Proper Office Attire Can Make Or Break The Interview

Dear Tazi:

I am a recent college graduate, which is to say that I do not have a lot of money. My debts (student loans, credit cards) are high and my finances are low; so I do not have a lot of money for life’s necessities, and you can forget about the extras! I am looking for a full-time job in my field, and between my grades and my past internships my résumé looks pretty good!

I have been called in for several interviews, and have always worn my best suit, but apparently my best clothes are not good enough. I do realize my suit is not the latest fashion and my shirt and tie not the latest colors, but once I start making some real money I will be able to afford new dress clothes. Right now, I need someone to take a chance on me so I can prove that what’s underneath the suit is top-notch.

I don’t expect you to be able to offer me any practical advice, but I hope you will print my letter so that maybe the people who hire others will take into consideration that recent graduates have not yet had the chance to build up a 5-star wardrobe, but are willing to do so once they are financially able.

Signed,
More Gooch Than Gucci

Dear More Gooch Than Gucci:

Your situation is not an uncommon one, for graduates or others who are seeking employment after being unemployed for a stretch of time. I realize that you are having a hard time making ends meet, so if new clothes are an impossibility at this time there is not much you can do about it. However, you do not need to be buying Gucci to look good. JC Penney has some nice men’s clothing for not a lot of money. You do not have to go all-out in order to look good for an interview. A new shirt and tie combination will freshen up your look without busting your budget, and all you need is one – for the interview.

Once you have a job, you could budget money each week towards small changes to your wardrobe that will make a big difference in your look. If a new shirt and tie from JC Penney or Wal-Mart are out of your budget, and you are unable to attain a short-term loan from Mom and Dad to assist with these necessary costs, I suggest that you try to make do with what you have; sprucing up as much as possible for your interviews and making sure that you look professional – this means no sagging pants or un-tucked shirts. A professional wears his pants on his upper hip or waist, not “below the equator” as my Mommie’s college R.A. used to say!

You can also mention the elephant in the room when you are interviewing. Tell the Hiring Manager that you realize your wardrobe does not fit with the company image and that you will work to change that once you start earning a paycheck. As impressive as your credentials might be, the companies with which you are interviewing have a public image that they wish to represent. If your look does not meet that standard, you must let them know that you are willing to accommodate them if they are willing to give you a chance. Good luck and happy job hunting!

Snuggles,
Tazi

Post-publication P.S.: OMG!!!! Someone just told me what "gooch" means in today's slang! EWWWWWW!!!!!!

Ask Tazi! is ghostwritten by a human with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Tazi-Kat is not really a talking feline.

Tazi's Corner #49 - Where's The Outrage?

Dear Readers:

Have you ever noticed how the people on the People of Walmart site are mostly white? My hypothesis on this (can’t call it a theory because it isn’t proven) is that white people have just stopped caring.

This week, while perusing the PeopleofWalmart.com website for a mood lift, here are a few of the pictures I found:

Is that poop?

???

Why, God, why?

"Willie the Pimp" is always stylin' with the ladies!

With the exception of Willie the Pimp, all of these people are white. I know it’s just Walmart, and yes I know it is close to 100 degrees outside, but you could at least act like you care about your appearance! This past week, my dear Mommie went to the salon and she wore a lounger – what her brother calls a “Mrs. Roper dress”, although in her defense it was one solid color and she had matching shoes. 

Uh-oh....maybe she did look like Helen Roper!

I thought she looked cute, and she looked white person cute, but once she got to the salon she realized that no woman of color (black or brown) would have been caught beyond the pool in a lounger. She realized, with a deep sense of humility, that she has gotten lazy about her appearance. Lucky for her, she was at the salon and surrounded by people with the training to help her!

Another great place to people-watch is a state fair. I think Jeff Foxworthy covered this one when he described the people you will see at a state fair:

"If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty."

What he did not mention is that most of these people are white; it’s like I said, it seems that white people have just stopped caring.

Back in the 1960’s people of all colors protested what they felt was wrong with our government and our society. Where now is the outrage when our government criticized the citizens of Egypt for rising up against their oppressors? Have Americans forgotten that we were once a country that overthrew our own government? No, I am not talking about the American Revolution; I am talking about the War Between the States (aka The Civil War or the War of Northern Aggression, depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon Line you live).

I hear a lot of complaining about how middle class Americans (which, according to sociologists, are primarily white) are bearing the brunt of the country’s tax burden; how the poor cannot afford to pay taxes for the social benefits they receive and how the über-wealthy manage to find loopholes and offshore accounts in order to pay less and less in taxes. What I do not see or hear are organized protests against all that is unfair! Has the middle class grown too comfortable for their own good?

So why am I addressing this and not the elephant in the room that everyone else is discussing elsewhere? I will not get into the details of what has been on my mind following the verdict of the Trevon Martin/George Zimmerman case because I refuse to fan the flames of the issue, but one thing I will comment on is the fact that I keep seeing a Facebook posting about a white child who was killed by a black teenager, with the caption “Where is the outrage?” I think that is a question that white people need to answer; the Black community does not seem to have an issue with expressing their displeasure when they feel that their rights have been trampled. (Incidentally, there was national coverage for this story when it first occurred; it just seems that people have forgotten).

