Interview Etiquette

[Trek420]

I'm the wrong one to ask about panty hose

And it's been almost 12 years since my last interview. Some things I think are still true.

Monochrome suits are pretty standard on an interview so your suit sounds wonderful. But what will you wear for the 2nd interview?

You can take the same suit and dress it up or down with matching slacks, take the same jacket different skirt, add a scarf (not too flamboyant, you want them to see YOU, think less jewelry not more)...build for the 2nd interview.

What do you need to bring? If you carry a bag, it has to match or leave it home or in the car. PDA or cell? Turn it off.

What do THEY wear? Some people will literally stake out the co. Nooo, not so security boots you out but see what employees wear. Casual? Or business attire?

Just remember when it comes to casual these people already have the job. They may be wearing jeans...you can't...yet.

Most important thing is wear a smile, especially at the end of the interview, smile, shake their hand (if that seems appropriate), send a follow up thank you letter approx two days after.

Good luck!

[DrBadger]

First off, congratulations on the interview and finding a great suit!

To address your questions, yes, it is still considered better for women to wear a skirt suit (as wrong as that may be) especially in more traditional or conservative buisnesses. As for pantyhose, yes you should wear them, and nude hose aren't tacky as long as they are the right color. Make sure you find some that match your skin tone the best and fit well. You also probably don't want any that are too shiny. you can get some other interview attire tips if you google "interview attire", a lot of university career centers have this kind of info on their websites.

Good luck on the interview and let us all know how it turns out!

[Triskeliongirl]

I algree that the suit sounds perfect. Skirt suit is considered more professional and sheer pantyhose are not tacky but expected in most circles. Make sure to not wear open toed shoes. I learned a bit about 'professional dress' from an argument with a fellow medical school admissions committee member. Believe it or not she didn't want to admit a women who committed the sin of wearing open toed shoes to her interview. You can tell which side of the arument I was on, but what I tell my daughter is that you want to be sure to not offend anyone by how you are dressed. It goes without saying you should look neat and professional. Well groomed, but not covered in makeup, etc., at least if you want to get into medical school. As for the particular job you are applying for, I have no clue.

[Dogmama]

One of my roles is to interview potential staff employees.

Hose - yes absolutely. Sheer hose is NOT tacky. White hose with your outfit would be tacky. Or brown/grey hose with black shoes. You really cannot be too conservative for 99% of most jobs. Watch the details. Make sure your shoes are polished, your nails are manicured (no black nail polish), etc. First impressions are lasting impressions.

If there is a second interview, I would invest in another suit. Maybe pants this time. Trek is right - monochrome is best and watch the flashy accessories.

This is important - if you're handing them something written, make SURE the spelling and grammer are correct. I work at a major research I University and I cannot tell you how many resumes I review that have gross errors. It speaks volumes, IMO, about the applicant's attention to detail.

Are you being interviewed by a committee? If yes, make eye contact with the person who asks the question, not just the Big Boss. Be prepared for the lame questions like, "What is your greatest asset and what is your biggest flaw."

Don't bad mouth your previous place of employment, boss, etc.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Oh - be sure to let us know how it went!

Oh oh - a thank you note. Very important. Not emailed. Through U.S. postal service. You can have it ready & send it after you leave. That is assuming they aren't making up their minds that day. Even so - send it. There could be a delay and your note might be the deciding factor.

[Timine]

One of my roles is to interview potential staff employees.

Hose - yes absolutely. Sheer hose is NOT tacky. White hose with your outfit would be tacky. Or brown/grey hose with black shoes. You really cannot be too conservative for 99% of most jobs. Watch the details. Make sure your shoes are polished, your nails are manicured (no black nail polish), etc. First impressions are lasting impressions.

If there is a second interview, I would invest in another suit. Maybe pants this time. Trek is right - monochrome is best and watch the flashy accessories.

This is important - if you're handing them something written, make SURE the spelling and grammer are correct. I work at a major research I University and I cannot tell you how many resumes I review that have gross errors. It speaks volumes, IMO, about the applicant's attention to detail.

Are you being interviewed by a committee? If yes, make eye contact with the person who asks the question, not just the Big Boss. Be prepared for the lame questions like, "What is your greatest asset and what is your biggest flaw."

Don't bad mouth your previous place of employment, boss, etc.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Oh - be sure to let us know how it went!

Oh oh - a thank you note. Very important. Not emailed. Through U.S. postal service. You can have it ready & send it after you leave. That is assuming they aren't making up their minds that day. Even so - send it. There could be a delay and your note might be the deciding factor.

+ 1
Absolutely agree with you!
I work in a human ressources department.

[KSH]

+ 1
Absolutely agree with you!
I work in a human ressources department.

+2!

Can I also add... DO NOT WEAR ANY PERFUME.

I interviewed someone with so much perfume on... as she walked through the office people were practically gagging. I smelled "her" in my office for about 2 hours after she left. GAG!

And DO NOT WEAR a lot JEWERLY. A wedding band, fine.

10 bracelets and gawdy necklaces... not fine. Yes, I had 2 interviewees wear distracting jewerly. One of them was going in to a presentation and I had her take her noisy charm bracelet off. Another one had like 5 gold rings on and bracelets up her arm.

[Trek420]

...... and take out the exotic piercings

cover the tats..... lastly no poppy seed bagels from here on out young lady because you'll test positive for opiates when they do the drug test.

[Mr. Bloom]

Emily, I agree with everything said above, but I'd like to offer a perspective beyond the suit/hose...

The attire is a first impression (an important one...) and by its nature 'fleeting'. Once you get into the interview, it will be the strength of your character, qualifications, and abilities that prevail.

