Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Dress to Impress

It’s that time of year again when students are headed to interviews for internships and jobs. Here are a few tips to make sure that you are dressing your best.

Image courtesy of RedBrick
Dress for the industry— Business and more traditional, corporate cultures will require more formal attire. In more creative industries you go for a more casual look. Always dress up more for an interview, it shows your commitment and professionalism. 

Be conservative— For ladies this means not wearing anything low-cut or too short. Make sure that your accessories are minimal as well as make up, hair and perfume. For men, keep it simple—neutral colors like navy, black and gray are classics when choosing suits and ties. 

Wear something that makes you confident— Make sure you’re comfortable in your outfit. Walk around, sit down and stand up for a while beforehand to make sure that you will not be adjusting your clothes every five minutes. If you’re confident in how you look, it will come across to the interviewer. Also, make sure you have more than one outfit on hand in case you are called in for a second interview. 

Invest in an iron— Wrinkled clothes are not professional. Iron them the night before your interview so you’re not rushing in the morning. Also keep your clothes clean and in good condition; make sure there are no holes or stains. If there are change right away because those small details can set you apart from the competition. 


Relax and always be yourself— Always put a little bit of your personality into your outfit while still remaining professional. Whether this is a necklace, bracelet, watch, neat shoes etc. Keep it simple but at the same time it shows off yourself. 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Walmart's Halloween Blunder


Image via CNN

This past week Walmart received public backlash after labeling a page on its website "fat girl costumes" instead of "plus size costumes."

The company took the photos down a few hours after the mistake was noticed, but consumers were still able to grab a picture of the site. The company sent out multiple apology tweets saying "This never should have been on our site. It is unacceptable, and we apologize. We worked quickly to remove this." Although there is no excuse for posting the content, Walmart's response was timely and polite.

This is a lesson to all e-commerce sites to be careful before posting content. Small gaffes like this are terrible, but they could be a lot worse if there was another oversight. Think of Target's multiple Photoshop horror stories, with a new one making the news this week. You think they would learn after the first one, but even the biggest companies make mistakes. 

Lesson learned: always check twice before posting anything on your company's behalf. Proofread and look every element over before pushing it out to consumers.