Does Your Look Say Hire?

By Meocha Belle

Career Fair Season has commenced. Recruiters are looking to hire you, but you must first look hirable.
Oftentimes, what you are wearing determines how long your interview lasts and, ultimately, if you are hired or not. “Research shows that within 4-9 minutes of an interview, the recruiter decides whether or not to seriously consider you for the position partly based on your appearance,” according to “Dressing for an Interview,” an article by the Career Services Center at the University of Delaware.
Do realize, by forgoing attention to sartorial detail, you are also forfeiting your job candidacy.
Although creative industries (advertising, marketing, web-design, public relations) are thought to have a lax dress code compared to traditional businesses (law, accounting, finance, consulting), interviewing is one time where your unique style should not be noticeable. When I asked, “What standard of interviewing attire is held in public relations?” Kamari Guthrie, Account Executive, Consumer PR for Procter & Gamble said, “you need to wear interview attire. Period.” “Suit or business dress.”
Regardless of the industry, you should wear, a skirt suit, pantsuit or conservatively tailored dress in black, charcoal, brown or navy, according to “Dressing for an Interview” by the University of Delaware’s Career Services Center. Conservative dress shoes should complement your look. While Guthrie affirmed, “Heels are a MUST!” in the public relation candidate’s hiring process, this may not be the case in every industry. So, know the industry’s and specific company’s culture.
Hosiery is another item whose necessity in the professional world is highly debated. For traditional business settings, there is no discussion, as told by Carole Martin of monster.com. “Wear stockings, even in humid summer weather.” As for everyone else, you decide. If you do wear them, make sure they are sans pattern and flesh toned.
To find out dress code specifics for the company you are interviewing with, look at their corporate collateral—brochures, reports, press packs, etcetera— or visit their website and take note of what the current employees have on. If you still have questions, prior to your interview date, contact their Human Resources Department and ask.
When in doubt, dress up, not down! According to research done at Washington State University, “The job seeker should dress for a position two levels higher than the one for which she is being interviewed."
Although you may want to incorporate personal style into your interview look, do not! Interviewing is one time, where you want to be strictly conservative. Once you are hired, then you may show off your fierce fashion sense with your business causal looks, If business casual is appropriate for your industry, that is.
By following everything outlined above, you will show your interviewer just how fierce you are, and become that much closer to starting your new job!