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Interview Tips


Guest OnBelay

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Hello, I have an interview coming up and I have a skirt suit (the skirt is knee length-not short at all) and am wondering if I should wear nylons on my legs. I am wearing closed toed shoes but feel like nylons are so out of style! I also don't want to wear bare legs though. What is business appropriate in this situation?? Thank you!!

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Hello, I have an interview coming up and I have a skirt suit (the skirt is knee length-not short at all) and am wondering if I should wear nylons on my legs. I am wearing closed toed shoes but feel like nylons are so out of style! I also don't want to wear bare legs though. What is business appropriate in this situation?? Thank you!!

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I would wear the stockings. I never wear them at any other time and I hate them to death, but I have to admit that they give my legs a finished look. For a professional interview, you want to wear the stockings.

 

Unless they're, you know, fishnets or something. Now I'm having this great imagery of wearing fishnets with my nice suit :)

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Hello, I went through this whole thread and there was only one reply to facial hair. I have an interview and I have facial hair. I is groomed and I have had it for ten years. I would like to know what other peoples feelings about facial hair and interviews. I have asked doctors and nurses I work with and they about 50/50 on shaving it. If I shave I look like I just graduated high school. I am 33 years old. What do you guys suggest?:confused:

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Hello, I went through this whole thread and there was only one reply to facial hair. I have an interview and I have facial hair. I is groomed and I have had it for ten years. I would like to know what other peoples feelings about facial hair and interviews. I have asked doctors and nurses I work with and they about 50/50 on shaving it. If I shave I look like I just graduated high school. I am 33 years old. What do you guys suggest?:confused:

 

I think there was a reply to facial hair in this thread.. anyways the answer was to shave it! Its ok to look young.. when you interview they can tell by your life experience, behavior, etc that you are not fresh out of high school. Good luck with the interview!

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If you decide to shave it before the interview, I suggest that you do it way ahead of time, like several weeks. and then continue with the daily or two day shave till the interview. The thing is that when you have had facial hair for 10 years then shave, you can see that unattractive different shade of skin and the pasty look....so yeah...do it ahead of time and keep it up for a few days, maybe get some sun...LOL

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If you decide to shave it before the interview, I suggest that you do it way ahead of time, like several weeks. and then continue with the daily or two day shave till the interview. The thing is that when you have had facial hair for 10 years then shave, you can see that unattractive different shade of skin and the pasty look....so yeah...do it ahead of time and keep it up for a few days, maybe get some sun...LOL

 

LOL thats hilarious!

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So I have read most of the posts, and great advice! One thing I am still concerned about is wearing a black pants suit (ladies). Is it ok to branch out and maybe get a dark grey suit, or is it safer to just wear black and maybe a nice pastel shirt. I am having sooo much trouble deciding and everyone keeps telling me to stay with black.... any additional advice???

 

Thanks!!:confused:

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The only negative I can see from having facial hair post interview & in the workforce (I have daily scruff, lol) is the inability to have tight fitting mask to wear into abourne isolation rooms when seeing patients. Particularly for TB precautions or any other droplet type of isolation, ie) influenza. So personally I would shave, etc. Thats what I did, you can also grow it back out if need be, and it shows in a minute way that you can fulfill the needs of the postion. Wow that was deep :)

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A friend that interviewed with me at two schools in Arizona wore a light blue skirt suit to our first interview and a light gray one to the second and she was accepted at both. I wore a dark gray suit (almost black) to both interviews and got rejected at one and wait-listed at the other. Obviously wearing a dark suit didn't help me out any. I think that wearing the colors she did may have actually given her an edge. Perhaps she stuck out more than the other applicants and she was remembered better when the time came for decisions.

If you are clean and the outfit (whatever you choose) is conservative and clean what will really count is whether or not you have what the program is looking for.

Hope this helps

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  • 3 weeks later...
Hello, I went through this whole thread and there was only one reply to facial hair. I have an interview and I have facial hair. I is groomed and I have had it for ten years. I would like to know what other peoples feelings about facial hair and interviews. I have asked doctors and nurses I work with and they about 50/50 on shaving it. If I shave I look like I just graduated high school. I am 33 years old. What do you guys suggest?:confused:

 

While I was attending an information session at a school one of the lead professors told me that the biggest thing he looks for is for the man to be clean shaven. He found it to be disrespectful if they are not. I have a constant 5 o'clock shadow but plan on shaving for that interview. First time a razor has touched this face in years! Hope that helps!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have to add some input. Take it with a grain of salt.

 

What people have told me is: DO NOT WEAR A POWER SUIT. I have an excellent power suit. I look super sharp, it fits, and I look like it cost a fortune (because it did). I'm not sure the reason why not to wear a power suit, but I've just been told not to do it.

 

What is a powersuit? A BLACK suit. I actually went out and bought a dark gray suit to stay away from this. I'm brining my powersuit, though, as a backup in case I spill something on myself.

 

So in conclusion, wear a dark gray or blue suit, not black.

 

As far as shirts and ties, I'm not so sure, but people wearing white shirts are viewed as more honest and trustworthy, so you can guess what color shirt I'm going to wear.

 

Ties: I'm not so sure about this one. The traditional powersuits consists of a red tie, so I'm not sure if I should go with red tie or some other color (pink, blue, yellow?) Any suggestions?

 

 

Oh, I just found a website with some good general interview dress info:

http://www.totieatie.com/jobInterview.asp

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haha just so you guys know - make sure you try on your suit a couple of weeks before your interview if you can. i bought my suit a couple years ago and it fit perfect.. unfortunately when i tried it on for my first interview this year i got fatter -_- and totally did not fit my pants. i had to buy new pants and started being more concious about my eating habits. =P inbetween that interview and the next interview I wore the "new" pants.. which i did not notice were now too big for me until I got home from the interview!! haha, but o well, I got into both - no biggie

 

btw i wore a "power suit" =) so if you own a black suit and thats all you got then rock it!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The program I interviewed with utilized the group interview method; three candidates, two interviewers. I don't know if all programs do it this way, or just mine.

 

I think the one thing that helped me the most was I was ENGAGED in conversation. I was INTERESTED. When another candidate was answering a question, I used body language to engage in active listening; nodding my head, eye contact, I even turned my entire body toward the person while they spoke. When I was asked a question, I would talk to everyone in the group, making eye contact with everyone, swiveling my chair to include everyone in the conversation. I turned the formal process into a semi-informal venue, making it more comfortable for everyone in the room. In my answer, I referred to another candidate's previous answer, i.e., "Like John said," or "I agree with what John said." This behavior is interpreted as positive. I also came prepared with questions about the program. I interviewed them, too. I can't say that I enjoyed the interview process, but, I tried to make it a pleasant experience for everyone. This strategy must have helped, cause I was one of the first notified about acceptance.

PS. If the program for which you are applying offers an early interview session, make it to that one. it does help.

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