After Zimmerman was found not guilty of killing Trevon Martin, on the basis of self-defense, protests erupted across the county. I have watched the news…I have read the papers…I have seen pictures online…and there are very few white faces seen participating in these protests. Where is the outrage, white people ask? Perhaps it is they who can answer their own question. But first, they really should take a look in the mirror and make sure that they look like a person that people are going to take seriously. Pants on the Ground is not just an anthem for Black youth anymore.

Snuggles,

Tazi

Ask Tazi! is ghostwritten by a human with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Tazi-Kat is not really a talking feline.

Tazi's Corner Issue #12: The Sad State of Writing Proficiency in America

Dear Readers:

This week I had a revelation – I CAN have cheeseburger!  What joyous news!

Yes, little brother, you CAN!

While marveling over this wondrous discovery, my light little heart sunk like a balloon as Mommie started reading the newspaper aloud; the story left me both disgusted and chagrined.  It stated that only 27% of junior high and high school students tested“proficient” in writing – and that was with the help of spell-check and the thesaurus feature. This got me to thinking: Do people really think that cats suffer from a lack of grammatical skills so deplorable that we are only capable of LOL speak?  Sorry, I digress; as I have said in the past we cats tend to slip into self-centeredness from time to time.

I do all the grammar and spelling corrections myself!

As I was saying, twenty-seven percent of our future adults are considered to be “proficient” in writing; this means that 83% are below the minimum standard set by educational experts.  I thought about this and a cold shiver ran down my body as I wondered, “Who will be left to write Cat Fancy once this generation of writers retires?”  I immediately looked to my Mommie, pleading with her to pick up the torch, but she thought I was pleading for a treat and ignored me.  Darn diet! 

As Mommie continued to read to me, I started wondering when – and why – the writing abilities of our youth have plummeted to such embarrassingly low levels of proficiency.  Is it the use of word processing programs?  Have they made us dependant upon spelling and grammar checks to catch our every mistake?  Is it because grammar is no longer taught in schools?  Is it instant messaging habits that have taught us to sacrifice quality for speed?  I decided that this issue deserved further investigation, and planned for a field trip.  To the Tazimobile, Mommie – let’s go!

I like to imagine the Tazimobile as being this cool...

As it turns out, the Tazimobile was in the laundry, so I jumped into my Tazi-Sack (a much snugger version of the Tazimobile) and accompanied Mommie to her school, a place dedicated to academic excellence...or so I thought.  On this particular day the library was buzzing with activity – the perfect setting for a kitty-cat to wander about unnoticed!  I chose to hide under the computer stations so I could peek out and view what people were writing; I am sorry that I did, for it was hard to resist the temptation to scream “GOOD G-D, I’M BLIND!”  Here is but one example of some of the stuff I saw:

I gotta diskribe a seen for dis paper, but I don’t kno what to rite about.  I am chillin at da skewl and hopin dat sumthin good will happin to rite about so my teacha won’t flunk me for fukkin dis up.

Where do I start?  First, I apologize for the profanity, if that really is what it is...it’s a little hard to tell, considering that the entire narrative is profane in my eyes.  I realize that I can get a little creative with my spelling (I like to use the Canadian “-ie” ending rather than the American “-y”) but at least I stay within the realm of proper spelling and grammatical canon!  What truly makes me sick is that my Mommie’s school (skewl?) is a college!  I’d had enough of the horrors, and climbed back into my Tazi-Sack head first, offering my opinion of the situation in the form of my rear-view. 

After returning home and begging for some treats to calm my nerves, I did a little first-hand research on the possible causes of America’s lack of grammatical proficiency.  Cozying up to a school-teacher friend Mommie had invited over for coffee, I learned that in many school systems teachers are no longer allowed to grade a paper down for incorrect spelling or poor sentence structure.  “Ummm….upon what criteria is the paper graded?” I wondered?  Thankfully, so did Mommie and ironically, the answer was “material content”.  So spelling and sentence structure are now considered immaterial to the content of a paper?  Apparently so; because, according to Mommie’s teacher friend who prefers to remain anonymous, “Not everyone speaks [proper English] in the home, so [teachers] cannot expect students to understand what is correct and what isn’t; by correcting them we are criticizing their cultural way of speaking.  Or so we have been told”.  Parents, please correct me if I am wrong but wouldn’t you prefer that teachers criticize your “cultural way of speaking” – as well as pants on the ground and backwards hats – than allow your child to enter the working world completely unprepared to succeed? 

Say no to crack!  Pull up your pants!

Song: "Pants on the Ground" by General Larry Platt

  

America’s 27% writing proficiency rate is proof that the current methods are not working.  It’s time to try something new and get back to the basics.  It is time to get real, youth of America.  I have heard that the real world doesn’t care about self-esteem; that’s a lesson that will be harder to take if you spend your formative years in a bubble.  Pay now or pay later.

Snuggles to all,

Tazi


Ask Tazi! is ghostwritten by a human with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Tazi-Kat is not really a talking feline.