So my company ran an ad in the paper last week looking to hire some seasonal help. We’re looking for portrait photographers to work with children. You don’t have to be Yousef Karsh to do this work, but you do have to appear to be reasonably trustworthy as you’ll be dealing with people’s kids. We have a small business here…low pressure, fun & relaxed…I’m not expecting high end power brokers. I am expecting you to show me you care.
So don’t wear old broken in jeans to the interview.
I’ve conducted about a twenty interviews. All of them have worn jeans. Many of them have complimented the ensemble with sneakers as well. I’m not one to judge people by the way they dress, but I kind of have to when I’m conducting a job interview. Show me you care enough to button up some buttons on a shirt, would ya? Show me you possess the ability to iron a pair of pants. Was I insane to wear ties to all the interviews I ever went on? This isn’t just about one loner who didn’t want to dress up for an interview…not a single one did!
These intrepid would be photographers are encouraged to bring samples of their work. I recall the days of my youth when I went on interviews. I was a fresh faced photog with a gleam in my eye & something to prove. I’d present my portfolio with anticipation…watching the interviewer flip though the pages, noticing the care I put into each & every print. I wanted to make the best impression possible. Yesterday, I interviewed a man who had run his own photography business for 15 years. When asked to show me samples, he reached into his jacket pocket & pulled out a stack of 4x5 proofs banded together with a rubber-band. A woman from Monday’s run of futility produced a lovely manila envelope where prints of various sizes were kept along with her resume (which contained 3 pages & six spelling errors) and her written directions to my office. The only thing approaching a quality portfolio was presented to me last Thursday by a college student, and it’s pages reeked of weed. I’d wager she rolled joints on the damn thing. Is it so hard to run down to Office Max or something and purchase a case for your prints & keep it reefer-free?
I’m not some old crank whining about “kids today.” Most of these applicants were older than me. I’m 32. I wear jeans & t-shirts most days of my life. I have long-hair…I’m not so conservative that I can’t see past someone based on looks. But when you come into my office for a job interview, you are supposed to be attempting to impress me.
So, my fellow Dopers…If you decide to apply for a photographer position with any company I have some advice.
Organize your work. Don’t show me how fucking creative you are by presenting me with prints of women’s nipples pierced when applying for a job photographing children. All you are showing me is that you are a lonely pathetic fuckhat trying to impress me by proving you can get a woman to pose nude. Guess what? I don’t give a rat’s ass who you slipped ruffies to. Loser. Get a fucking clue.
Make an attempt at dressing appropriately. Don’t wear your oldest, most broken in leather jacket to the interview, and refuse to take it off. I know you’re concerned about revealing the stained red sweatshirt that’s 2 sizes too small for your flabby fucking self, but maybe you should have thought of that before picking out your “they’ll hire me for sure!” outfit. I’ve got nothing against leather jackets, even the ones that look like they’ve been worn every God-damned day since you bought it for that Warrant concert back in ’89. You won’t impress potential employers with fringe. You shmuck. Oh…and Warrant sucks. They always have.
Don’t smell of illegal drugs. You might think it goes without saying that if you are applying for a job to photograph children , but what the fuck do I know? Maybe 9 year old kids love the scent of sweet, sweet cheeba. You kow what? Fabreeze your ugly fucking blouse AND your portfolio filled with your pathetic attempt at creativity. Just because you work looks good [JonStewart]on weed!![/JonStewart] doesn’t mean I’m going to be impressed. Did you think I’d light up a phatty before the interview? See if your college offers a course in common sense. Sign up for it. Failing in that (I’d expect you to fail) maybe you should just hit yourself in the head with a baltine hammer. After all, I wanted to during your inconceivably terrible interview.
So in conclusion…to everyone who interviewed with me for the past 4 days. You all suck. You have no future. You have no talent. I hate you all.
You have my sympathies on that. I’ve had the same problem as an employer.
Thing is, I’m even younger than you are (26) and am shocked by what passes for professional behavior these days. There’s no sense of putting in your time, toeing the line, etc. until you have shown that you’ve got a good track record. People are willing to accept all sorts of idiosyncrasies if you’re good enough… problem is, the first assumption I make when someone like this walks through the door is not that they are overqualified.
“Heaven” is going to live on until long after you’re gone, fogey, and harshing their fans’ mellow because you’re ticked you didn’t write it is uberlame.
Seriously, though, I am behind you 100% on this one. I coached at a well-known “progressive” college, and I remember hearing a lot of, “Well, they should look past their own conventions and have the perception to recognize my unique talent,” as if the right to a job were enshrined in the constitution. The kids would actually get angry when their appearance was made an issue. After a while, I just used to offer the appearance advice as a caveat and try to ride out the incensed tirade.
It’s like an apple for the teacher, you nimrods. You can be Ansel Adams for all I care, but if that paste-eating idiot that can’t stay inside the lines is the one that is going to be signing your paychecks, it won’t kill you to tailor your approach to that demographic. You’re not entitled to money, despite what mommy and daddy tell you.
I’m tempted to print this out and take it to work with me. I work at a career services office, and issues like the appropriate dress for job interviews come up a lot.
