Dress to Impress

By Rick Dressler, Campus Representative, Syracuse University

Life is about making a good first impression. While it is not the best indication of what your talents are, or what you are like as a person, we all immediately pass some form (however subconscious it may be) of judgment on someone when we first lay eyes on them. This is a crucial thing to remember when looking for a job. An article in CNN Money discusses advice given from HR professionals from OfficeTeam about how to dress for an interview.

Offices are getting more and more casual. Some businesses still require suit and tie while others have made casual Fridays and flip-flops and shorts a part of the weekly grind. It doesn't matter. Don't let this trend towards casual attire influence your choice of garb for your interview. Think about what would be appropriate attire to wear to the perspective office, then wear something an entire level more conservative. This does not mean that if they wear suits, you have to show up in a tuxedo, but be reasonable. If they dress business casual, err on the side of caution and wear a tie.

Your outfit also needs to be a source of confidence for yourself. Give it a test run. Put on what your planning to wear and make sure you are confident in it. It is especially important for college students to consider this. I have gone home for interviews realizing that my good suit and dress shoes were five hours away at school. You don't want to go to an interview wearing your bar mitzvah suit. Trust me! Prepare, dress the part, and remember that being confident in who you are (and who they see you as immediately) is the key in any interview.