You may be wondering why you should always dress up for a phone interview. The simplest answer is that clothing affects your ability to communicate.
Clothing affects your confidence and changes your mindset
There’s something empowering about dressing “up.” It changes your demeanor and studies have shown that it influences the way we think. I always tell clients to dress up for phone interviews, because it makes a difference in how you think and how you speak.
A phone interview is the first impression you’re giving your potential employer for who you are as a person, and not just on paper, so it’s important to make a big impact.
We’re often able to think more clearly and efficiently when dressed in workwear because it differentiates us from a more laid back and social environment in which one would wear casual clothing.
Since your interviewer can’t see you, it puts a bigger impact on how you speak
Because the interviewer can’t see you and see your body language, your voice and the language you use holds more weight than it would in a standard in-person interview. By taking a call in your pajamas, (whether it’s subconscious or not) your mind will have a hard time differentiating between relaxing time and work time. You will most likely also have a harder time picking up on verbal cues and showing your strongest potential to the interviewer. If you take a phone interview in clothing in which you sleep and relax, your mind will have a harder time leaving that state and entering work mode.
Don’t just dress the part, pretend that you’re in a face to face interview
Dressing the part is important, but if you’re leaning back with your feet up, dressing well won’t do you much good. Pretend that you’re in a face to face interview and sit up straight at your desk. Holding your head high and rolling your shoulders back won’t just make you look confident, but it will improve the sound of your voice as well. Good posture enables you to breathe deeply in and out through your abdomen, which is how actors and other public speakers project their voices to resonate.
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When you’re wondering why you should always dress up for a phone interview, think about why dress codes were enacted at the office in the first place. They establish a sense of formality, they command respect, and they differentiate settings of work and play.
It might sound easy and normal to take a phone interview in your regular clothes, however dressing up as if you were going to an in-person interview will help you think clearer, speak more professionally, and better develop your answers. When you accept the invitation, look your best to be your best!