When casual doesn’t cut it

By Michael Lund   

Your presentation, including appearance and punctuality, is the first step to getting the job you’re seeking, writes Michael Lund

`When people turn up they should be prepared for a job interview as opposed to coming in with a laissez-faire attitude’

What  does it take to get a job these days?

For starters, drop the attitude, unplug the mp3 player, dress smarter and turn up for the interview.

That’s the message from one recruitment firm that says it is surprised by the sloppy appearance and behaviour of some candidates who come looking for work.

Pure Source general manager Tracey Montgomery says only this week a candidate was talking up her time management skills when she was actually late for her interview appointment.

Some candidates turn with up their music-player plugged in or mid-mobile phone call, others are wearing scruffy or casual day wear such as jeans and T-shirt.

“When people turn up they should be prepared for a job interview as opposed to coming in with a laissez-faire attitude,” she says.

Montgomery says some people do not seem to understand that the approach they make to a recruitment agency should be the same as they would make to a potential employer.

The agency is assessing the candidate’s look and behaviour as well as the contents of their resume.

Yet time and again she sees candidates with questionable behaviour and appearance.

“I think there’s just a general sense that candidates have forgotten that the process of coming to an agency is the start of the whole recruitment process,” she says.

Pure Source, based in South Brisbane, describes itself as a boutique agency that specialises in white collar office administration, business support and technical industries.

The success of any recruitment agency is based on its reputation for sourcing the right people to fill vacancies.

Montgomery says agencies have a responsibility to their clients to make sure they send the best candidates, so those who do not impress at an agency level are the least likely to make it through to an employer.

“I think about how they represent my agency when they go to an employer from me,” she says.

“I think it’s all about preparation and how a candidate presents in the first few minutes.

“If they’re not well groomed or they don’t turn up on time without warning then they’re not likely to get the job.”

Brisbane-based etiquette expert Anna Musson spends much of her time engaged by employers who want to improve the appearance and behaviour of their staff to give them the edge over rivals.

Her experience shows that those employees who impress at work are the ones most likely to succeed within a business through promotion and pay rises.

Too often, though, she encounters situations in which an employer has recruited somebody with questionable standards in the hope that they can be improved.

“What they do once they’re in a job is they tend to decline,” Musson says.

“If the very best they can show at an interview is poor attire and poor attitude then they’re in for a sorry future.”

She says it is a problem that crosses the baby-boomer and generation X divide where older employees are looking to hand over business and clients to younger staff.

She tells of one senior employee who bypassed four very capable junior employees and handed a key client to the fifth in line because he had a much smarter appearance that would appeal to that client.

“There is an expectation of your image and your attitude if you want to succeed,” she says.

“I don’t know why people think that they can get away with anything. A poor habit that many Australians have adopted is to try to get away with the bare minimum – how casually can I dress, how casually can I behave? – without stepping out of their comfort zone.”

Both Montgomery and Musson believe part of the problem could be due to talk of a candidate shortage in some areas.

That, they say, has led some job seekers to think they can do what they like when applying for work.

Montgomery says the worst sin a candidate can commit is to fail to show for an interview or appointment with no advance warning or explanation.

“It’s the height of rudeness,” she says.

Those who turn up with a questionable appearance are next. “I will always ask them why they are wearing what they are wearing,” she says.

“But at least they show up.”

Musson, principal of The Good Manners Company, says: “Some of the bad habits I’ve seen are facial piercing, inappropriate phone rings, inappropriate emails that have a rude or lewd address, not knowing how to dress appropriately for the interview so having no tie or wearing a mini-skirt, and poor taste and general apathy.”

But she says the tide is turning with calls from many employers for improved standards.

“Now people are pushing back saying enough is enough and (they) want to go back to having appropriate conduct for appropriate times, which means dressing appropriately, acting appropriately for the circumstances,” she says.

When the recruiter becomes the candidate P4

Tracey Montgomery’s top tips for job seekers

Anna Musson’s top tips for job seekers