A candidate recently didn’t get the job offer they were hoping for. There had been an initial interview via Zoom and then a second interview which was face to face. Feedback from the client was quite brutal, the candidate was deemed to be ‘scruffy’, had paid no attention to their personal appearance and was wearing Crocs. The role they were interviewing for was reasonably senior and client facing so the agency MD felt that this person wasn’t the person they wanted to be representing them with this particular client. There are two points that I wanted to raise in this blog. Firstly, that we have all spent the last two years in ‘loungewear’. Certainly from a personal perspective I am a million miles away from the attention I used to give to my appearance prior to the pandemic. Whilst I have made an effort when on Zoom calls, I’ve found a quick and low maintenance routine that has served me well and takes less than a quarter of the time that I would take for an actual face to face meeting (Thanks Trinny London). Where we’ve had to make a bit more of an effort, I’d hazard a guess that the effort might have been to our top half only. We’re fortunate that throughout the pandemic, interviews have been conducted perfectly well remotely and plenty of people have quite possibly found jobs whilst wearing their Crocs - out of sight! However, more clients are now seeking face to face second interviews and I think we’re all going to have to step up our game in terms of presentation and how to dress to impress. The second point is exactly that - dressing to impress or how to dress to get the job you want. As with all my blogs, the advice is all about people who work in creative agencies*1 - be they digital, PR, integrated, branding or advertising. We’re fortunate here too that this is not a formal sector. The days of being suited and booted for interviews are long gone but it is always worth doing a bit of research to see where the boundaries are for the particular future employer you are interviewing with. There is obviously a baseline of paying attention to personal hygiene and overall presentation. However, I still personally counsel a ‘smart casual’ approach to interviews. You can be too smart and still get the job*2 but you generally can’t be too scruffy and get the job! On a day to day basis, most creative agencies are relatively dressed down but at an interview you still want to present your best self. Ask your recruiter for advice on this or if you are directly interviewing, ask the talent team what they recommend. Personal grooming is important and many employers believe that someone who takes an interest in presenting themselves well will also take pride in their work and will give a good representation of the employer to their clients. I advise that you err on the side of business casual. Steer clear of jeans, anything ripped, no flip flops (or Crocs!). Make sure you are clean, smell good or at least neutral (you wouldn’t think you’d have to say that would you?). Simple accessories and try not to display anything that will make a future employer ‘judge you’ in a negative way. You could argue the case for ‘this is who I am’ employ me for my skills not how I look. However, employers are businesses, they are professionals and in an interview situation, you do need to impress on all levels. Employers may have different expectations for people with different roles - for example a back end developer who is not client facing will be fine in jeans on a day to day basis but not so much for an Account Director who is leading a flagship account - say a global FMCG client. The fact remains that for the interview process - keep it tidy.