I was debriefing a client’s group interview for her, a call they allowed her to record. Everything seemed to be going well; she looked relaxed and was answering questions with ease. Then gradually, and then all of a sudden, there was a bright light cutting across her face like sword. The light seemed to be distracting to both the interviewers and my client. At one point, the interviewer suggested my client close her blinds, but she said “it’s okay, it’s not bothering me”. Except it was pretty clear it was bothering her though.
Eventually, someone on the interview panel flat out told her to “take a second to adjust the blinds, we don’t mind waiting”. To which my client said that she thought they ‘might be broken’ and again insisted she was fine. She was not fine however; she continued to squint and trip over his answers, stuff that should’ve been a slam dunk after our preparation. Then mercifully, they offered my client the opportunity to take a short break to adjust the camera, the window covering…whatever she had to do. After the break, which she reported was about 2-3 minutes, the interview continued much more smoothly.
My client was talking to me about what she felt she answered well, what tripped her up, etc, etc. While I just looked at her with what my daughter calls ‘bombastic side-eye’.
“Okay, okay”, I interrupted, “I have a real question”.
“Yes?”, she said.
“Were you wearing pants?”
“Um, yeah. But they were pajama bottoms”.
“What the actual hell, Amy!?!” (not her name).
“I know, I know. It completely spoiled the flow of the whole meeting”.
Damn right. Amy did not get a call back, even though the rest of the call went pretty well and she would have slayed at this position. She could not stand up on camera because she was wearing Roller-Rabbit or whatever stupid fluffy pants she couldn’t bother changing out of for the interview.
The moral of the story is that the first rule of careers is: Dress for the job you want. Even in the post-COVID, 2020s always on-screen world. That much hasn’t changed. And unless the job you want is Door Dash driver, your interview outfit should not include pajama pants.
This client did go on to land an amazing position doing soul-aligned work with a company that shared her values. Not everyone is looking for ‘soul-aligned’ careers, but this client certainly was. That’s why knowing what you truly want, or getting help to figure that out, helps define and drive the goal.
This post is less advice and more of a PSA. But also, the story is hilarious and I have permission to share it.