The Street-Smart Salesman: How Growing Up Poor Helped Make Me Rich

Chapter 8

Managing First Impressions

Is that the way you look?

—James Taylor

 

Indulge me for a moment. Ask yourself: Why is it important to look your best for a job interview? The answer is simple and twofold: The interviewer has limited time to assess your suitability and zero tolerance for risk. The way you look in person is easily as crucial to your getting a job as the way you look on paper or anything you say or do during your interview. Steve Jeffes, the crusading author of Appearance Is Everything, argues that appearance discrimination plays a little-understood role in all relationships¹ (business, academic, personal), and he has even argued for an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to address it.

People who look good have an easier path in life. It's the truth, so why fight it? Why not look good instead? Your look is your brand and branding is both the most immediate and potentially long-lasting form of differentiation. The boost a guy could get from a single cool item of clothing was one of the earliest lessons I learned in East Harlem, me with the one faded pair of pants, one pair of taped-up shoes, one threadbare shirt, one dingy jacket (with a once good-looking racing stripe down the sleeves). A well-put-together person, male or female, even if not classically or anywhere near handsome or beautiful, always gets the benefit of the doubt from a stranger. Plus, when you look good, you feel good, meaning you radiate confidence. And confidence is what encourages ...