Dress the part to look the part

Updated on: Thursday, February 09, 2012

Interview preparation for most people is about going over past accomplishments, predicting likely questions and being ready with the answers. But, this comprises just 20% of the preparation.

Almost 80% of the image you project and hence what you communicate is visual in nature. Verbal cues how you speak and how you respond to questions constitute the remaining 20%.

The second critical factor is that within the first few minutes, the interviewer takes in the image you project and forms a First Impression of you. Considering that during these few minutes, it is just the visual cues that you project, you can now see that the interview is over before you begin to respond to questions.

This is confirmed by research which shows that once people form their First Impressions, they spend the rest of the interview simply confirming these impressions. Hence, it is critical that you understand the impact of the image you project through the visual elements in an interview. You need to look the part, before you can convince them that you are capable of playing the part.

Looking at what constitutes the image you project, it is your clothing, grooming, body language, etiquette and vocal communication, which perform the function through a combination of visual, vocal and olfactory cues.

Given the large number of qualified executives available for any position, there is enormous competition from which you need to stand out. When you consider the fact that almost 80% of your success is determined by visual cues, taking care of your image through these elements helps you communicate your trustworthiness, commitment and efficiency, primary traits that interviewers look for. With that, the image you project becomes not just an edge, but a weapon in your hand by creating powerful First Impressions and getting the position and pay you seek.

Lets look at each element in brief. The image you need to project differs from industry to industry, depending on the culture and customer expectations of that industry. If we take Financial Services, customer expectation is of a formal image that communicates efficiency and competency. Hence, your clothing should be highly formal. Depending on the position you have applied for in the organisational hierarchy, you would be dressed in dark colours, crisp and firm fabrics, straight lines and small, geometric patterns.

When dealing with the retail industry, your clothing must project an image of approachability while showing efficiency and responsibility, and hence you would choose less formal clothing with lighter colours, softer fabrics and rounded shapes and patterns.

When dealing with sales and marketing companies it is important to project an image, which is also aggressive as that is one important trait in such jobs. It is also important to create attention up and close to your face as prospective customers need to concentrate on what you say and this can be achieved by creating a great contrast up and close to the face.

The safe thing to do is to dress formally for interviews except when you give an interview for offbeat or creative profiles. With casual dressing, the interviewer could mistake your personality for a casual work attitude or that you are not serious about the job.

If in any doubt, observe the way people dress within that industry and choose a mid to highly formal version of it, depending on the profile. Company spokespersons, sales and customer care executives give you valuable cues to the visual cues that apply to the industry.

With grooming, the fundamental rule is to be well-groomed without distractions like excessive or noisy jewellery, overpowering perfumes, tattoos, body piercings, unclean nails and the like. Be modest in your appearance, be neat without wrinkled clothing or scuffed shoes and conform to the norms.

When it comes to body language, etiquette and vocal communication carry a pleasant, open attitude within and communicate the same. A negative or defeatist thought process never translates into confident demeanour. Remember, the interviewer is judging you to see whether the company can have a relationship with you. This means, the interviewer is looking for openness, commitment and trustworthiness.

So dress the part to look the part. Use the visual cues to make powerful First Impressions through the image you project.

[The writer is Director, First Impression Consulting Pvt Ltd; Master Image Consultant - MFIPI (UK), Federation of Image Professionals International]

Courtesy: Myeducationtimes.com

Times of India

Dress the part to look the part

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