Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door (23 page)

Then tough times came upon us all, including this mega search engine. “Google has also begun chipping away at perks,” the
Wall Street Journal
reported in December 2008. “In recent months, it reduced the hours of its free cafeteria service and suspended the traditional afternoon tea in its New York office.”

Just months before, you could get your foot in the door of many an employment office sporting a tattered sneaker. Talent was king. Overnight, job hunting became a buyer’s market and employers turned downright picky about who will be offered a coveted spot on the payroll.

A crisp and businesslike appearance was back as an expectation on the part of many prospective employers. A
New York Times
article announced “The Return of the Interview Suit.” It quoted Gloria Mirrione, a managing director of a financial services placement firm: “We are back to a time when every company expected both women and men to wear suits and we didn’t have a Casual Friday . . . They are looking for a sharper style. I recommend a strong suit that says you are collected and ready to work.”

Your DNA may promise unsurpassed success. You could have more drive than a six-thousand horsepower locomotive. You’ll never get the chance to excel until you’re on the payroll. More than any professional category in the business world, sales candidates are screened for good grooming.

The
Times
article highlighted some critical appearance details. For example, a solid black suit screams attention to dandruff flecks or gray hairs. White shirts should be “pristinely clean” and preferably new. Women’s tote bags need to provide a professional-looking home for one’s BlackBerry.

In other words, don’t look like you’re going camping. The clothes you wear—and they don’t need to be expensive—say a lot about your discipline, taste, and social poise. That accepted, the most important thing you need to dress for an interview remains your mind.

Learn everything you can about the company and its immediate needs. Any company hiring in a tough economy is banking on its new employee making a key contribution immediately. Find out what that is.

Times
author Eric Wilson suggested scouting a prospective employer’s tastes and expectations before an interview. “The key is to research the corporate culture to learn what a potential boss might expect.” I like that research to go well beyond appearance preferences. If your prospective boss is a golf nut or is crazy about symphonic music, be prepared to say something sensible about these topics.

Rob Donkers, a Canadian educator, recently e-mailed me that a young woman sewed up a job as a “software programming ninja” when she appeared for the interview in a Japanese warrior costume. For most jobs, though, the button-down look is the better bet.

When you enter an interviewer’s office, zero in on memorabilia and personal touches:

A job interview is fundamentally a sales encounter. People buy from people they like. And people hire people they like. It’s that simple. People like people who are genuine, pleasant, sincere, easy to talk with, and friendly. Good chemistry and people skills are crucial.

Have a clever story, quote, or anecdote or two in mind that you can slip into the conversation. Something positive and memorable. Billionaire Warren Buffett, one of the few of us who can afford to dress as he pleases, uses an unforgettable trademark line to take a poke at himself. “I buy expensive suits,” he quips. “They just look cheap on me.” In a flash, he makes himself accessible and unforgettable.

Follow up a job interview with a handwritten thank-you note. Thank-you notes are essential, especially when they mention how you will fit into the company’s culture or help meet its immediate business needs.

Paying attention to how you look can help you get a job. For that matter, it can also help you keep one. With reengineering a constant fact of life, employers want to retain people who best present their firm’s image.

 

 

 

In February 2009, Mary Printz passed away at the age of eighty-five. She was an answering service switchboard operator in Manhattan. Some of the calls she fielded may have been long-distance, but they were always straight from the heart. She became the confidante and communications nerve center to a host of Hollywood and Broadway celebrities. A human Google of her day, Mary Printz went on to be celebrated as the role model for the Broadway musical
Bells Are Ringing.

Never underestimate the power of a receptionist. As I have often said, the occupant of this first-line position is one a CEO is well advised to interview and help select. In fact, as the number of secretaries and administrative assistants in firms has declined, the role of the receptionist has generally become far more influential.

These days, the receptionist who greets you is as likely as not a company’s switchboard operator. Note his or her name. Listen for cues as to this person’s hobbies and special interests so you can make small talk when he or she next directs your call. If there’s a family photo on the desk, that can be another hint to a human touch.

Read the reception area as well as the receptionist.

Some companies will place recent articles about their business or their managers in the reception area. Don’t overlook these. Also, many firms now stream video about their latest products on wall-mounted screens, and you would do well to pay attention to them.

Reception area trophies can be killer cues. The company softball teams may be internal legends, and you might suddenly remember how good a shortstop or pinch hitter you used to be. If you don’t know the difference between a yellow MacGregor Fast Pitch Softball and a Worth Super Green Dot Slowpitch Softball, this company could be out of your league. Also, on trophies of a different sort: Ad agencies delight in showing trophies for creative awards they have won. Best you know which and why before you show up to admire the silver-plated loving cups.

How about phone protocol? Some companies regard reception areas as quiet zones and won’t appreciate your engaging in a cell phone marathon as you await your interview.

