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“I bought a new suit before doing a day of interviews at a company I was dying to get into. The interviews went great and we finished after almost four hours. I left and later realized the price tag on my jacket was still attached the entire time.”
— Mortified job seeker
The average job interview is between 30 and 60 minutes.
According to research done at the University of Oregon, how long do you think it takes for an interviewer to decide whether you're hireable?1
1. 15 minutes
2. 30 minutes
3. 45 minutes
4. 60 minutes
The correct answer is “none of the above.” You get 20 seconds.
In the first 20 seconds, your interviewer will reach numerous judgments about you, which are unlikely to change regardless of how long they speak with you. Those judgments will include your competence, warmth, and hireability.
First impressions are critically important in an interview—arguably more important than most of what you will do or say over the next 60 minutes. What the interviewer sees in the first 20 seconds—your clothes and demeanor—will play a HUGE role in whether you win the job. We'll cover how to evoke the right demeanor in the next chapter, but first let's focus on your clothes.
Understand the Unconscious Bias Around Apparel
“I work at a bank. It doesn't take a lot of research to find out the proper outfit for employees of banks. And yet, I've had people walk in for interviews dressed in blue jeans, or wearing moccasins, and I've told them straight up that I wasn't going to hire them because of their lack of professional attire. I've also had candidates come in wearing wrinkled shirts, inappropriately short skirts, and one time, a Christmas sweater in October. I don't understand what these people are thinking.”
—Employer who is not a fan of business casual
Research has shown that people who wear nice clothing get judged as more competent. In a study conducted by researchers at Princeton University, test subjects were given pictures of faces and asked to rate their competence.2 The catch, however, was that all the faces were attached to different upper-body clothing. Faces attached to clothing perceived as “more expensive” by an observer—whether it was a T-shirt, sweater, or other top—led to higher competence ratings of the person pictured than similar clothes judged as “cheaper.”
Even worse, to the dismay of the researchers, when they explicitly told the test subjects to ignore the clothing in their ratings, they still scored the pictures of people in “more expensive” clothing as more competent. The unconscious bias was so strong that even when made aware of it, the participants could not turn it off.
Does this mean you need to spend a lot of money on clothes for your interview? No. Fortunately, with the explosion of fast fashion retail (H&M, Zara, Forever 21, etcetera) looking stylish has never been more affordable. Just remember that you will be judged by what you choose to wear, and if you've gotten all the way to an in-person interview, buying a new outfit is an investment that can pay off big time.
An important note here: If you buy new clothing, invest in an iron. You do not want your interviewer to believe this is the first time you've ever tried to look nice. Men's dress shirts in particular are folded when packaged. This leaves distinct “right out of the wrapper” creases that are a clear tell that dressing nicely is something you're only dabbling in. Remember that every time an interviewer notices details, you run the risk of triggering their bias.
“When a person walks in the door for an interview I can tell in seconds whether or not they have a chance. Just seeing how they dressed, the way they carry themselves, and their anxiety level tells me a lot about them before we even start talking.”
—Employer who has already started the interview
Picking Your Interview Outfit
Obviously not all jobs have the same dress code. It's a very different thing to interview at a retail clothing store than it is to interview at an accounting office. There is no one-size-fits-all outfit that works for every interview, but there is a simple truth you can apply to be sure you're always dressed for success: If you think your outfit looks good, then you do look good.
Scientists call this “enclothed cognition.”3 The outfit you wear has the power to change your posture, boost your confidence, and heighten your mood. Here's how to find the outfit that triggers your best self.
Put this book down, grab a notebook, and head to a public space. Sip a cup of your preferred beverage, and start doing some serious people watching. As people pass, your challenge is to label them with a single adjective. Are they sloppy? Casual? Slick? Grungy? The point of the exercise is you only get one word, and you have to label them in the few seconds they take to walk by.
Now I want you to pay special attention to people who you would label with an adjective that matches how you'd want an interviewer to label you. We're talking about any of the following:
1. Polished
2. Professional
3. Confident
4. Trustworthy
5. Stylish
6. Presentable
Write down the adjective you selected and then document what those people are wearing. The key thing here is to note the details. Hair, shoes, belts, accessories—log it all! See if a pattern emerges.
Stylists tell me that people tend to be impressed by patternless navy blue outfits that are fitted and tucked in. (That may be why police officers and firemen wear blue uniforms.) But hey, go with whatever jumps out at you. The important part is to identify the style that has positive associations, and then to go out and buy that outfit!
Once you do buy that outfit, unless you are 100% confident in your fashion sense (and I speak from personal experience when I say that only 1% of us should be 100% confident), form a fashion-police focus group of two or three friends whom you can trust to give their honest feedback about the professionalism and appropriateness of your outfit. And promise me that if there's a unanimous veto of your outfit, trust the wisdom of your friends, return the outfit, and try again.
