Experiencing Occasional Difficulties Part Two |
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| Written by Sacha Miller-Mcdonald | |
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At some point in our lives, we’ve all found ourselves looking miserably into our wardrobes, wondering exactly what to wear to that tricky function, appointment or event. Here at AskBronny, we’re happy to present the second article in our series on the top five all time stressful fashion decisions, and hints about how to avoid the possible problems and pitfalls.
So if you want to add ‘Best Dressed’ to your resume, let us offer you a few tips on dressing for job interviews. Job interviews are my personal fashion Waterloo. I loathe deciding what to wear to job interviews, despite the fact that (during a particularly heinous stint working in a particularly heinous office with particularly heinous people) I had two purpose-made ‘interview’ dresses – one Summer, one Winter – so I could be ready to head off to offer myself to more deserving employers whenever the opportunity arose. I still find myself panicking about whether my outfit is either not businesslike enough, or over-formal, or somehow just not quite right. In general, the best gambit when choosing interview clothes, is to slightly overdress, rather than under dress. Obviously, you should take into account the type of environment that you’ll potentially be working in, but don’t go overboard. For example, you may be applying for a creative role in a hip young advertising agency, and so want to show off your daringly avant garde style, but the time for this is after you’ve scored the job, gauged what is and isn’t appropriate and settled in. At the actual interview, dress a little more conservatively than you normally would. Similarly, if you’re about to interview for the position of office junior in a suburban real estate office, a simple but businesslike outfit is far better than dressing like you intend to run the company, as this can be strangely off putting. Even if you’re about to attend an interview for a job in an alternative clothing design studio or boutique, think about what you would be wearing to work, and wear a fairly conservative version of it. It certainly pays in those situations to show a little of your personality, but it’s also a good idea to hold something back. Often, the first thing an interviewer will say is “So, tell me a little bit about yourself…”. This is a trick question, because as far as they are concerned, you’ve probably told them a whole lot about yourself before you’ve even sat down! For worse or better, first impressions count. About a billion and ten years ago I held a job in an insurance company, where traditional office wear was definitely de rigueur. However, there was one lone figure who stood out in a sea of shirts and ties. His name was Bede and he wore black jeans, a black sleeveless shirt, and pointy toed black suede Cuban heels to work every day. He wore his hair in a quiff and held his jeans up with a huge silver belt buckle. Frankly, this uber cool dude from Corporate Annuities was sex on wheels; the Fonz of Mutual Fund Superannuation. The girls all flocked around him like geishas, the older chaps gave him a pretty wide berth but the younger men were all pretty keen to impress him. The thing about Bede was, he had turned up for his interview wearing a perfectly ordinary suit, and once he got the job, the other elements of his personality slowly crept in, until he had fully metamorphosised into the Love God of Life Insurance. The other thing was, and he would happily tell you this himself, that the trade off for being allowed to look like the Rockabilly Rebel of Retirement Funds, was that he had to work twice as hard, and be twice as good at his job, to get half as much respect from management. Such is the sad reality of most working environments – wearing your individuality (literally) on your sleeve can make your working life that much harder. And this goes doubly so for job interviews – it really does pay to attempt to look like you know what the rules are before you start thinking about bending them! In terms of colour, black is almost always a safe bet, but do think of adding in a bit of extra colour somehow. A shirt, top or scarf can break up the black, and having a bit of the right colour close to your face tends to lessen the severity of an all-black ensemble. And remember the ‘balance’ rule. This means finding a fashion compromise that will leave you looking comfortable and like yourself, while still making an appropriate impression. If in doubt, try to find out! Don’t be afraid to stake out the building around knock-off time if you can. See what your prospective colleagues are wearing. (And another tip – if they are wearing dejected, beaten expressions, send an email politely declining the interview And don’t forget, you can always Ask Bronny! |
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