Nearly lost a promotion because of a bad handshake in Chicago

I was up for a senior position at my firm in Chicago last month, and I almost blew it by shaking hands wrong with the VP. He told me later my grip was like a dead fish, and he almost wrote me off right there. I had no idea something so small could kill a career move like that. After I fixed it with some practice, I got the job, but man it was close. Has anyone else messed up a job opportunity over something minor like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah81810d ago

My uncle lost a real estate deal in the 90s because he wore a brown belt with black shoes to a meeting in New York. The buyer literally told him later that it made him look careless. It's wild how these tiny social rules can sink you even when your numbers and experience are solid. I think we all have this unspoken manual of little things we're supposed to just know, and nobody hands it to you. One wrong move and you're suddenly the guy who doesn't get it.

diana_west2710d ago

Oh man, that's brutal but also kinda fascinating. So did your uncle ever find out if there were other little things he was missing, or was it really just that one belt/shoe thing that did him in? I'm always curious how much of this stuff is actually about the detail itself versus just signaling that you're "in the know" about the club's secret handshake.

jennifer2048d ago

It's the 2020s version of having spinach in your teeth.