Slobs Don't Get Jobs
Sarah Elkins
International Speaker | Workshop Facilitator | Storyteller | Musician | Gallup StrengthsFinder Coach | 300+Episodes Podcast Host | Author | Job Interview Coach
I'll just assume he didn't know when he walked into the hotel to deliver his resume and application for a front desk position that he would end up delivering it straight into the hands of the Director of Sales.
If he knew that, he wouldn't have arrived after his (obvious) workout at the gym in sweatpants and a t-shirt, right? Guess where his application went as he walked out the door... that's right, into the garbage can. I did look at it first, because I was curious about what experience he might have that would give him the impression it was ok to deliver his application in sweatpants.
He looked quite competent on paper. His experience was relevant and he attached believable references. If he had mailed the application instead of delivering it, I could almost guarantee the general manager and I would have called him for an interview.
A week later I recognized him as I walked through a park with my boys. I could have pretended I didn't know him. I could have ignored that voice in my head that said "help this young man." It would have been easier, for sure. But I didn't. I walked up to him and introduced myself.
Hi, I'm the Director of Sales at the hotel where you recently applied for a front desk position.
He stared at me, recognition dawning, and a small smile on his face. The smile didn't last.
You delivered a resume and application for a front desk position. You will not get a call for an interview and it's important you know why. The hotel is nice, a ballroom adjacent to the front desk, a high-end restaurant inside, and a great location right downtown. You delivered your application in sweatpants, obviously having just been to the gym.
If you were applying to be a maintenance worker, I still would expect you to dress professionally when you deliver an application. When our guests arrive, your appearance is important. If our staff look sloppy, our guests will assume our hotel is sloppy and our sleeping rooms are sloppy. Our staff are our ambassadors. And they know they have one chance to make a first impression.
You never know who will be there when you deliver an application or resume. Dress for the job you want. Please. I'd love to see you succeed.
He walked away from me without saying a word. He had a sad and angry expression, his shoulders held back in defiance. I felt terrible for a few minutes, and then reminded myself that if he didn't hear this from me, he may have much harder lessons in the future. There was hope for this man; in my heart I believed he would not make that mistake again. I also hoped he would consider coming back to the hotel with a fresh application.
That lesson has been with me for many years, thanks to my parents. After school I would share with my mother my comments about the girls wearing heavy makeup, looking older than they were. I'd notice the students wearing pajama pants and slippers and asked my mother why I couldn't wear those to school.
When you wear the same clothes out of the house as you wore to bed you are sending messages to yourself and those around you. You are telling yourself there is no difference in environment between home and school. You are saying you don't respect yourself. You are telling your teachers and others in the school that you don't respect the environment enough to change from your sleeping clothes into school clothes.
I wasn't sure I agreed with her; I was a teenager, it wasn't in my nature to agree with almost anything my mother said. When I started my first real, professional position as a paid intern in Washington DC with the US International Trade Commission, I dressed professionally. This doesn't mean suits with no personality. It meant clean, pressed slacks & skirts. Although I never really felt like a grown-up (and hopefully never will), and never took myself too seriously (and hopefully never will), I took my job seriously and did it to the best of my ability.
Fridays were casual in that office. This didn't mean jeans, but khaki pants and not a suit or skirt. A few months into my position, I noticed a distinct difference in how I carried myself on Fridays. I didn't take my work as seriously.
I know there are people who carry themselves the same way no matter what they wear. I'm not one of those people. I wasn't one of those people in my teens and twenties. I needed the cues to adjust my perception of myself. To this day, I find that by putting on a certain dress or shoes, it is easier for me to transition from one
part of my life to another. When the gogo boots are zipped, I become the performer I want to be.
Don't get me wrong - I take my personality into every situation. I find, though, that it's easier to share my image of myself when I know what I want that image & perception to be.
Know yourself and be intentional in how you choose to be perceived. Know your goals and be intentional in how your perception of yourself can help you reach those goals.
Do you need cues for your attitude and how you carry yourself? What cues do you use to meet those needs?
Want to connect with me? Share a story or joke in your LinkedIn request and I'll click connect!
