Occupational therapy

Well-suited for the job
Next, we schedule a visit to Guise (2217 N Halsted St, 773-929-6101), a men’s clothing store and salon, hoping to polish Acks’s jeans-and-tee look. But Guise owner Brad Habansky sees nothing wrong with Acks’s style during the free consultation. Acks shows up wearing what he normally would for an interview—gray slacks, a striped button-down and designer dress shoes—and looks surprisingly savvy. “He’s wearing great pants!” Habansky says, but still offers a few bits of advice: “Feel free to ask, before an interview, what the work environment is—but err on the side of a suit. Some people think you’re being disrespectful without a suit.”

Habansky has Acks try on a few outfits aimed at an arty job—rich, neutral-colored pants, a crisp green, collared shirt—and mutters under his breath, “What he really needs is to trim that beard,” before handing over Acks to the store’s salon for a haircut and beard trim ($45).

Style makeover

Guise owner Brad Habansky refines Acks’s interview look.

Before

Photo: Martha Williams

After

1. Hair styled
2. Beard trimmed more closely
3. Slick interview suit

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