Here’s Why You Should Wear Something Strange to a Job Interview
Whoo Hoo! The weekend is here! And for some, the end of a long, sometimes stressful, routinely non-fulling, work week. You believe that you are mired in a life-sucking dead end job. And you'd rather eat brussel sprouts than go back to work on Monday!
All right, maybe that's a TAD over the top, but I'm going for dramatic effect here. So, work with me!. Here's a bulletin; bunches of people search for new work over the weekend, and even MORE on MONDAY morning! (So NOW you know why you hear all the job recruitment ads on radio Monday mornings. Clever, huh?)
All righty then! You've made the decision. You're going to jump ship. Casting your fortunes on the great seas of employment opportunities, you send out the resume's. Calls are placed to your "insider" contacts and "favors" called in. (You DO remember the pictures from last year's Christmas party, don't you? And doesn't "favors" sounds so much nicer than "blackmail.")
A short while passes, and then the saints be praised, you have your first interview! Good for you, Tiger. Let's go through the pre-interview checklist; resume updated? CHECK! References ok'd? CHECK. Dark blue or black suit cleaned? CH-----wait just a second here! Let's rethink that one for a second.
The old rule-of-thumb for job interviews is that you should dress one step more FORMAL than the standard dress at the company. The new rule-of-thumb? Wear a purple crushed velvet suit or leopard print high heels.
A new study out of Harvard University found that people who dress a little bit OFFBEAT for job interviews are more likely to get the job than people who dress very traditionally.
People who dress a little strange for work also tend to be more successful than people who don't.
Why? In the modern work environment, you need to STAND OUT . . . and dressing just a little weirder than everyone else can do that. It also shows you're creative, you're a nonconformist, and you're confident.
Now . . . the study didn't say HOW far over-the-top was too far. But we assume if the job interviewer is wearing a suit and you show up in a grizzly bear costume, you probably won't get the job. So be offbeat . . . in moderation.
And if I give you fifty bucks, will you shut up about the Christmas Party pictures?
More From WBCKFM
