Your Judgement Suits You (Or Not...)

Six months before my job went away at Thomas Nelson I knew that having to leave was possible. When bonus time came in the summer I set money aside and made three purchases that were the smartest money I have ever spent: I bought two quality suits and a MacBook Air.  I did this because job hunting, aside from strategy, requires three things: appearance, mobility and communications. With these new assets I was able to send and receive resumes, applications and references, surf the web, and show up anywhere in the country on short notice looking like the job I wanted to find.

In my career as an interviewer I am constantly surprised and disappointed at how candidates present themselves.  Now before you go jumping on me for insensitivity to people who are out of a job and can't afford such things, remember that I mostly recruit for upper level positions. This was true at my last job and my current job as well.  If you are looking for upper five or lower six figures and that is what you have been accustomed to making, there is an expectation that you will look like a manager.

How you present yourself speaks to judgement, and judgement is one of the key factors (along with skill, intelligence and integrity) that companies look for in managerial candidates.  Unless you are 20 and looking for your first managerial job at a small store or kiosk, the leather coat, dress slacks, black shirt and black necktie will not get you there.  If you need to economize consider Goodwill or consignment stores that specialize in business attire.  Otherwise make the investment rather than thwart all the strategy and energy it took to get you the interview.

...and for goodness sakes shine your shoes and bring an extra copy of your resume.  These are fundamentals and they matter.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On-Line Streamlining

On Friday of this week I will shut down both my Facebook and Twitter accounts. In place of communicating via those outlets I intend to be a more consistent and diligent blogger. There are several reasons for this move which I will explain just briefly. I usually check all these accounts after dinner. That process entails checking Nelson email, personal email, Twitter updates (both reading and writing), looking at who added or dropped me on Twitter, checking Facebook updates from my "friends", and leaving comments. I could set up a link that combines Facebook and Twitter updates into one process, but that only saves a few moments of what takes about 45 - 60 minutes. My other personal interests, be they gardening or guitar or a few home improvement projects slated for the spring, suffer from the time taken up with living in the on-line world. Every so often my wife would like for me to just sit down and watch TV with her and I rarely ever do. After slacking off for the winte
Read more

S and P Network Hospitals

With the start of Open Enrollment, one of the biggest issues for Tennessee staff is whether to take a plan with the Blue Cross Blue Shield network S or network P. The most common question is, "What's the difference?" Well, here you go: Hospitals in the S Network include Vanderbilt, St. Thomas, Baptist, Nashville General, Williamson Medical Center (Franklin), University Medical Center (Lebanon), and Middle TN Medical Center (Murfreesboro). The HCA hospitals, which are in the P network but not in the S Network, include: Centennial, Southern Hills, Summit, Skyline, Stonecrest, & Hendersonville Medical Center. A complete list of P and S network providers can be found her e. Note that there are several network listed on that page but only P and S are available in our plan. A complete list of HCA hospitals, none of which are available in the S network, can be found here . As always, see any member of your Human Resources team with any questions you might have.
Read more

Employer Response to Feb 17 General Strike

If you are an employer and have employees participating in today's called General Strike here are a few tips.  The demands of the General Strike are not employment related: they are political and are not about to your workplace's specific terms and conditions of employment.  As such this is not subject to the "no strike" clause of your collective bargaining agreement (if you have one), and is not a non-union "wildcat strike".  As such it is not NLRB protected concerted activity in my opinion. You can take corrective action in accordance with your policies. But be careful: this "is" protected First Amendment speech so terminating for absences related to this event could prove problematic.  Still you probably don't want people walking off the job without consequences and/or disrupting your workplace. Here is what you can do.  Insist that the strikers leave your premises, not block your entrances and exits, and not disrupt your business. You c
Read more