Why is a first impression so important? Mainly because it could also be your last, and only, impression on someone. Oftentimes, job seekers can fail at conveying a positive first impression, and they will unfortunately never get another chance to show who they truly are. This is an area that I feel is too often overlooked and not taken seriously enough during the interview process. Or, is it just simply not taught or encouraged? It is not just in interviews and business meetings where impressions matter, but in all areas of our lives and encounters, professional and personal. We are always being judged and assessed, whether we realize it or not.

To illustrate the point, I would like to share a recent encounter that I had with a job seeker. We had a phone call scheduled for a set time to discuss potential opportunities. Keep in mind that this job seeker made it clear that she was very eager to find a new position and had proactively reached out to me to ask for my help. When I called her at the time of our pre-scheduled interview, she answered the phone with “Hello?” in a faint and almost confused voice, as if the call was coming as a complete surprise to her. My first impression was that she either forgot that we had scheduled the call for that allotted time, or I had woken her up.

It turned out that neither scenario was the case – that faint greeting was just how she answered the phone for our interview. The call continued and eventually