those can be intimidating, since you are basically surrounded by chairs filled with people who will be your immediate supervisor,as well as several department supervisors. They want to see how well you fit into the structure of the company and can work with different departments that interact with one another.
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