Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?: A Crash Course in Finding, Landing, and Keeping Your First Real Job (26 page)

If your cell phone service is likely to cut in and out, arrange access to a landline. And under no circumstances should you ever put the interviewer on hold, for call-waiting or anything else.

Dress for the call. Talking in your pajamas may lull you into an overly relaxed frame of mind. If you feel professional, you’ll sound it.

Make sure you are in a quiet place where there will be no interruptions. You don’t want your mother calling you for lunch or your dog barking
in the middle of the interview. Do not multitask; focus on listening to the interviewer and preparing your answers.

Sit at a desk with a pen, pad, and your résumé in front of you.

Prepare a written list of questions and messages you want to impart about your candidacy.

Do not be late for the call. Confirm a day ahead by phone or e-mail. “Hi, this is Stuart Little calling to confirm tomorrow’s phone interview at 3:30. I understand that Mr. White will be calling me at 123-456-7891. Please let me know if anything changes.”

If the employer is calling you, be ready at least five minutes early.

Send a thank-you note. This was an interview. See page 164.

I
NTERVIEWS OVER MEALS CAN BE TRICKY
.
In addition to the usual stress of an interview, you’ll have to deal with distractions—other diners, the waiter, your food—and show off your social skills. Interviews over meals may take place to save the interviewer time, but they’re also tests in and of themselves.

That’s why it’s especially important that you follow the basic rules of etiquette. Your table manners should be impeccable. Check Emily Post’s guidelines if you need to, especially if you’re dining in a formal restaurant and aren’t familiar with fancy silverware settings. (Basically, you start on the outside of the setting and work your way in, course by course.) Say please and thank you, do not reach across the table for food, do not talk with your mouth full. Do not lean on the table with your elbows, ask for a doggie bag, or exhibit aggressive or rude behavior toward the waitstaff. Never ever use a toothpick at the table after the meal. Do not make special demands—“I’ll have the dressing on the side, and please substitute X for Y and P for Q”-unless you truly have special health concerns that don’t allow you to eat anything on the menu as is. Even if it’s your usual shtick, it will mark you as demanding and compulsive.

Interviews over meals can be tricky. In addition to the usual stress of an interview, you’ll have to deal with distractions—other diners, the waiter, your food—and show off your social skills.

No matter what you’re in the mood for, order no finger food, nothing that requires dipping, and nothing that’s messy (buffalo wings, linguine, and chili-bacon cheeseburgers, for example). Don’t order the most expensive thing on the menu, and don’t order an appetizer and dessert if the interviewer doesn’t. Follow his lead. Some other guidelines:

DON’T TAKE THE COOKIE

Drinking: Don’t, even if they do. If they “insist,” get something light (nothing harder than a glass of wine) and nurse it. You cannot afford even mild intoxication.

Smoking: Don’t, even if they do.