What Would You Wear To An Interview No One Could Smell But You?

Happy holidays from PDX

Dear reader:

First of all: happy holidays to you and yours.  Hope you had a wonderful December full of food and fun and friends and fragrant delights.

Second:  Holy cow! Has it really been over a month? Wow. And what a month! I can't believe I haven't talked to you in so long. My apologies. After a fairly stagnant 2012, so much has happened in the last thirty days, I hardly know where to start.

News of foremost importance: I have a new job! In a whirlwind turn of events, I am left my old job. On Sunday, I board a plane for three weeks of training on the East Coast that begins my training and transitioning, not just to a new company, but into a new field. Or in my case, an old field. My very first jobs were in IT and customer service, and I am returning to form as I take a position in customer service and tech support for a web development company.

Endings and beginnings, they all
mean one thing: PAPERWORK.
Exhausting!

What does this have to do with the law, you ask? Absolutely nothing. This is a big shift in my life and times, and I'm excited to have you along for the ride, dear reader.

One of the things I'm most excited about it that my new employer has no restrictions on scent in the workplace, so I can now wear my lovely perfumes with abandon (provided I'm not, you know, knocking people down with them). And I thought of you, dear reader, as I was doing my interviews only two and a half short weeks ago, and how I wanted to talk to you about all my plans and schemes and future dreams and where scent fits into them.

All my interviews occurred in the span of four days in the wee, small hours of the morning and at a distance, thanks to the wonders of Skype. Nonetheless, I got up and did my hair, make-up, suited up, and generally got gussied so I would be in the proper formal mind set and feel like I was projecting the right attitude. (Though I did not once have to wear painful shoes, and it was glorious.) As I primped and prepped, I went through my scent wardrobe and thought about what to wear.

It was an intriguing challenge, because I needed interview scents, yes, but since no one would be able to smell them but me, it was a question of what would comfort me, challenge me, help me put my best foot forward.

My picks were as follows:

So much love for Mandy
and her gorgeous scents! 

First Round Interview Day:  Aftelier Perfumes Cepes and Tuberose, which I am currently OBSESSED with and will giving its full review due very soon. I picked this because I felt like it was both sophisticated and soothing, refined and elegant, but still warm and comforting. I felt both fancy and at ease, and that's not an easy scent combo.

Second/Third Round Interview Day: This was the big interview day, and felt very "make it or break it." That morning, I laid heavily into the Chanel No. 5 EdT, such that a cloud of lovely was following me all day long. It was good I wore my perfume steel, too, because this was a tough round of interviews. Despite feeling my confidence shaken like I'd just gone twelve rounds with Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia," the scent kept hitting me all day, reminding me that I am resilient, not to mention classic and beautiful and enduring, and would survive no matter what came next.

Fourth Round Interview Day: At this point, I felt pretty positive I wasn't even in the running. This interview was scheduled before the second round I felt like I blew, and I was worried it was more about going through the motions. Nonetheless, I wanted to put my best foot forward, so I went for something that would make me feel pretty and happy, something I find easy and undemanding to wear. I also wanted something with a strong personal appeal, something to make me feel good since I thought the interviews weren't going so great.

In the end, I chose a scent that I never get the compliments on even though I feel like I should. I settled on fruity floral fun in the form of Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir, which turned out to be a great choice in terms of personal ease and confidence.

Then, dear reader, I did the only thing I could do: wore pretty perfume, took deep breathes, and hoped that this time the die would fall in my favor...

See ya, old job! Me and
my TARDIS stickies
are outta here!

...and IT DID!

Despite all my private hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing, I got the job! How much my perfume factored into this, I cannot tell you. In my mind, though, it is a measurable factor in my personal feelings of preparedness and appeal, and consequently my success.

Also, one of my new coworkers is a fellow 'fumie! We already talked perfumes on GChat! Surely, this is a good sign!

So what about you, dear reader? What would you wear if you had a job interview no one could smell but you? And what scents do you advise I take with me to meet my new employers while I spend three cold weeks in Boston this January?

Inquiring 'fumie minds want to know!