When was the last time you heard the word “etiquette”? The word brings to mind the Victorian era and unnatural rules of behavior. Is it out of place in the 21st century?
Not if you take a good look at the reasons employers most often cite for choosing not to hire certain applicants.
Lack of punctuality is a top reason employers give for passing up job applicants.
Employers see everything a job seeker does as some indication of how they will perform as an employee. Their rule of thumb: “Late for the interview, late for work.”
Next!
Be polite to the receptionist or secretary when you check in. Some people tend see such employees as being low on the corporate pecking order. This assumption is a mistake. The hiring authority is likely to check with them about what they thought of you after the interview.
Bringing a friend or family member with you to the interview is a business discourtesy. I saw this one frequently at the employment office where I worked for many years. Frequently, a spouse or a parent would show up with a nervous applicant to make sure they got it right. I once heard an employer’s representative ask the job applicant “Who wants this job, you or your mother?”
Twenty-first century American culture is progressively casual. Presidents want to be called Jimmy or Bill. Some professors prefer that students call them by their first names. But companies in private industry buck this trend, especially in the hiring process. Address those in the interview process as Mr. and Ms. unless told to use their first names.
If you are called into the manager’s office for the interview, do not sit down until invited to do so. If someone comes into the office, stand up to greet him or her. Private industry places a greater emphasis on respect for authority than does our general society.
If the interviewer doesn’t like you, your skills, experience, education and resumé won’t matter. And likability can trump competence. “It’s never worth hiring someone you dislike or someone who’s likely to be disliked among staffers,” said Alexandria Levit, author of “They Don’t Teach Corporate in College: A Twenty-Something’s Guide to the Business World,” (Career Press, 2004).
To my great surprise, an employer listing a job opening for a salvage-yard laborer once told me that people skills were an important quality he’d be looking for in a candidate.
“Customers who come to our business like to wander around a bit,” he explained.
“They may ask a worker where something is located, and I want that worker to make the customer feel comfortable at our business. Their social skills are as important as their mechanical skills.”
Handshakes are a required course for anyone going to school on job-hunting skills. After appearance, a handshake is the next opportunity for an applicant to make a good first impression. Some job seekers fail hand-shaking by being too limp, trying to crush the other person’s hand and by failing to extend the hand vertically.
It is not unusual for the job interview to involve lunch. Poor table manners can be an automatic “fail” in the job search process. I suggest checking out an etiquette book from the library to brush up on the polite way to wield a napkin or hold a fork.
The old rule that one should follow the lead of the host applies in the 21st century lunchtime job interview. Please, don’t order something more expensive than the boss. If I were participating in an interview lunch I would avoid my personal favorite, liver and onions. Your choice should not be exotic or messy.
Not knowing the difference between a soup spoon and a dessert spoon may not doom a job seeker, but table conversation certainly can. This can be a land mine. If there is an after-interview, luncheon conversation frequently departs from resumés, job duties and fringe benefits and dives into small talk. “I can relax now,” the unwary job seeker thinks, but even small talk is part of the test. Avoid controversy, profanity and off-the-wall comments. Steer clear of politics. If you are conversationally challenged, read the morning newspaper with an eye toward coming up with some topics that might help tide you over.
Businesses use the interview lunch to observe applicant’s social skills. You should be doing the same. I recall a worker telling me, “What was I thinking? At the interview lunch, my bosses told me how to fix problems with the school system, baseball and American marriage. I should have known this was a bad match for me.”
Gratitude is the most important element in job-search courtesy. Thank the receptionist for their help when you check in. Thank the interviewer. And follow up with a written thank-you to all who were involved in the interview process.
Thank you for reading! And good luck with the job search.
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