Colm Cavey, Professional Career Consultant, shares some reality on the perils of an interviewee smoking prior to an interview – as an interviewer you probably should follow it too!
If you’re a non smoker then give this a miss but if you are a smoker and are planning or in the course of a job search please read this carefully, every line.
Recently I had a new client. He arrived we shook hands and sat down. The effect on me wouldn’t have been worse if you had sprayed me with mace, in the face. This man was smoker, a heavy smoker and as a gesture to our meeting he ate a mint before he came into the office. If you are smoker you might not realise that there is only one thing worse than a strong smell of cigarettes. That is the stale smell of cigarettes masked with mint.
After our meeting I walked with him to the door shook hands and said goodbye. On returning to the office I could detect a strong and unpleasant odour which remained for several hours. It was very unpleasant.
I mention all this because I once was this man. I was a 30 a day person and I went around the place in the belief that not smoking for an hour before a meeting was adequate or add a mint and no one would ever know I smoked at all.
It was only after I gave up the smoking and got it out of my system and the smell out of my clothes did I realise just how objectionable the stale smell of cigarettes can be to a non smoker and how long it lingers.
I mention all this with the interview in mind. I, in the past would have ‘NOT SMOKED’ for half an hour before an interview in the belief that no one would notice. In today’s climate where smoking is generally regarded as very objectionable, especially among young professionals, typically the kind of person who is likely to be interviewing you, a smell of cigarettes is just not an option. If you are serious about making a good impression for an interview, you must not smoke for hours before an interview. Non smokers will detect the smell from you and from your clothes hours after you think it’s well camouflaged with mints.
As a smoker you may think kind of comment is extreme, but please believe me it’s not. If you are serious about your prospects at interview don’t compromise all your skills and experience by being regarded as smelly.
If you’re a smoker;
• Don’t smoke at all for several hours before an interview or any important meeting.
• Don’t eat mints. Brush your teeth thoroughly, but do it a good while before your meeting.
• Most important scrub your hands with soap and a nail brush. Your hands will carry the smell of smoke every bit as much as your breath.
• If you are driving and smoking with windows close in cold weather, your jacket/outer clothing will also carry
a strong smell of tobacco.
So please be aware that the smell of smoke to non smokers is generally objectionable. Control your craving just till after your interview. Then light up but not until you are off the premises and out of sight.
A personal tip for smokers wanting to give up the weed.
As I mentioned I was a 30 a day man and had been all my life. I tried giving up several times but never lasted more than one or two days. We were going on a family holiday, camping in France and had the car loaded up for a quick exit early the next morning. Destination the Rosslare car ferry. Last thing before bed I smoked my last cigarette and thought to myself ‘that’s it, I’m off smoking from tonight on. I did however have a pack of 20 buried in the back of the car just in case. I needn’t have bothered. I never smoked again and that almost 20 years ago now.
So why did it work for me on that occasion. I have thought about it often and I now understand why.
Simply this: every morning I would get up, have a cup of coffee and – reach for a fag. Get into the car, start the engine and – reach for a fag. Lock the car and start to walk to the office and – reach for a fag. All through the day there were these triggers when I just automatically lit up without thinking. Of the 30 or so cigarettes I smoked I would guess about 25 were habit or just triggered by some action I did every day. Only about five or six were because I really wanted a cigarette. The day we went on our holidays all the usual triggers didn’t happen. The routines were broken the days activity was different with a result I was only conscious of wanting a cigarette just a few times in the day. After three or four days I was over the worst and by the end of the first week, I rarely gave them a thought. It was a lot easier than I ever believed it could be.
So try it when you a have a new agenda, maybe going away for a few days, holidays, Christmas, Easter or some other event when your routine is broken. It really worked for me and not a patch in sight.
Good Luck