Other posts you might find amusing:
An Amazing Universe
Best Interview Tip Ever
Perception is All that Matters
Decision Paralysis
Wait! Don't post that!
Code: "Opportunity for Growth"
24 Hour Rule - Don't send that message!
When You Don't Know Where to Start
Do you work for free? Why should the band?
Underestimate Your Customer
Family Therapist, Specialist Gender, Culture, Life Enhancing Skills for Women, Families, Relationships, Mindfulness, Author. #SelfCare #Relationships #Communication #Mental Health, #EQuality, #GGAF #United Way award
7ySarah Elkins, for me the important take from your post is to 'Know yourself and be intentional in how you choose to be perceived.' That is why Deb Helfrich and thom h. boehm include context. By the way, thom, when your name did not show up, instead came 'bohemian.:) Straight out of high school I was lured by the adventure and travel and interviewed to be a stewardess (yes, that long ago!). She was enthusiastic and offered that if I dyed the blond streak in my hair I could be hired. While it was a temporary passing fancy, I declined the job. I was dressed for the job. Companies have the right to have their employees dress appropriately as they represent them. Sometimes, it is not about the company, just the interviewer. About to be interviewed, the HR person suggested that knowing the person, I would be best off putting my shoulder-length hair in a bun (streak long-gone). And I did as I knew the company had lenient dress codes and this was her personal perspective, I wanted the job, and would never see her again. When I started, I noticed all the women had long hair and wondered, did they get it by suiting the hairstyle of that interviewer. Kind of you Sarah Elkins to let the person know what is expected in that environment: ' that it's easier to share my image of myself when I know what I want that image & perception to be.'
Speak Truth to Power
7yQuite the conundrum. While he would have dressed properly for an interview this was his first impression. I cannot stand casual day since it leads to slobbery. Attending a job fair (where I learned they should be called job unfairs) a colleague and I were amazed at the amount of sweatpants worn. They did not get hired. Neither did I although I was strung along by the Shane Company. Sometimes the first employee makes the position sound good and the next one: do they not work for the same company?
continuing care assistant ✩ content writer ✩ knitting technologist ✩ chicken whisperer
7yI agree completely, but... ha ha. It reminds me of when I just left home to move to Vancouver to be near the Japanese girl I had met while visiting my brothers. I had a job at Red Robin as a cook, but was looking for something with steadier hours. Anyway, I had been having coffee down by English Bay in my old cut-offs and a t-shirt. At the spur of the moment I stopped at the Super-Valu on Denman and asked the older fellow at the front if they were hiring. No application. He looked me up and down and told me that I looked like a worker. I walked out with a full-time job in a unionized grocery store. Around 15 dollars an hour. Not bad for 1991. ha ha...
Environmental Data Specialist
8yAgree with you Sarah. Even on casual Fridays I would have a blazer, albeit casual. That came from my big sister; "anything you wear (not sweat pants obviously) will look better if you keep a blazer handy. There is always one in my car, semi-casual. If I'm caught off guard in jeans and a t-shirt it's amazing how much better I feel by throwing on the blazer, brushing my hair, and putting on some lip-gloss. Oh, and I also keep some quick semi-casual leather shoes in the car to change out of sneakers if I happen to be wearing them. When I was an Executive Admin I taught the executive this trick. You'd be amazed how often he had to grab that blazer and slip on those loafers for unexpected customer visits or meetings with local officials (our casual Fridays were super casual, jeans and polo shirts were his norm). If he wore them home I'd call on Sunday and remind him to return them to the office. The one funny was he thought he could dress it up even further with a tie. That happened once and no matter what, a tie looks stupid with a polo shirt! He never made it out of the office with that ridiculous tie!
Senior FP&A Executive | Expertise in Financial Planning, Analysis, and Forecasting | Driving Data-Driven Insights, Strategic Decision-Making, and Operational Efficiency to Accelerate Business Growth.
8yThings have changed a lot nowadays , I see my fellow folks walk in to interviews with a big beard and casuals, though I never had the courage to do so, I always go to an interview in formals and even used to feel v.guilty if I go without shaving my beard for genuine reasons like having a bad throat