Summer Business Attire

It is summer and most companies implement “summer hours” for their employees. For those of you who may not be familiar with summer hours, they usually begin on Memorial Day weekend and end after Labor Day and allow corporate employees to leave early on Friday to maximize summer weekends. Further, at some companies employee can Fridays off as long as they put in their requisite 40 hours before leaving on Fridays. Generally speaking, companies kick back during the summer and the work environment is much less formal than in non-summer months. Consequently, many employees are in “casual mode” and sometimes they forget how to dress at work during the summer! 

Like it or not, most companies have business dress codes that must be followed all year long regardless of whether or not summer hours are in effect. With this in mind, I came across an article from Monster.com that provides guidance on how to dress at the office during the summer to avoid running a foul of workplace fashion police! 

Read and learn!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Dressing!!!!

 

The Job Market: Dressing For Success

Last month, while I was presenting my seminar “Interviewing Insights and Tips: Winning That Next Job” at the Experimental Biology Meeting in New Orleans, LA, I realized that I hadn’t covered what to wear to a job interview. Until the meeting, I didn’t think I had to  mention— that while interviewing men—must wear suits (and appropriately-colored, professional-looking shoes) and women should wear suits with pants (or a skirt with an appropriate length) and shoes with reasonable heels (usually less than 3 inches). I saw more cleavage, bare thighs and high heels, not to mention men with atrocious footwear choices at the meeting than I care to admit. Not that I am a prude or complaining about the cleavage, thighs or high heels that I observed—what red-blooded American male would?  That said, it is vitally important to remember that there are professional dress codes that everyone is expected to adhere to while on the job or at national, regional or local professional meetings.

Phyllis Korrki, who writes the Career Couch for the New York Times, wrote a great piece on professional attire in this past Sunday’s Times that I think every prospective job candidate or employee ought to read. And, when it comes to cleavage, exposed thighs and high heels in professional settings she had recommendations similar to mine. She wrote “Women think they have to dress sexy to get noticed in the work world. It’s what they see on campus and what they see on TV and in movies. Cleavage is not a corporate look or what you want to be remembered for. The same goes for very short skirts and extremely high heels. Also, make sure the top of your thong, if you wear one, doesn’t show above your pants.” 

For you guys, as a rule of thumb, wear black shoes with gray, blue and black suits and brown shoes with all others. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

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While we scientists are trained to ignore appearance and not pay attention to dress codes—the reality is—the way you look may make the difference between having a job or not!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!

 

Are You Ready for Your Job Interview?

When I was working as a recruiter, I always called my candidates a day before a scheduled face-to-face job interview. I did this to reassure them, build confidence and provide them with any insights that I may have had regarding the hiring manager or the job. But, more importantly, I called to insure that they were adequately prepared to go on the interview. I typically talked with them about dress, interview etiquette, cell phone usage, body language etc. Sometimes, when I was concerned about particular candidates, I even sent (via fax or e-mail) an interview preparation checklist. 

Although I am not a big fan of checklists, many people find them useful! To that end, I discovered this . The notion of taking an online interview preparedness quiz may seem silly to many of you, but I can tell you with certainty that I had more than one highly qualified candidate fail to get a job offer because they were poorly dressed, didn’t turn off cell phones or incapable of making eye-contact during their face-to-face. 

The quiz takes about 5 minutes to complete and there are interview tidbits embedded in every answer. You can even take it on your Blackberry, Sidekick or cell phone of choice! It may make the difference between a job offer or not.

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

Are You Ready for Your Interview?

When the job market gets tough, it is the “little things” that can make the difference between a job offer and a rejection letter. As you all know by now, face-to-face interviews are the “make or break” event in any job search. To that end, any edge that you can get may make the difference between being employed or receiving unemployment benefits in today’s job market. Although I am not a big fan of quizzes or surveys, it may be worth the time to take an ‘interview preparedness’ quiz that I found on Monster.com. I want to state upfront that I didn’t take the quiz nor can I vouch for its accuracy. That said, remember; it is the little things that frequently determine your fate at job interviews. 

Let me know how you fared!

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!