Dress for the job or better

I wonder if the people who come in dressed as if they are at the cutting edge of fashion or club wear wonder why they don’t get a call about the job. I had someone come in today with his pants and belt around the bottom of his ass. Yes he had on boxers so I didn’t have a view of his crack, but… he’s not going to get a call about the application that he filled out.

I have a fondness for shiny materials, as in t-shirts that are appropriate for club wear. I even wear them to work at times. But they are under another shirt so that they aren’t really seen. And if it were I would expect not to get hired. Too short of a dress, too short of a top, a display of any undergarment is likely to lose one the chance at a job.

And it’s not just dress that will lose someone the possibility of a job. Behavior is another factor. There are the obvious losers as when someone is rude in the application process. But there are other things. Once upon a time I had someone ask how he could improve his chances. I said, “Instead of saying see resume where the application asks for the employer information, fill out that area.” The reply was, “No one else asks me to do this.” And my thoughts were, “How do you know that they don’t mind this? And didn’t you just ask me for how to improve your chances? So why are you telling me that this one thing won’t help. I’m the one that reviews these things.”

Dressing shouldn’t be the most important thing in one’s life. And just dressing correctly will not get you a job. But it is a beginning step. And without taking that step you’re likely to stumble or fall during the application process.