Job Hunting Etiquette

So I worked in HR for almost 18 years.

These days, I’m on the periphery of HR. And honestly, I’m okay with that. I have no desire to be back in the conference room conducting interviews and filling out reviews and sitting in on meetings issuing warnings or even, heaven forbid, terminations.

No thank you.

But since I’m still here, on the edges of it all, I have a bit of advice for anyone out there on the job hunt.

First, an interview is your chance to make a first impression. So…maybe shower the day of your interview and wear clean clothes. I know, this seems so obvious. You’d be surprised by how many people don’t do these things. I’ve had to spray the area around my desk more times than I can count in an effort to mask body odor and/or cigarette smoke.

That brings me to the second hint. If you smoke, well, obviously, you should quit but I get that it’s harder than I think. But, um, maybe don’t sit in an enclose car and puff away at that last cigarette right before entering the building where you interview is taking place. The haze of smoke is blinding and it causes more gagging than you may realize. Ick.

I mean, okay. I get that maybe you’re nervous and so you need that last cigarette. But perhaps you could finish it a few minutes early and get out of the car and let the wind blow the stink off for a bit before heading inside the building.

Third, let’s say you decide to apply for a job at the same place your significant other is applying. Good for you two for wanting to work. That’s awesome. And hey, if your interviews are back to back on the same day, I get needing to bring your kids with you. No big deal there.

But…see, if your significant other is called and invited back for a second interview, maybe DON’T send the hiring manager a snippy little email that says, “Guess I didn’t make the cut.”

Yes, that happened. Talk about burning bridges.

Why would you do that?

You don’t know if maybe the significant other was just a better fit for the position the hiring manager happened to have open at that moment. You could very well be the next on the list for the very next job opening but if you’re going to show that kind of attitude before you’re even on the payroll…guess who isn’t going to end up on the payroll at all.

Another suggestion is to maybe take your facial piercings out before the interview. I know that these days these things are much more acceptable than they were even ten years ago, but damn. When you’re face has more holes than…something with a lot of holes, maybe don’t wear the three lip rings, the tongue stud and the eyebrow ring for that first interview. The green hair probably can’t be changed as easily but the piercings…they just kind of put some people off.

I know I’m showing my age here. I am very much a member of Generation X and it shows. But damn, people.