How The Colour Of Your Clothes Can Give You An Advantage At Interview

Yellow for the Japanese, avoid orange with American companies, wear black to say you’re in control, green if you want to give a calming impression and royal blue to portray a sense of urgency… How far would you go to get the edge over your opponent at interview? Are you the type of person who will put on the first thing that comes to hand, or do you wear the same grey suit to every interview? Care needs to go into deciding what to wear for an interview and that includes colours, whether that be the colour of your clothes or your accessories. Don’t underestimate the power of colour. Here’s 6 reasons why: Advantage colour If you’ve done your research on the role you’re being interviewed for you may have found out a bit of extra information which could be used to your advantage. Are they in a hurry to fill the role? If they are, then the colour you wear could enhance that urgency. Red, as well as royal blue, are colours often used in sales to create impulse purchases, perhaps a red scarf or a royal blue tie could help with a speedy decision. Did the last person in the role lack control? If so, by wearing black to the interview you’re telling the interviewer you are completely in control. Maybe the last person created stress in the workplace if that’s the case then by wearing green to the interview you silently say “I am a calm person, I relax people.” Culture colour Perhaps you’re having an interview with a Japanese company, did you know that yellow in Japan represents courage? If courage is something you want to get across, perhaps the position involves taking risks, the Japanese interviewer would be pleased to see the colour yellow. If you were to have an interview at an American company then you would avoid the colour orange, it's one of their least favourite colours, however, an interview at a Dutch company, orange would be the right choice, they love orange! In China, red represents good luck and fortune. Safe colour Even with the emergence of Glassdoor, there are still some smaller businesses that have very limited information available about them. You put in the research but you’re still none the wiser about the type of people they employ or the culture of the company, so what do you do? An option is to play it safe, the safest colour to wear to an interview is blue, it’s not confrontational, it's calm and confident, which are great silent messages to give out. Blue is a business colour, if you’ve ever watched an episode of The Apprentice, the programme is colour graded blue, subliminally the viewers receive a message that they are watching a business show, that’s the power of the colour blue! Their colour Could you be persuasive by colour matching their brand colour? For example, if their colour was red like the famous Virgin brand, could you stand out above the competition by wearing red accessories? The answer is yes; subliminally the interviewer could think you automatically fit their company because for “some reason” you look like you would. Little would the interviewer know the amount of planning you have put in to make sure you look like you already belong. Your colour Do you have a favourite colour? Your favourite colour can tell the interviewer a lot about your personality, character, attitude and confidence. It’s a good way to give a little bit of yourself away at an interview. A “little bit” is the key here, don’t go to an interview dressed head to toe in purple or pink, that would be giving too much of yourself away, being subtle is best. So, for your next interview, spend a little while longer thinking about the power you have with an added splash of colour!