Looking & interviewing for a job

The following, in no particular order, are my tips (and some tips I've got from elsewhere & have no clue where) of things to do when you are hunting for a job. I do these even if I'm just going in asking for an application.

1. Dress nice -- Even if you are headed to the local fast food joint to look for a job, make sure your clothes are nice. If the job you are going for is more casual; nice jeans, semi dressy shirt, nice shoes. If a less casual job wear "your Sunday best"
2. Even if you do not normally carry a purse or wear a watch, grab them both.
3. If you are like me and don't wear make-up, make sure you wash your face and brush your teeth right before leaving the house. (i mean IMMEDIATELY before, not a couple hours before)
4. If you are gone all day job hunting and will have to eat while you are out, take tic tacs or some other breath mint with you.
   
5. If it is summer time and all your dress shirts are 3/4 or long sleeves, wear a tank undershirt and leave with enough time to overshoot your destination, stop & put on dress shirt, then go back. When you leave pull out of their lot before stopping to take dress shirt off. Do this for each destination so that you are not sweating in your nice shirt. This is both for your comfort as well as for appearance.
6. If you are having a bad hair day and you get a last minute interview call, run your brush under water before pulling it through your hair. Other options: pony tails, buns (NOT messy buns), & claw clips are wonderful last minute ways to make even the messiest hair look marvelous.
7. Take a bottle of water with you. Even when you go in for an interview. (water, not pop...employers appreciate health conscious people) If a question is asked that you do not have an immediate answer for, take a drink. This gives you time to think on it and answer without all the stammering. (heard this one...no idea where)
8. Get a hand exfoliating scrub and use it & hand lotion right before you leave. This makes your hands 'baby soft' for all the hand shaking you will be doing. (also take lotion with you small enough to conceal in your pocket as we all know lotion wears & washes off)
9. If you are concerned about germs and like to use hand sanitizer, do NOT do this right in front of the person you are interviewing with. It has the possibility of offending the person who's hand you just shook.
10. If you have a scheduled time to meet, be there 5 minutes early. "If you are early you are on time, if you are on time you are late.
11. A do not thrown in for good measure. DO NOT ask for a job application through a fast food restaurant's drive thru window or in a store while you are walking around with your kids & a cart full of stuff. This can give the impression that you don't really NEED the job and most managers would prefer to give their jobs to someone who NEEDS one rather than someone who WANTS one. Someone who NEEDS a job is more likely to show up on time and not call off than someone who WANTS a job.
12. (kinda continuation of #11) I have even worked at a Burger King where the store manager would tell people who called instead of coming in, that they were not hiring even if we were DESPERATE for people. He felt that if they were too lazy to come into the store to ask, then he didn't want them. I still call around places asking if hiring, because not all managers feel the same about this as my former manager did. However if a place flat out tells me they are not hiring, I will go there in person and ask again a couple of days later. (not "we're always accepting applications" but a "sorry, we're not hiring right now")
13. "We're not currently looking for anyone but are always accepting applications." is not something you want to put the most effort into if you need a job. Write them down and put them on the list of places to visit and turn in an application, because you never know, but usually those places do not immediately amount to anything.
14. Call and check on your applications. If you know for sure that somewhere is hiring and they have your application, give them a call in a week and see where they are in the process. I wouldn't hound them unless you know people who work there & they tell you that the hiring managers need hounding though.