How You Know Your Interview Outfit Is Right
I guarantee if we put you in a Superman or Wonder Woman costume, you would naturally set your shoulders back, puff out your chest, and put your fists on your hips. Scientists refer to this as a “Power Pose.” A good interview outfit will trigger the same posture!
Keep trying on different outfits until you fall into that position reflexively. When you look in the mirror are you instinctively stiffening your spine and thrusting your chest forward? Are you spinning around to see if it looks as good from all sides? Do you feel like you can hardly recognize yourself? Power posing is our natural reaction when our brain tells us we're looking good! The right interview outfit will trigger changes in how you carry yourself that other people will notice. Keep shopping until you find an outfit that makes you want to kick ass!
Perfume and Cologne Are a Definite No
Let me hit you with some science. According to the 1,000 genomes project,4 there are 400 genes involved in your sense of smell and more than 900,000 different presentations of those genes. Because of this wide genetic variability, on average, there is a 30% difference in how any two people respond to the same scent. To put it simply, perfume that smells good to you is another person's cloying floral compost pile.
Smell also triggers memories that are clearer, more intense, and more emotional, according to research from the University of Toronto.5 What memories will the scent you're wearing trigger? You have no idea!
Remember, we're trying to hack your interviewer's biases. That means controlling every part of what you present to them. You might think coconut makes you smell tropical. For your interviewer it's a crushing reminder of their bad break up.
Make sure the defining thing your interviewer remembers about you is not how you smell. Go to every interview scentless. No perfume, cologne, aftershave, baby powder, body lotion, or scented hair spray.
“We had a candidate that everybody absolutely loved! Except for one thing. Each and every person that interviewed him independently reported that the cologne he was wearing was so strong it would be impossible to work with him. Hoping it was a one-time mistake, I asked him back a week later for a second round of interviews, but the strong cologne returned with him. The team and I talked about offering him the job contingent on him not wearing cologne, but for some the cologne was a red flag. They felt if he was so unaware of his impact on those around him, what else would he be unaware about? He has no idea he lost the job solely because of the cologne he used.”
—Employer with a nose for talent
Let's Talk About Sweat
It's unfair, but when you sweat, others view you as less confident, less competent, and less trustworthy.6 We can't stop you from sweating, but we can help you cover it up much better than you have been. Here are some simple tips to keep you cool and dry:
1. Wear antiperspirant (not just deodorant). If you're someone with serious sweat issues, you may want to talk to a doctor about a prescription strength option.
2. Wear a cotton or sweat-proof undershirt.
3. Use sweat pads. Sweat pads are sweat-capturing products that attach directly to your underarms or under your clothes. Think of it like an armpit diaper.
4. Bring a kerchief or scarf (thank you modern acceptable fashion choice) and use it to keep your hands dry.
5. Ask for a cup of ice water before the interview, wrap a napkin around it, and hold it with your right hand to keep your hand cool.
6. Don't drink alcohol the night before your interview, and avoid caffeine the day of the interview. Both can trigger increased sweating.7
7. Wear clothing items that don't show sweat, and consider investing in a sweat-proof undershirt. Blazers are great for hiding armpit sweat patches.
Summary
· You've got 20 seconds or less to make a good impression.
· The right outfit is one that you think you look good in.
· Avoid wearing scents and control your sweat.
Notes
1. 1. Tricia Prickett, Neha Gada-Jain, and Frank J. Bernieri, “The Importance of First Impressions in a Job Interview,” presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL, 2000.
2. 2. Dong Won Oh, Eldar Shafir, and Alexander Todorov, “Economic Status Cues from Clothes Affect Perceived Competence from Faces,” Nature Human Behaviour 4, no. 3 (2020): 287–293.
3. 3. Adam Hajo and Adam D. Galinsky, “Enclothed Cognition,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 48, no. 4 (2012): 918–925.
4. 4. Joel D.Mainland, Andreas Keller, Yun R. Li, Ting Zhou, Casey Trimmer, Lindsey L. Snyder, Andrew H. Moberly et al., “The Missense of Smell: Functional Variability in the Human Odorant Receptor Repertoire,” Nature Neuroscience 17, no. 1 (2014): 114.
5. 5. “Scientists Uncover New Connection between Smell and Memory,” Science Daily, July 23, 2018, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180723155726.htm.
6. 6. Alexandra D. Sifferlin, “Don't Let Them Smell You Sweat: You'll Seem Untrustworthy,” October 9, 2013, https://healthland.time.com/2013/10/09/dont-let-them-smell-you-sweat-youll-seem-untrustworthy/.
7. 7. “Tips for Reducing or Stopping Sweating,” Medical News Today, updated September 25, 2019, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326441#summary.