I like the rant, especially the part about Warrant, my first rock concert incidentally (they were opening for the Crue)
Fear Itself probably has a good point, but it’s still a single opening in a specialized field which at the very least offers experience and material for a future resume, not exactly a cashier job at McDonalds. It’s a bit insulting for an applicant to not have even bothered to get a fresh new manilla folder that didn’t stink of weed.
Heck it’s even more insulting to get this kind of unpreparedness from a guy who has run his own business for 15 years!! That’s not some kid who just hasn’t learned appropriate interview behavior yet, that’s someone who is so sure he will get the job that he probably thinks it beneath him. You can’t even excuse that with a grumpy old “kids today!”.
Wow. I bought new shoes and wool dress pants from Ann Taylor (with money I could barely spare) for a crucial second interview last Friday. It was raining/snowing and I had to take the subway and busses and all, but I even bought my good shoes with me in my briefcase and slipped into them and rechecked my hair and makeup in a department store bathroom before I dared to step into the building. I guess I’m totally old-fashioned. I’ve been dressing up for interviews since I was 22, eighteen years ago, and everybody in school and out told me that’s what you do. One of the components of the welfare-to-work programs here in NY is telling folks that they have to dress for interviews/work and how to do it.
Those people are morons, one and all, but if that’s ALL you’re getting I agree you need to see how much you’re offering and what sort of pubs or sites your ad is in. Make sure your ad isn’t an exclusive to HIGH SOCIETY or something.
Marge: Yes, my father had a bit of Tourette’s. It cost him his job as a baby photographer.
<apologies to anybody with Tourette’s, I know it’s not really like that, but Simpsons quotes are always in order>
I’d love to see American business culture finally wholeheartedly reject the idea of business attire. I mean, as a programmer, I get to dress business casual - which is nice, but not ideal. I’d much rather be wearing clean, well-maintained jeans than casual pants right now - much more comfy.
What does a suit and tie prove anyway? “I have enough money to buy a suit and tie”? Big whoop. It’ll stop when employers stop thinking that the way a person dresses (beyond simple cleanliness) has anything to do with their job performance.
That’s crap. When I went for interviews for mimimum wage jobs, I wore a skirt/hose/nice blouse. When I’ve gone in to register with temp agencies (which means doing typing tests and the like, not real high level stuff) I wear a suit.
To do anything less is just stupid. And, believe me, I resent the hell out of “business attire”.
The people who think how you look is important are assholes. It is OK to hate them. But they are almost always the ones who do the job interviewing, so if you want the job, you have to dress for them, it’s that simple. But it is important to know they are asshats and to hate them for it. Do not give them a free ride because they have money and you don’t.
Our world is full of hateful stupidity, we have to learn to fight it even when it is in power, because it very often is.
So, this is not a case of one or two people bucking the standards. Every single one of your applicants has come to the interview wearing jeans. Is it possible that it’s you who are somewhat out of touch with normal interview attire in your field of work?
Secondly, an economics-type question, one of supply and demand.
You need a photographer (maybe even more than one?). Your prospective employees are turning up in what you consider to be inappropriate attire. If this continues to happen, how long will it be before your need for a photographer outweighs your dislike for people who wear jeans to interviews? Or are you willing to forego hiring someone altogether just to make a point?
You complained about the guy who handed you a packet of photos wrapped in a rubber band. I think this is a perfectly reasonable complaint. I’ve known pro photographers who spend most of their time in jeans (except when doing weddings), but who always have a professional-looking portfolio.
So, just out of interest, did any of your candidates have a well-presented portfolio that showed they were a competent, professional photographer? And if so, how hard would it be for you to say: “Well, you certainly have the photographic skills and experience that we require. This job, however, requires a certain minimum standard of dress, which is [insert dress code here]. Would you be willing to do the job based on that requirement?”
Call me crazy, but it seems to me that your priorities are a bit skewed. I mean, i could turn up at your place for an interview looking all spiffy in a nice suit, crisp shirt and classy tie, but i wouldn’t have the necessary photographic skills. These guys turn up in jeans, but they know how to do the job. Which do you think is easier for you, and better for your business: asking me learn how to be a pro photographer, or asking one of them to put on a pair of nice pants and a collared shirt?
WTF? I thought it was standard practice to dress nicely for an interview. When you dress nicely for an interview, you are telling the hiring party, “I respect you and your business.”
When you dress shabbily, you’re saying, “Show me the money.”
I know who I’d hire.
Now, if only I could get an interview to show off my ability to dress nicely.
You know what it proves? It proves the applicant has some idea of how the working world works and is willing to put in a little extra effort to show that he or she wants the job. It’s a great technique for weeding out those who just wander in off the street and also those who fail to understand that most jobs involve rules that may seem assinine but are still part of the job.
They are also almost always the ones that are looking to buy your product or service. You think a smart business owner/manager will disregard this?
When you see someone that is dressed shabbily, or shows only a vague awareness of hygene, are you telling me that your first impression is ‘super genius’? ‘Dangerously competent,’ perhaps?
