As you travel through life, let's be real: your head does the majority of the work. Your head is capable of all 5 senses. It protects that big, beautiful brain of yours. Your ears are there to listen to criticisms, praise, and stories from good friends. Your eyes help you see all the beautiful things about the world. Your mouth can either set you up for success, or get you in trouble. But what is your head saying about you? What first impressions are you giving potential sisters, bosses, and boyfriends?
The following are my thoughts on how to give your best first impression, focusing only from the neck up.
Hair
I have curly hair. For the majority of my childhood I could not understand why my hair wouldn't lay flat like the "pretty girls" in school. So, I would brush it over and over until I achieved something that looked like a triangle. Close enough! NOT.
Clearly, I had some self esteem issues.. and was horribly confused about where my curly hair came from. Embrace the nature of your hair. If you are not blessed with perfect locks, don't spend all your time trying to imitate the same look as the most popular person you know. Spend some time getting to know your hair. What works? What doesn't? (cough cough, brushing out your curls to a delta shape) You don't need to spend a ton of money on special products. Get together with some sisters and play dress up. Its more fun than simply watching TV or going to the same bar you went to last week and the week before.
People notice crazy hair styles, and its not always a good thing. Don't be a triangle-head or Over-processed Olivia. Spend some quality time getting to know your luscious locks.
Eyes
Eye contact. Heard of it? Thought so. In interview situations, eye contact is major. When you can't look someone in the eye, they could think several things:
- This is weird. Why is she being weird?
- Does she think she's better than me?
- Is she lying? Coming up with the right answer?
- She's embarrassed.
The list could go on and on. When you're on an interview, or recruiting new members, you don't want your conversation partner to be distracted by your eyes. You want them to be connected because of your eyes.
Practice with with girls in your bumping group. Don't forget to blink. That is also really creepy.
Face
Recruitment is not a time to try something new when it comes to make-up. Always try to go for a natural look. You are spending a lot of time face-to-face with a perfect stranger. They don't know your blue eyeshadow is a new hue you're trying out. They think you always look the way you do when they first meet you. Be the best representation of yourself. And that means:
- Dab a little concealer under your eyes to reduce the blue tint from late nights studying.
- Cover blemishes as best you can with concealer, but don't get crazy. That can come off looking cakey and dark. Everyone gets blemishes, so she'll understand if you have a little break out.
- If you're not an eye makeup kind of gal, try out a little mascara to help your eyes seem more awake. Recruitment is tiring, and any help looking less like a zombie will be welcome.
- If you are an eye makeup kind of gal, stick with an eye shadow that goes with your eye color. Blue eyes pop with brown/gold eye shadow. Brown eyes look great with a light purple or gold eye shadow. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT wear blue eye shadow. This is not the 80's. It won't look as good as you want it to. Sorry, not sorry.
- Use a pink-hued blush to give yourself a little color on your cheek bones. I revert back to my zombie comment from earlier... you'll want a little more help looking alive.
- Keep those lips from drying up from all that talking by keeping a small tube of lipgloss in your pocket for in-between recruitment rounds. Not everyone can pull off red lipstick, but I would be willing to bet MOST people can pull off a little shimmery medium pink lip gloss. Try it!
Beyond the make-up, pay attention to what your face does on its own. Have you heard the term "bitchy resting face"? I know, its horrible. But that doesn't make it untrue. When you are having a short reprieve from talking to PNMs, be careful not to look around the room and scowl. No matter what you and the person next to you are complaining about (my feel hurt, when is this round over? I'm starving!), keep a slight smile glued on your face. Not a scary joker grin, but something that doesn't look like you want to stab someone. Give yourself the opportunity to laugh, smile, giggle, and be generally delighted to be surrounded by your sisters.
Ears
Do yourself a favor and get out of your head. Be present in your interview or recruitment conversations. You'll be forced to remember details later when you're scoring the girl you spoke to, or if you get called into a second interview for that dream job. You don't want to go blank when you remember back to this one on one conversation. Listen. Actively listen.
No comments:
Post a Comment