In a sea of applicant uniformity, how can an undergraduate student develop a means of personal differentiation while attempting to land an internship or job? That is the dilemma of the roughly 1.9 million Millennials graduating with bachelor's degrees within the United States in 2015 (Hussar & Bailey, 2015). Although the national unemployment…

The author examined how low-income job seekers participating in a workplace dress program identified traditional business and business casual dress. Seventy low-income job seekers identified clothing items as traditional business (e.g., suits, ties), similar to identifications made by professionals and image consultants in previous literature.…

Spring is interview season for aspiring presidents, provosts, and deans. It's when search consultants spend a lot of time sitting in meeting rooms at airport hotels watching candidates engage with hiring committees in the ritual dance of the preliminary interview. Even after 15 years of that, the author is constantly surprised by the approaches…

When the author introduces the unit on job hunting in his business communication course, he begins by relating his experiences searching for his first "real" job. He points out that the deciding factor for him in accepting a position at Bell Labs, instead of IBM, was Bell Lab's casual dress code. When he decided to retire from the former Bell…

Presents results of the UCLA career center's 1999 Business Attire Survey. The survey polled recruiters about appropriate apparel and accessories for students interviewing for entry-level jobs. Also discusses recruiters' responses beyond the survey questions that reflect corporate policy and personal opinions and help illuminate the quantitative…

Color value of clothing and facial expression were varied in photographs of six female job applicants. Male and female business persons (N=208) judged the photographs. Facial expression significantly affected evaluations of Character-Sociability characteristics. Clothing color value influenced perceptions of Potency, only for male interviewers.…

The influence of physical attractiveness, dress, and job type upon 300 college recruiters' impressions of females' employment potential was investigated. Subjects rated female applicants from a photograph on eight employment potential statements. Results indicate that the applicant's style of dress exerted a consistent influence on recruiters'…

This study was designed to determine if students and recruiters who visited their campuses had similar perceptions of the role of appearance in the pursuit of a career and if their perceptions differed according to selected personal and employment characteristics. (Author)