Don't get me wrong, appearance is important, but the mental preparation and the mental "sale" will ultimately prevail. Go in there feeling good about your appearance, BUT know who you are, know why you're the person for the job, tell them (in a tactful way - not arrogantly) what you bring to making their team better.

I've found that some of the best insights actually come from the "lame" questions...they tell me who knows themselves well.

Best Wishes for a Great Interview

PS: Don't oversell yourself for the job...if you're not the right person for it, you'll only make yourself (and them) miserable by getting it. Be YOU!

[CycleChic06]

lastly no poppy seed bagels from here on out young lady because you'll test positive for opiates when they do the drug test.

Hee hee, this advice makes me laugh Probably the most useful piece of info

[Kimmyt]

I work in Pharm and let me just say that EVERYTHING is done via email. No mail in anythings unless its industry rags or catalogs. Every interview I was at, if I sent anything to the company it was an email to the person I had interviewed with. These seemed to go over favorably. The problem in Pharm is that many people are rocketing around from place to place so don't have time to answer phone calls, read their snail mail. Email can be accessed from anywhere on their trusty lappies.

Anyway, good luck on your second interview! If they responded to you that quickly, I'm sure you impressed them favorably!

K.

[DebW]

The biggest mistake I have seen young women scientists do is dress so provocatively in a professional situation that they end up elliciting dates and not job offers. That doesn't mean you don't want to look attractive, regardless of gender or sexual orientation we all like to be around attractive, pleasant, highly functioning people.

When I started as a scientist in the early 80s, you didn't see women dressed provocatively at professional meeting, but now you do. That may have been due to the fact that there were very few women in the physical sciences at the time (2 women in a room of 100 men was probably the norm), and most of us were rather odd-balls. Now such a meeting may be up to 20% women so maybe there's just more diversity. Now you see many women at professional scientific meetings in very feminine clothing, and those are mostly the younger women. Personally, I wear what I'm comfortable in (men's Dockers, button shirt, and running shoes) and I'm sure the colleagues who know me would faint if I ever did otherwise.

[Dianyla]

...... and take out the exotic piercings

Ha! If the piercings in question aren't concealed with normal clothing, then they're not truly exotic in my book! I work in a pretty conservative healthcare environment - only 4 of my 11 holes are publicly visible.

Up to two piercings per ear is typically considered acceptable as long as the jewelry is in good taste and the piercing in question is not very extreme. Traditional lobes and some discrete cartilage piercings are usually well-tolerated. Noticeably heavy gauge items (if the gauge is in single digits or measured in inches that's a bad sign), plugs, or chunky industrial jewelry is just not going to fly. Most facial piercings such as lips, septums, brows, and tongues are pretty much out. The only facial piercing I've seen be generally accepted in professional environments is a small nose stud - no actual rings or tacky Christina nosebling.

Also, you can get flesh-colored retainers to wear in piercings at least for the interview. If you land the job, you can wear these retainers daily if needs be.

[Kitsune06]

I have a black niobium septum retainer for that very reason. At 12g, it's not very noticeable at all... Oh, and I have actually not yet run into problems with my tongue pierce, though I'm sure it's an eventuality. I removed it for interviews. Hard to hide once you get into single digits with those, too.
My 1/2 inch lobes are generally decorated with flat black horn plugs. Women can get away with solid plugs more easily because it's 'just an earring'. wear hollow ones and then more conservative folks go . I know.

Like you only 4 of my 10 are visible. My tattoo is invisible in normal work clothes.

Hygiene about piercings is absolutely important. Hence my organic plugs. Funk happens, but much less so with organics (bone, wood, horn...) and if you keep them clean and oiled, so much the better. Silicone (esp. the new implant grade ones from Kaos now) is very passable, too, but you should always remove it to give the fistula (yes, the insides of piercings are called that too) a chance to breathe. Skin is skin.

Oils vary in lubricity. I use vitamin E on my plugs and Lavender on a couple barbells, where a very light oil is necessary.

Happy piercings don't produce as much funk. Funk smells nasty and is one of those things that cannot be covered up. How does this tie in with Interview/Work etiquette? You had to ask, huh? I worked with a girl for a while, very nice, very sweet, had ear funk that I just could not stand... and tried to cover it up with perfume. Do not be that girl.

[Dogmama]

+2!

Can I also add... DO NOT WEAR ANY PERFUME.

Yes! For two reasons: 1. Some people are really allergic to perfume. 2. Scent hits the part of the brain that connects directly with feelings. So, if your awful step mom wore Chanel, you will call up those same feelings automatically.

Re: Mr Silver - thanks for the man's impression. I agree that strength of character will sell yourself. BUT, I always note inconsistencies in dress, especially carelessness. Maybe I'm wrong, but my dept has been burned so many times by people who interview well but are wrong for the job on many levels. The last two (for the same job - boss is really awful) I voted against and was overruled. Both lasted about three months. For the last victim, (I mean new employee ), we hired a consultant who did a personality profile. As usual, I disagreed with the committee and the consultant agreed with me!! But guess who they hired...? <heavy sigh....>

[Bluetree]

It might be regional, but few women here in SoCalif (except in the legal profession) wear hose anymore, depending on age and the shape of your legs, of course. That said, it couldn't hurt, as long as the hose is the right color.

And make sure the suit fits well! Ill-fitting and tight clothing looks like you don't know how to present yourself... thus how can you make presentations? Invest a few dollars in a tailor and make sure your sleeves/hems are the right length, waist is not too baggy/too tight etc.

And agree... nix the jewelry and perfume.

One more thing (as someone who has interviewed people)... body language is important!

• Make eye contact - be confident

• Keep your chin up and shoulders back - no slouching!

• And... Give a firm handshake! I can't tell you how unimpressed I am by a woman's limp-wristed paw. That body language tells me that they're not really interested nor confident.

Good luck!