Six Sentence Story: Impression

Published on by Yinglan

When I got my current job, I swore I would never leave and look for another job because of the phrase, “first impression is the most important in any job interview,” well, let me ask you this, would you hire someone who looks like me?

That’s what I thought, no one will hire someone who looks like me. It’s not that I don’t dress properly for interviews, it’s just I somehow give people the impression that I am incapable of getting the job done.

Let me ask you this, who would you hire – a tall brawny guy who looks good in a suit and tie or a little girl with small hands and round face? I wouldn’t hire the girl either but that’s because we’re human and we all have biases whether we like it or not.

So, can you see why I swore to never look for another job?

Written for Six Sentence Story. The prompt is “Impression”.

21 thoughts on “Six Sentence Story: Impression”

  1. Doesn’t seem fair. People shouldn’t pre-judge another on the way they look, only on their experience and ability to do the job they are being interviewed for. … I do like your photo with the pink blossoms! 🙂

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  2. well I am puzzled about why you only gave us two options – a tall brawny guy or roud face girl…. because aren’t workers so much more than those two options.
    However, I do get your point – that sometimes you feel potential bias or a disadvantage – and so many of us can relate to this.
    Trust me, and for some reason I have a certain look that is not very managerial – and I once applied for a top level manager job (it went well, but the business ended up closing) but the interviewer told me that walking up, he thought I was there for the server position. I was like – wow? – Then he saw my resume and experience – but I constantly grapple with how I come across. When i was a counselor in 2001, the girls in my department later told me they thought I would be the biggest pushover – but they said they came to respect me because I cared and was nice, but also could be firm.
    —
    my last thought on this topic is that it also depends on the kind of job someone is going for. There is a time when someone brawny might be needed for a certain job – sometimes job essentials might dictate what is needed or desired.
    There are also times when a certain “type” of person is needed to balance the team.
    For example, years ago, my husband’s company had a lot of introverts on staff and so the new hire coming in really had to be in the extrovert category (that is what they wanted to bring some energy that an extrovert could bring – and there were other job skills)
    And they hired this bubbly girl (with a round face and huge smile) and she is still there more than 10 years later.
    I also have a friend who comes across so stern, he was told that he sometimes intimidated the interviewer.
    And actors go through this naturally. For example, Ricardo Montalbán was type cast for certain parts that had a serious tone – and Suzanne Somers was a slick business woman but usually got certain parts that did not depict that.
    So, I would say potential bias will happen no matter what we look like – and we need to just keep our confidence up and know that in time, people will see our strengths and ability to do the job

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    1. My first undergraduate degree was in engineering. I struggled to get a job in that field because of my appearance. I do not look like someone who can get the job done because a typical stereotype for an engineer is a tall brawny guy. I went to a job fair once for primarily engineering jobs. Walking from booth to booth, sitting behind the table were large-belly men while prospects were tall, scrawny handsome guys, and then there was me. The recruiters saw me and asked what I was doing there. Some didn’t even want to talk to me and I even had someone asked if I was there with my parents.

      Most people sees me as this little child that’s incapable of getting work done and I hate that I’m being seen that way.

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      1. thanks so much for sharing about your experience and that does seem like it can be frustrating – and on a side note – from your posts I could tell you were very intelligent and not surprised “one of” your degrees is in engineering

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      4. Hi
        one more tidbit – I wanted to share this comic that I love – it is a dog looking in the mirror and saying “Oh I am one of those foo foo dogs”

        —
        and not to make this minimized – but do keep in mind that “we get what we get” with our external body and really need to find the beauty in it – even with any perceived flaws or dislikes. Because we should never compare and while there are sometimes social things to manage, at the end of the day I think we just need to accept what we got – for our externals – and not let it define us and try to find comfort and peace with who we are because we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
        and I think there is a spirit in this world that wants people to only see what they are not – or worse – to insult the traits that make them unique and a gift.
        so height, fave shape, hair, skin tone – it is all only part of who we are and the mind and personality are what we need to remember makes up more of us.

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  4. “…we’re human and we all have biases whether we like it or not.”

    true, but the difference between good and bad people is the willingness to accept our biases and rise above them, after all, we’re responsible for how we feel

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  7. I’m short and dumpy, so I get it, it doesn’t look like I can do what I do, yet here I am (a janitor who “totes barges and lifts bales” as I like to say).

    My hero in this situation is Dr. Brandy Duhon. When she was 13 she got meningitis and they had to amputate both of her hands midway up the forearm and part of her right heel in order to save her life.

    She always wanted to be a veterinarian and decided the amputations were no reason to give up on her dream and applied to vet school twice and was refused when they found out. Then she tried again and sent them a video of her doing her vet tech job and they realized she could do it.

    She’s now not just a veterinarian, she’s the veterinary recruiter for Banfield Pet Hospitals, a nationwide group.

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