I have an(other) interview lined up for tomorrow. I've blocked a few hours today to review the job description, research the company, remind myself of the stories I've become so used to telling that hopefully sound impressive, review my canned answers to the 'describe a time when you......' questions, read my list of fabulous questions to ask that make me sound intelligent and interested, and generally talk myself into why I want the job in the first place. All of this to prepare me to make a stellar first impression. There's one more factor to consider, but one that I will spend absolutely no time worrying about today. That is......what to wear.
One day in January, after a useless meeting with a career management councillor in downtown Toronto, I waltzed into a department store 'just to have a look' and noticed a 70% off sale on ladies suits. How perfect! If I was to land the perfect job, I was gonna need a suit - and 70% off suited my budget just fine (no pun intended).
For the record, I hate suits. Always have. The jackets are always too tight in the arms, and when buttoned up, the back sits atop the shelf of my ass and makes me look like Big Momma in a Liz Claiborne. I feel like a whale in a suit, but I figured if I was gonna find me a high paying, kickass job I was gonna need to dress the part. I bought 3 of them. Brown pant suit, black pant suit, and black skirt suit. And I wear them in that order.
Brown pant suit = 1st interview. Approachable and Friendly. Stylish yet not too overbearing.
Black pant suit = 2nd interview. Professional and Determined. Can tackle any job with ease.
Black skirt suit = final interview. Power suit. Strong, confident, feminine. Won't take bullshit, and can order people around if required.
What's the parallel to the dating scene, you ask? First of all, I'll admit that the prep is way easier. There's not much to go on besides the non-committal recommendation from a friend (my sister saw him at a wedding and thinks she remembers him being kinda cute...and really drunk), or what little is said in an online profile. When I was dating, my prep involved either messaging someone online, or responding to a message I received and reviewing his bio to decide if an in person meeting was warranted, ie. can he spell, has he refrained from using '69' in his handle - eg. italianstallion69, and do his pictures portray him as at least being somewhat do-able, should, (god willing) it ever come to that. If the answers are yes, we'd go through the online chat motions, and eventually set up a first date. Herein lies the parallel: I had 3 first date tops that suited any venue.
Black V-neck dressy t-shit: Says I'm a casual, low maintenance girl who likes to have fun. The V is not too low, but just enough to make him wonder what I'd be like in the sack. (Starbucks.)
Black see through blouse over black cami: paired with jeans, this says I cared enough to put a little extra effort into what to wear tonight, just in case you're worth it. (Pint at a pub)
Black crossover V-neck: Online chatting and first phonecall impressions of this guy are good. Makes a strong, sexy statement that says "if you don't screw this up, you may be man-handling these babies in less than a week". (Friday night martini's at a hip resto/bar).
Yes, all were black. Black is stylish and goes with anything. More importantly, black is slimming.
Tomorrow is a brown pant suit day. Wish me luck.
2 comments:
Very funny, especially "you could be handling these babies in less than a week."
black v-neck dressy t-shit? was that a typo or a jaded comment? I concur with the other comment that you could have found your calling in writing.
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