APU Business Careers Careers & Learning

The Secrets to a Great First Impression

creating-positive-first-impressionBy Donald Ray West, PhD, PE, MBA
Faculty Member, School of Business at American Public University

Everyone knows the saying that one only has one opportunity to make a first impression. This is as true in your career as in any other aspect of life.

When I worked for a large corporation, a C-level manager expressed that he could speak with a young potential new hire for five minutes and know where the new hire would be in the management chain 20 years in the future. I doubted this ability; however, if the manager believed this his first impression would have a great impact on the potential new hire’s probability of being selected. First impressions are important in the job world.

Manage your own first impression. Start with a strong professional approach to start time, dress, preparation, and advertisement. A quick review of each of these is in order.

Start early – Be on-time. To not be on time or late is disrespectable to all the others who are waiting. The person who apologetically states that he or she is sorry to be late, has in essence told those waiting that their time is not as important as the person who arrives late.

At high levels in corporate America, the top executive will always be the last to arrive. This reinforces the “importance factor,” but new or relatively new employees do not have that luxury.

Dress properly – Correctly or incorrectly, people are judged by their dress. A person’s appearance gives a visual signal of the authority of the individual. Always dress for the job that you desire rather than the job that you hold.

Notice the dress of highly-paid management consultants. Look in the executive board rooms and see the suits. Notice the red and yellow power ties. Make sure you make a good impression by the way that you dress.

Be prepared – When interviewing or going to a meeting, bring background information. If some question arises in a meeting and you have the information, then you will make a good impression.

Toot your horn – Share your relevant achievements so that people understand what you bring to the workplace.

Make a positive first impression and set a good foundation for your professional career.

[Related: 7 Ways to Master Your Professional Image]

About the Author: Dr. Donald West received his Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate in Industrial and Systems Engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.  A minor in Business from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Master of Business Administration from Strayer University in Washington, DC were also earned.

Comments are closed.