Illustration: Luo Xuan/GT

It's job hunting season again. Every now and then you can see a young innocent face on the subway or the street, their youthful appearance out of harmony with the featureless, dull black suits they wear, as if in the next minute they might try to sell you something.

Job hunting anywhere probably doesn't look that different.

I was watching a Japanese TV drama. It opens with the lead character, a young college graduate, going to a job interview fully armed in a black skirt suit and black handbag. In other words, standard job hunting attire. The other candidates are also dressed the same. A room full of black suits.

After, she gets the job as an editor in a publishing house. I was surprised to find that none of the lead character's wardrobes say "professional." It's not even "business casual." It's just casual, and Japanese style of cute. And none of the other people in the editors' room are dressed particularly business-like.

Which begs the question; why do you have to dress like a door-to-door salesman if your job doesn't require you to wear a suit every day, or at all?

I understand that dressing up for an interview shows respect, but if we are to "dress the part," wouldn't it make more sense for job candidates to put on something that a future employee would actually wear?

I am lucky enough to be in a business that allows me to dress pretty much however I want. Of course when looking back at my wardrobe from when I first started working, disaster is an understatement.

But I simply couldn't pull off the "professional" look, because deep down I didn't feel professional, or even much of a grown-up.

Clothes make the man, and woman. That is the truth. On the other hand, you also have to feel the part. I don't think you can just put on a shirt and suit and expect a transformation.

I remember back when I was a senior in college, I didn't realize how serious it was until suddenly everybody around me started to dress in black suits. I rushed out to get one, but I hated looking the same as everyone else. So bland. I spent one of the longest days of my life shopping for a job hunting outfit. I ended up with a dark purple polyester suit. It was the most formal non-black thing I could find that didn't look ridiculous on me.

But I never did wear it. I ended up going to graduate school, which was my way of delaying the job hunt. And when I did go job hunting, I tried my best to avoid wearing suits and went for the most non-childish outfits. To this day it is still hanging in my closet, tags and all. 

I wonder if that's the reason I couldn't find a job for a long time after I graduated…

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.