Youve found what you think might be the perfect job. Youve hired a professional resume writer to make sure your resume is exactly right. Youve scheduled the interview. And youve spent an hour choosing just the right outfit to wear to the interview.

The big day comes. You get up early. You rehearse the questions and answers youve gone over 100 times during the week. You go over all of your notes on the company. You know this company inside and out. Your gas tank is full. You leave in plenty of time to allow for traffic or no parking.

Finally, the opportunity youve been waiting for all week is now here. You are shaking hands with the person that will decide whether or not a job with this company is a possibility for you.

After what seems like only 10 minutes, the interview is over. They say theyll call you if they desire a second interview. You have no idea what went wrong. You practiced for a week. You spent hours on your research. Several friends agreed on the best outfit to wear.

What no one thought about was the cologne youd put on that morning. You chose it because its a scent you always get complimented on. You so wanted to make a good impression that you knew this cologne would do the trick. What you hadnt planned on was that the interviewer found almost every scent of cologne offensive. As soon as you sat down and the interviewer caught a whiff of the cologne you were wearing, the interviewer began their own plan of just how quickly they could get through this interview to get that scent out of their office.

The interviewer asked the questions routinely, never really hearing your answers. All the interviewer could do was keep saying to themselves that scent is so bothersome, how do I get it out of here. The interviewer did not want to ask any more questions, they wanted the conversation over so that the scent would be gone.

I can not stress enough that no matter how much you believe you are wearing a scent that others will like, wearing cologne to a job interview could very well be the deciding factor in your not receiving that second interview.

When going on a job interview, leave the cologne at home.