If the company is a subsidiary of a large corporation, to what extent is corporate identity evident? If it’s all but invisible, the business you’re interviewing with could be fiercely independent of its divisional identity.

One company communications department candidate I knew was impressed to see every major business publication on the visitor reading rack of the firm with which she was interviewing. That is, every major publication except the
Wall Street Journal
. Keeping this in the back of her mind, she didn’t mention the gap in her interview. During the discussion, she
did
learn that the company was having a feud with the
Journal
at that time. She was able to offer some tips on building a successful relationship with this key publication and mention her stellar list of contacts there. She believes this one educated, reception-area reflex guided her thinking and got her the job.

Observe how seriously security and access are treated. Are people generally understated and soft-spoken or are they extroverted and enthusiastic? Also, the employees who file by you are a fashion show of company dress code standards. Take note.

The furnishings of the reception area are frequently picked by the CEO to broadcast important signals about the company. Does this business pride itself on being cutting-edge modern, comfortably traditional, or cost-trimming spartan? A long gallery of CEO portraits full of cherished memorabilia often earmark a company steeped in history and tradition.

All of the above may be true, but be careful you are reading the right story. That means doing your homework before you land at the reception area. If a new management team or CEO has suddenly parachuted into the company with the mission of overhauling the business, all those carefully read signals may be signs of things that the company wants to change. You can bet that any new hires signed on will be recruited to help shake up tradition.

“More decisions are made around dining tables than boardroom tables,” says consultant Gail Madison, “but the business schools just don’t tell you.” Gail should know. She’s brought in to counsel MBA job candidates from the premier business schools on matters of corporate etiquette. One association she esteems particularly is her work with the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Generation Xers and Generation Yers—groups that are under the age of forty-five—have an especially tough time with etiquette. Before landing on the kids for this lapse, consider that their parents often share heavily in the blame. Gail calls them “helicopter parents” because they hover over their children and make every effort to keep the kids comfortable and insulated from social pressure.

Fledgling job candidates often learn the no-nonsense standards of big business on a most unlikely playing field: across the cutlery and glassware of a white-tablecloth restaurant. We’re talking about the Yankee Stadiums of business.

Gail is a major-league hitting coach who has seen it all and knows every mistake and miscue a job candidate is likely to make over lunch or dinner.

 

Candidates will race in ten or fifteen minutes late. Why? They didn’t pre-drive the route or anticipate road congestion. Worst of all, they come in complaining about the traffic or the weather, and this sets a negative tone. The last new staff member an employer wants to add is one complaining that circumstances were beyond their control. The clock is a very important measure to employers. If you show up a half-hour late, that’s still grounds for termination in many companies.

Also, a late arrival can well throw you off stride, as you wipe perspiration off your brow or don’t execute a firm handshake. When you’re dealing with a person senior to you, you should keep in mind that that individual offers his or her hand to you first and then you are quick to respond. Don’t call a senior job interviewer by his or her first name until he or she tells you that you should. It’s a sign of respect, not of formality.

 

After the handshake and initial eye contact, research says your new acquaintance will next take a peek at your shoes. Be sure they’re shined.

Dress for the job or position you want, not who you are today. If people perceive you as an executive, you have a far better chance of being considered for a more senior job. There are exceptions. Some tech firms won’t talk to candidates who aren’t dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. But for these laid-back firms, the salespeople are still dressed in suits and ties.

There are very specific rules for power clothing. A navy blue suit still ranks #1 for men or for women. For men, white shirt with a tie having blue and red in it. A black suit is #2. Dark gray is #3.

Grooming matters. Hair that is unkempt or too long works against you. For women, hair that’s down and flowing becomes a distraction. It needs to be pulled back. Distractions are a bad thing in the corporate world. Everything is tight and tidy. Looking provocative is out of place, and that includes piercings and tattoos. Every woman needs a little makeup. The three-day-old grunge look for men is, in my opinion, nothing short of catastrophe.

 

Harvey, the playground metaphor is well put. When you sit down, don’t place your cell phone or sunglasses on the table. A guest adds nothing to a dining table. A purse, portfolio, or attaché case goes on the floor beside your feet.

Let the host lead. You start sitting down as your host sits down. You don’t touch your napkin or anything on the table until your host does. When he or she takes a drink of water, then it’s time for everyone to start drinking water.

So many younger people sit at a dining table as though they were hunched up over a computer. Sit up straight, feet flat on the floor. Don’t cross your legs or flip your hair. Having your hands near your face or hair distracts many people. Don’t lean on the table with your forearms. Don’t fidget with or rearrange silverware, saltshakers, or bread plates. This can be a forceful distraction, and a quietly amused interviewer may start to wonder about the little theater you’re staging: “What’s going to happen next?”

 

Don’t order alcohol. If an interviewer asks you if you want a drink, it is often a test. Why do people drink alcohol? So they can sit back and relax. That’s not how you want to be for an interview. You are there to demonstrate how professional you are.