Personal Appearance
- Dress neatly. Be sure your shoes are polished and heeled and that your clothing matches the industry style, and is in quiet, conservative colors.
- Hair. Men, you've had a recent haircut; women, your hair is clean and attractively styled in a current business style.
- Women: take special care with your makeup. Wear eye makeup and blush, but toned down. Wear tasteful, "quiet" jewelry, or no jewelry. Men: no chains (and no earrings!)
- Hands: Prior to the interview, check to be sure you don't have ink on your hands from reading a paper or magazine in the waiting room. If your hands are clammy, wash them just before going in. If your hands perspire, use an antiperspirant or spritz a mild, alcohol-based cologne on your hands to remove moisture. Women can wear nail polish, but men shouldn't even wear clear polish.
Carry one if you will be taking work samples or a portfolio.
Don't leave a copy or sample if it contains important information which could be of value to the interviewer. The company might think it doesn't need you since they've already picked your brains.
If you're interviewing for a position where you normally wouldn't need work samples or a portfolio, don't carry them along in your briefcase. If the interviewer is interested, you'll have an "in" for another interview, where you can show what you've done.
Resumes. Always carry copies of each of your different styles of resume. But don't offer one unless the interviewer asks for it. Reread all resumes in advance of the interview.
Salary history. Bring a list summarizing your salary history. You may need this for filling out applications or to answer very specific money-related questions. (Try to hold this for the second or third interview, if possible. Sometimes the interviewer insists on exact salary figures; and if you're interested in the job, you'd better be prepared to answer accurately.)
References. Carry a list of business references, complete with correct addresses and telephone numbers. You will also need this information if you are asked to fill out an application. However, as a general rule of thumb, don't give references unless you are seriously being considered for the position. You don't want to bother your references unnecessarily.
Travel
An obvious, but important point. Leave early enough to get to the interview on or before time. If you're driving, check the route on your map the evening before. If you've flown into an area the night before the interview, check at the hotel for some idea of the driving time (if you've rented a car) and best route, or arrange for a taxi to pick you up early enough to get to the interview on time. Of course, some companies arrange beautifully for the "care and feeding" of their management-level interviewees. In this case, you'll be picked up by someone from the company and driven to the interview in plenty of time.
Too often, you feel as though you are running a gauntlet just to get in to see the interviewer. At a factory or a research site, you may have to check in with the guard at the gate, sign in and go through a pass or badge routine, undergo a search-and-find mission to locate the office and so on. Especially when you're already nervous, these delays may seem interminable-but they're just part of the drill. And you have to allow for them.
OK. You're now into the sanctum sanctorum where the interview will occur. You're ready. What other barriers do you have to hurdle?
The secretary, receptionist, "assistant to" or other staff member. Be as polite and cordial to staff members as you will be to the actual interviewer. Accord them status. Don't talk down to them or treat them as lesser beings.
Don't tell the secretary or staff members what position you will be interviewing for. Respond with something like, "I'm here to interview with Mr. (or Ms.) X. He (or she) is expecting me."
Filling out the application forms. Many companies have become shrewd about the use of resumes as hiring devices. Resumes are not legal documents, and don't have the force of the law behind them. They're generally not signed and don't have a notarized statement testifying to their veracity. Therefore, many companies require that even candidates for top executive positions complete a company employment application before they will begin an interview.
A reminder: Don't give wrong schooling information. This is now one of the few permissible and checkable sets of information which companies are allowed to get before you're hired. Yet a nationwide survey a few years ago showed that education was also the most lied-about item on resumes and applications. An application is a legal document-if you lie on it and are found out, it's a fireable offense. Use your chronological resume to fill out the application accurately. Be especially neat and be careful to answer all the questions. Occasionally an application form will contain illegal questions. (See the list of questions that are illegal to use on applications and interviews in the next chapter, The Interview, Part II.) You can choose to answer the question if you want. Or, you can do as most knowledgeable applicants do these days: Fill in these blanks with NA (not applicable) or draw a dash across the response blank.
