Grooming for your job interview or first date.1st impressions last!

Our first impression is our best chance at catching someone’s attention. In a modern world personal grooming has never been more important as a tool to use to your advantage.

If you have facial hair its imperative that you ensure its looked after, sharp and on point for any job interview you will be attending. A beard is a feature that other men will admire, it shows dominance and masculinity (study). Don’t let yourself down by having a flaccid or thin looking pathetic excuse for a beard by not grooming before interview day.

The same goes for a date. You don’t want to jeopardise your chances with a lovely lady by forgetting the grooming basics and ending up with impotent thinning facial hair, or worse, a flaky dandruff ridden man mo.

So what steps should you take to guarantee you gain the admiration of those around you?

Heres a few basics that will make sure your grooming is on point ready for race day.

Prepare in advance.

If you don’t usually shave your neck, you are going to have to start if you want to make your date weak in the knees or your new boss jealous of your manliness.

Run your fingertips down your chin and under your face, you will feel a change in angle before your throat. This is the line you are going to want to shave too. This is why you need to prepare in advance, you don’t want to be experimenting with new products or trying to find the right beard line just before launch day.

You want to at least try them a few days before crunch time. This will guarantee you don’t have break outs or rash on your skin or a slightly off beard line while you impress the shit out of these guys. Keep the edge line straight and free of strays, a straight razor is perfect for this purpose. You can find them HERE.

Next is keeping that facial forest hydrated.

When it comes to grooming you want to make sure you use a beard balm/moisturiser or oil leading up to your appointment. This will keep the skin nice and hydrated and prevent flaky skin appearing later. Brush your beard regularly and make sure its completely dried after a bath or shower as this will cause dryness deep in the skin of your beard later if not done correctly. If applying moisturiser, place it on the tips of your fingers and rub it in by using your finger tips to ruffle your beard. You can find all the grooming tools you will need HERE

Blend the edges.

If you have scissors and some skill, or a adjustable hair trimmer. You are going to want to blend your beard with your side burns. Nothing looks worse than a bulbous beard jutting out. Find the setting on your trimmer that makes it to high to touch the hair and slowly reduce it until it eventually trims the top of the hair, lifting at the end of each stroke downward. Don’t take too long of a stroke or you will make uneven sides and have to constantly correct the length until you destroy your luscious face fur.

Haircut.

If you have short hair you need to get that shit sorted. Get a nice fade or at the least a trim. The style you choose is yours but the impression is others keep that in mind if you colour your hair or you are partial to mohawks. Hats are illegal at job interviews, so make sure you have a doo worthy of display.

Its not over if you have long hair, you don’t have to cut off your luscious locks, but you will need to make sure they are tidy and clean. Use a good moisturising pomade like this one from Black Magic Organic that keeps your hair shiny and soft with a slight hold that will prevent frizz or strays.

The Moustache

A simple trim to keep it in line with the top of your lip will suffice for most, but if it is longer, use some wax or firm beard balm like THIS one here to keep your moustache out of your mouth hole.

Lastly is to make sure you are picture perfect before you walk out the door for your new career as a astrophysicist or your date with that cover girl.

 This means picking clothes that are tidy, and appropriate for the position. Free of pilling or tears or excessive wear or stains. Doing your hair with hair product and using some beard oil and/or balm to give it some sheen and moisten the skin underneath.

 Insure your teeth are clean and breath is fresh, (I recommend using 3% peroxide for the week leading up to your interview or date if you have stained teeth as it is an excellent whitener).

The final touch is to have a good quality cologne on. I personally use Armani code, but there are a host of other great colognes available. This will be the icing on your man cake that will leave them remembering everything about you every time they smell the same scent.

I’m confident if you follow these steps you will be giving yourself the ultimate edge required to take out the trophy in your endeavours. Good luck.