^^^
That's cool!
Funny thing with trade professions is you really can't fake experience, especially once you get behind equipment and tools! I mean, I can handle myself behind a lathe and hand tools, but put me behind a CNC mill and I'm clueless! Having lived in Beaumont/Port Arthur and Houston, TX - both industrial oil/chemical "cities" I do know that interviewing in work attire definitely makes a statement - "I
am working and
can do the job" - especially when and where people care more about experience than the way a person looks.
Perhaps my take on interviewing is skewed. It gets ugly in the "office space" world, where the unspoken, common knowledge truth about office "rep" is that it's all about perceptions and expectations. These days even the newest newbie can get by just by looking good, acting the part, and not flinching when the going gets tough. Some of the slowest workers I've known have skated by just fine just because they can duck it out with the big boys in conference calls. But when the bosses aren't looking, it's a different story.
Oh... and about resumes, truth is the one-page thing isn't exactly a cardinal rule anymore.
At least not unless you've got the experience and certifications to really a second or third page up. Then the first page becomes a page for the "general stuff... At least mine's the "bullet-pointer / 'Ok, here's the skinny' " that does away with the need for a cover letter.