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Putting Your best Foot Forward in Today’s Job Market
With the very real statistics of 200 applicants to every one job, job seekers need to do whatever they can to grab the interviewers attention with their first impression.
Your first impression determines who you are.
You have only three seconds to make a first impression. Within those first three seconds, a potential employer will evaluate your visual résumé. Your appearance will be appraised from head to toe. Your demeanor and mannerisms, along with your body language, will be evaluated. And the thing is, the first impression process happens on a subconscious level, making it even that much more critical.
Tammie Carr, who owns TalentSource Staffing is also a recruiter and notes that people have not been offered a job because of their first impression. Don’t fall into this category. Keep the following in mind.
The first impression process is made up of several elements:
Your body language
- Your smile and facial expressions
- Your posture
- our handshake
Think about your body language before you walk in the front door of the company where you are interviewing. Make sure you keep those nervous habits in the car, such as shaking your leg, picking at your fingernails and flipping your hair. And believe it or not, your posture is important. So when your mother told you to sit up straight, she was right! Slouching makes you appear uninterested. When being interviewed, lean forward and be completely engaged in the conversation.
Have you ever shaken someone’s hand and felt like you just shook a wet noodle? Practice your handshake. A firm handshake shows you are a professional and that you mean business!
Your visual language
- Your attire
- Your accessories including shoes, handbag or briefcase and jewelry
- Your grooming
Pay attention to where you are interviewing. If you are interviewing in a conservative industry, keep the creative approach to your style at home. In choosing your interview outfit, keep in mind conservative is always better. This means a suit or a jacket with pants or a skirt is always the best choice. Consider what accessories you wear to an interview. Are they distracting? This goes for fingernails, too. Ladies, tone down the crazy bright red fingernails for an interview. You want the interviewer to pay attention to what you are saying and not your crazy outfit or wild-colored fingernails.
Your business approach and professional nature
- Does your demeanor seem to match the corporate personality of the company?
- Does your attitude match the corporation?
- Does your business philosophy seem to match the company?
Have you ever walked into a store, a company or onto an airplane and immediately noticed an attitude? That’s the personality of the organization. Think of the interview process as you interviewing the company just as much as them interviewing you.
The following can kill your first impression:
Distractive clothing
- Anything low cut and showing too much skin
- Poor fitting attire including anything too tight or too loose
- VPL or visible panty lines
- Anything see-through including white shirts and blouses
- Dirty, messy or wrinkled attire (make sure there are no stains on your interview outfit)
- Visible wear or missing buttons
- Layers of jewelry such as rings on every finger and bracelets that jingle when you move your hands
Weak handshake
- Buck up! Be proud! (And men, please do not fingertip-shake a woman’s hand in the workplace. It’s offensive.)
Other killers
- Bad Breath including coffee breath. So be sure to pop a mint and have some water before you go into the interview.
- Being late for the interview appointment
- Poor grammar and using words incorrectly
- Poorly manicured hands
On your next interview, keep in mind the various elements of your first impression, and use those first three seconds to your advantage.
