Chapter One: Introduction - October 5, 2014

Hello, all and welcome to Hire or Fire: Tales of a College Applicant!

For my dear readers, I started applying for jobs during the summer of my senior year of college; knowing I wanted to pursue a career a in media sales and promotion, I began my search in local radio and television stations near the Chicagoland area.

Throughout my formative years, I obsessed over network television and wanted to pursue a career specifically with NBC. Programming, promotion, and the overall brand of the company is definitely what I wanted to be a part of and I intended to work towards my ultimate goal.

Of course, with goals so big, one must plan accordingly. And, from there, I began my journey to finding the perfect job post-graduation.



 Chapter Two: Cher Horowitz's Closet - October 7, 2014

As everyone knows, looks are everything.

Who am I kidding? Looks aren't always everything but in the interview world, it's your first step into your potential employer's eyes.

The night before my college's career fair, I spent a decent amount of hours planning out to what to wear. As I peer into the abyss that is my closet, I factor in my options of the possible employers I intend to speak to tomorrow:

TQL. CDW. Multiview. So many options...

At this point, I long for Cher Horowitz's closet organizer from the 1995 classic, Clueless and wonder what outfits I could put together for the big day.

Coming across an article from Monster.com, I was able to choose the ideal attire from a series of color descriptions and the messages they convey to employers:

• Blue: You can't go wrong with darker shades of blue, especially navy. Choosing from this powerful spectrum will project an image of someone who is in control. From the interviewer's point of view, the color blue conjures up calm, stability, trust, truth, confidence and security. These are all great messages to send without saying a word.
   
• Gray: After blue, gray is the second most popular color to wear for an interview. Like darker blue, it’s not a distracting color to the interviewer, which means they’ll be focused more on what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Gray denotes sophistication, so use it to your advantage.
   
• Black: This is a commanding color and represents authority. Black also connotes drama, so use it carefully when putting together your interview outfit. You may want to use it as an accent -- like in a scarf or tie, for instance -- rather than as the primary color.
   
• Red: This is an extremely powerful color. It's so strong you should only use it as an accent color. Reds are associated with energy, passion, desire, power and aggression. People think of intensity and passion when they see the color red, so use it sparingly, or it could send the wrong message to the interviewer.
   
• White: White shirts and blouses are always a safe bet. It sends the message of simplicity, cleanliness, precision and goodness.

In the end, I finalized on a simple navy blue dress with decorated beading beneath the neckline, simple yet elegant silver accessories, and black high-heels.