Getting Awesome

Yesterday I had a job interview (the 3rd in 6 months! I am totally on a roll here) so of course I had to go through the motions:

1. Research.  I spent a few days researching not only the organization (child rights and family law), but also local/national legislation, research reports (in this case from DC Child and Family Services as well as the Children's Defense Fund) and my interviewers (where did they attend school? What did they do before they ended up in their current position? Do they like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain?).  I also look over a list of common interview questions and jot down short responses based on the job listing.  Its a lot like cramming for an exam.  In this case, since I am not especially familiar with custody/family law and the DC foster care system, there was a lot of ground to cover. 

2. Rock the suit.  I am an attorney.  I am an attorney who was raised on the East Coast by a Southern mama.  I wear suits to legal and corporate job interviews.  I also attended Wellesley.  Therefore, I pair my suit with pearls.  When I dress for an interview, I want to convey that I can look professional and that I *care* what the people I will be meeting with think of my appearance.

I actually really like suits.  They are low maintenance, warm and generally flattering.  I don't own many skirt suits (the shock!) but that is because if I want to wear them in winter, decorum and my Southern mama insist I wear pantyhose or tights.  I hate panty hose and tights with the passion of a thousand Sons (of Anarchy) so I tend to limit my skirt suits to Fall and Spring. Sometimes, when have to wear a skirt or dress in the winter, I cheat with riding boots...

For you fashion plates out there: The suit I wore was a gray pantsuit with blue and off white pin stripes (Bennetton, love the cut of their suits).  The shell was off white and V neck.  The pearls were blue. The shoes were embellished neutral flats.


3. Makeup.  I am not a makeup person generally.  If I am networking or going out with friends, I'll do some quick eye makeup and some gloss.  Interviewing, however, requires a full face of the stuff: foundation, eye primer, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara and lipstick.   Is this reflective of being raised in a patriarchal hegemony? Perhaps. For me though, its like wearing a suit: I want to look professional and I want to look like I care.  Since I am usually bare faced, putting on makeup is an extra effort for me.  Making that extra effort puts me in a different frame of mind.  Mac Studio Fix Foundation = Time to Get Serious.

4.  Getting Awesome before the interview.  This is a new part of my preparation... Stay with me here:

One of my Bennetton Wendies (ie Wellesley friends) told this hilarious story about how one of her friends was with a paramour and he wasn't up to par so she said "Get off of me!"  What he heard however was, "Get AWESOME" so he  stopped what he was doing and raised his arms in true Mr. Universe Style.  We have since gotten awesome in photographs as a tribute (ie to mock) that hilarious man.  

Little did I know, however, that getting awesome is also GREAT preparation for the real world.  There is an amazing Ted Talk that features HBS (Shout out to T!) professor, Amy Cuddy, discussing how body language can have both a psychological and physical effect on you. Cuddy and her co-authors found that assuming a high power pose before an interview can raise testosterone (thus assertiveness and power) and lower cortisol (stress). 

Before the interview, I took a few moments while I waited to Get Awesome.  My Awesome pose was more of a Wonderman: straight posture and hands on the hips.  I think my interview went well. I did feel confident and assertive. I did not feel especially stressed even when some hypotheticals were thrown my way (takin' it back to law school)

5. Sending Thank You Notes After the Interview.  I don't know if you know this about me, but I am old skool (thats right, with a "k") in some ways.  I don't wear white after Labor Day/before Memorial Day.  I have a Nokia flip phone. I Don't Smoke Buddha, Can't stand sess, Yes. I still own a pair of Versace jeans from the 90s complete with purple sequins and a high waist (purchased from an Outlet mall, of course). 

Consistent with my sporadic old skool sensibilities, I hand write thank you notes after an interview and send them in the mail (usually with a Black heritage stamp, Miles Davis in this case). Apparently this is a dying practice, which is news to me.  I suppose it is tit for tat because other dying practices in this recession include:

1) Actually acknowledging receipt of an application
2) Following up with interviewees in order to formally reject them.


Now, I get to sit back and wait.  I think this organization is professional enough to give formal rejections.  It is a weird thing to actually look forward to hearing someone say (or reading) that you will not be offered the position.  To me, that is simply an indication of respect and a display of good manners.  Sadly, those are rare things these days so I cling to actual rejections as indications that the world is not completely devoid of courtesy.