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Subject:Re: What color suits interviews? From:MMB1 <mmb1 -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 27 Sep 1994 00:39:08 -0400
In article <367ouu$kl6 -at- nic -dot- umass -dot- edu>, dking -at- titan -dot- ucs -dot- umass -dot- edu (JAY D
KING) writes:
"I am engaged in a debate about interviewing. Would your company's
personnel department be offended by a college graduate showing up for an
interview in something other than a blue or grey suit? For instance, will
interviewing in a dark olive suit hurt my chances of getting a tech
writing job?"
Hi Jay,
I'll offer you some choice quotes from a book I bought for a fashion and
beauty class earlier this year. (The book is _Looking Great Without Diet
or Exercise_ by Lynda/Cork Millner.)
"Green is not a good color to wear in business, unless you are a
recreational camp counselor.
In the garment industry, 80% of the fibers are dyed in blue. It is a power
color and signifies stability and respect. If you ever go to court, make
sure your lawyer is wearing a blue suit. It was in A.D. 431 that the
Virgin Mary was first illustrated wearing a blue cloak, and she has worn
it ever since."
So, what I'd recommend you do is:
1) Find a company that can't hire the bodies in fast enough because it's
growing so fast. They are out there. That's the kind of company that'll
hire anyone who's good and gets the darned job done, even if they dress
like Alice Cooper and don't show up for work until the sun goes down.
(From personal experience, however, I would recommend that you refrain
from making toxic waste jokes on emails addressed to the entire company.
Almost got canned over that one. Even a blue suit wouldn't have saved me.)
2) Wear a blue suit to the interview. The rationale here is, if you show
up to the INTERVIEW looking funky, you're probably really funky in real
life.
3) Once you're hired and you've spent a week or so watching what other
people are wearing, you can haul out your Alice Cooper duds (or even your
olive green suit) and breathe a deep sigh of relief.
Good luck!
Rgds, Madeline Bechtold (mmb1 -at- aol -dot- com or mmb -at- qad -dot- com)
