The world beyond the safety of our school walls can be very daunting, especially when the time comes to hunt for your first real, full-time job. College graduates have a whole new set of skills under the belt, having studied hard for tests and papers over the past few years. They also have that nice diploma that gives them a leg-up in the world of job-hunting.
Of course, there are also many, many other people in this same position. Millions of students graduate from college each year, and each will eventually hunt for that job they hope will make a satisfying career. But, as with any inexperience, many of these graduates will make careless mistakes on the interview trail. Whether it is their manuerisms, their unimpressive resume, or even their dress, these unfortunate graduates walk away without an offer for the job of their dreams.
Sylvia Landy wants to change that. She has hired recent graduates for quite some time, realizing the potential they have in their creativity and still naive minds. As such, she knows the position many of these graduates are in, and offers a great deal of insight in her book Ditch the Flip Flops: Ace Your Job Interview Fresh Out of College.
"But I'm not graduating from college yet," you say. Or perhaps, "I'm not going straight into the job market; I want a graduate degree first." That does not mean you cannot benefit from this book. As a student who has spent the past year preparing and going on interviews for medical school, only to be rejected from many and waitlisted at few, this book has offered me a great deal of insight into interviewing at large. After reading this, I can see my interviews in a different light, better able to see what might have gone wrong in the process. With this insight, next time should go much smoother.
And, of course, it's never too early to start planning for a career. If nothing else, this book will surely allow you to explore yourself and understand the problems you may have sometime in the future. Why not give it a chance?
Rating: 5 of 5 stars.
~Chelle
Ditch the Flip-Flops: Ace Your Job Interview Fresh Out of College
by Sylvia I. Landy
Published by Keystone Three, LLC.
Paperback, 304 pages, $11.53 new at Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-0-9790265-0-8
One of my pet peeves is people wearing flip flops to an office job.
It shows a great disrespect for your job and smacks of egocentric behavior.
Reminds me of people who my dad interviewed who came in wearing dirty jeans, no shirt or shoes, then complaining when my dad didn't even interview them.
If you don't care enough to come dressed, why should I give you a job?
This also applies to classes. Few things bugged me as much as people who'd roll out of bed and come to class in pajammas, having not even showered.
I do bother to get dressed every morning... but I'm kind of insulted that you're so bugged by people who don't bother to shower in the morning.
I get home from work at 11 and have to wake up at 7 just for enough time to get dressed, brush my teeth, and make it to class by 8. I shower when I get home from school, in the extra ten or so minutes I have before I have to leave for work.
I don't stink when I come to school. I'm not dirty. Sheesh, Lance. :P 8-}
I do agree with you though... I have no problem coming to school in sweats and being comfortable (since we're sitting in yucky chairs for 2 1/2 hours anyway) but people should at least care enough to change from their nightwear :)
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
I understand being busy. This used to be my weekend:
Up at 6 to shower and dress for an 8am Saturay class.
Class over at noon, eat lunch and study until 8.
Eat Dinner
Change into a security shirt and work Campus police from 9pm until 7am.
Go upstairs, shower and change into church clothes, grab my bass guitar and play 2 church services.
Visit family/do Laundry at home.
Go back to campus, go to bed around 11pm to get up at 6AM on monday to shower and dress for an 8am class.
That was my weekend, every weekend, for quite a while. So I understand being busy. I also understand that when you take stock in something, you place a value on it. You show that value by the way you treat it. How you prepare yourself and dress shows that care.
I don't know, Lance.
I care about school more than I care about probably anything in my life. Just because I wear sweats and tennis shoes to class when I've barely gotten 7 hours of sleep doesn't mean that I don't care. Actually, I think exactly the opposite. The fact that I care enough to deprive myself of sleep and any sort of life outside of school (and work, which is to pay for school and other such living expenses) shows that I care.
I think being "dressed down" when I go to class shows that I have more important things to think about than my make-up being put on and my slacks being pressed. No one thinks less of me, I definitely don't think less of myself, and school still remains the number one priority in my life.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
I don't leave the house to go to school, so dressing isn't necessarily high on my list of things to do before I "go" to class... but throughout high school, I was more interested in being comfortable than in dressing up to sit in class all day. Interviews and other professional related things are different (to an extent), but when my ass is going to be connected to a chair hours at a time with who knows what on it while we delve into equations or whatever... looking pretty is the furthest thing from my mind, as is what those around me look like.
I don't even associate the way one dresses with the commitment one has for education. The only time I really ever notice is when someone is omitting funk... dressing up not required. Soap and toothpaste, on the other hand, are the best creations EVER. Not to mention, I've met people who plug every penny they have into their education, leaving them wearing worn out, stained up items that were, at one point in time, clothing. I'd rather they look like crap than sacrifice part of that education to 'dress the part.'
And I'd say the same for interviews to an extent... unless you know the personal circumstances of those you're interviewing, passing judgment on their abilities based upon what they are wearing is a little harsh. Perhaps the guy you're interviewing is the same one that I talk to down the street every day that's worn the same outfit for a week while he treks in and out of stores asking for a job before heading out to the dumpster to rummage. Getting that interview may be exactly what he needs to afford him the luxury of decent clothing.
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~Fallon~
An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't- A. France
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There is a distinction between being poor by having to pay for education (i.e.... me) and just being a slob because you don't really care, or you want to be the stereotypical 'college student' that shows up to an 8am class in pajammas.
I realize that, but you can't really make that call as to who is which if you don't know their personal circumstances.
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~Fallon~
An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't- A. France
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I disagree.
Someone comes to an 8am class in pajammas with their hair all messed up, looking like they just got out of bed... I'm not thinking that they're too poor to afford 'pricey clothes'
I'm a poor guy, always have been. That doesn't affect one's ability to wake up and take a shower.
Thanks for the heads up. I tend to get nervous when it comes to interviews. I can dress the part, look the part, know what to say, but when they start asking all these questions, my mind says ???? I should go get the book. Thanks again.
There's a ton of questions in the book to get you familiar with the format, and she recommends several on top of that to help strengthen that part of the interview. She also makes several suggestions about how to calm down and what to focus on while you're talking about yourself.
~C
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