Be nice, even if they are not.
Be well-dressed, neat and clean, even if they are not.
Be on time, even if they are not.
Be well-prepared and know about their organization, even if they appear to know nothing about you... and appear to care even less.
Do whatever you must to be certain you are the candidate when you present yourself at, in, or through The Personnel Department.
Remember, the person there is not seeing only "you." They are, at the same moment, comparing you to "all the others."
And before you get angry about this, remember that YOU do it, too, or... at least, you DID, when you were dating, or choosing friends, or choosing a church, or selecting a TV.
We all do it.
So just understand that "WE ALL DO IT," and be the best-prepared candidate you can be.
Be Prepared
When you go to The Personnel Department, prepare beforehand.
- Read about the organization. Don't complain that you can't; just do it.
- Scout the route. Know how you'll get there and how long it will take. Half an hour early is fine, but 1 minute late is deadly.
- Be nice to the greeter / receptionist. Those people have more power in their little finger, or in their writing hand, or in one or two words spoken to the interviewer, than you have, even if you made $250,000 last year!
- Be well-dressed. Not adequately dressed, but well-dressed. The #1 candidate is never hired because he or she is "adequate."
- Be at ease. If you know the organization, or have read about it, you'll be closer to being at ease than if you have no knowledge.
- Go to the bathroom before you arrive. If drinking coffee is likely to require your presence in a bathroom, do not drink coffee.
- If you are carrying materials, a portfolio, papers, or credentials with you to the interview, they should be carried in something classy, not something chintzy. If you are using an attaché case, it should be relatively slender and not chock-full of stuff. (Thick attaché cases are for students who carry their books to class or for door-to-door salespeople.)
- Do not carry cigarettes with you. And do not smoke, either outside or inside the interview room even if you are offered the opportunity to do so. Of those who smoke, few do it well.
- Do not chew gum. Anywhere. Ever.
- Be clean. Fingers, hands, face, hair, body.
- Have your clothes clean. Unwrinkled. Shoes shined.
- Be well-groomed. If you're a male, consider shaving your beard and mustache. If you're a female, look like a female from "Working Woman" magazine rather than from "Glamour" or "Vogue."
- Don't be nervous. Ask your friends if you have nervous or annoying mannerisms, and invite them to be brutal in telling you about it
- Better to be aware of the problem and to handle it... than to be rejected in your ignorance of the matter.
Everyone hates filling out applications.
And once you've filled out a dozen or so, you hate it even more.
Some of them are one page long, and some are eight pages long.
They are all "no fun."
But they are required.
They are part and parcel of The Personnel Department.
So when you go, go early enough, if you know you will be required to fill out the application.
If your handwriting is bad, print. If your printing is bad, print slowly and neatly. You can do it! If you go slowly enough, you can make them neat and attractive. So just do it.
Because doing it neatly is required.
If you need information about your background which you have not memorized ... or about your previous employers, including the company names and addresses, and the names of your supervisors, bring those with you. Put them on some sheets of paper which you will then place in your classy carrier, or attach case, or briefcase.
If you dislike the questions on the application, you have several choices.
First, you can get angry about it and not answer them.
But answering them is required. So the result of that action will be rejection. Rejection-with-anger, by the way, is less productive than nice rejection.
Nice Rejection can mean "Possibility." Rejection-with-anger always means "No possibility."
Second, you can become angry, conquer your anger, then become OK with your thoughts, and answer the questions which angered you. So the organization will get the answers they need and you will no longer be angry.
Third, you can decide that you don't want to work for a company which asks those kinds of questions.
In that case, you leave.
This is also called "No possibility."
But it might be a pretty good idea.
Bad Questions on applications can come from intent or from ignorance.
If they come from ignorance, it's no big deal. We're all ignorant once in a while.
But if the Bad Questions come from intent, then perhaps you are in the wrong place for an interview-and-application.
So if you decide to leave, you are opening the space for someone who isn't quite so bright, or discerning, or choosy, or fussy as you are. So be it.
The Last Word on Filling out Applications
Applications are used for screening people out, just as resumes are.
So fill them out carefully in a manner which will allow you to be in, rather than out, of consideration.
If the application says "Salary Expected" or "Salary Desired," write the word "open." Don't put an amount.
A specific amount can get you in consideration very quickly, but for a smaller amount of money than they might otherwise have been willing to pay you... before they discovered the paltry amount you would be willing to work for!
Disclose nothing which you know can eliminate you from being in consideration.
Do not be cryptic. Do not say "Personal" in reply to questions.
In short, use common sense. Most job applicants do not. They use Fog Logic, not Clear Logic.
Be clear, and view your application from the employer's point of view, the reader's point of view.
Tell them things which will keep you in consideration and which will prevent you from being eliminated.
Common sense? Absolutely.
Commonly done? No.
Be creative. Be clever. Be hired.
