Posted: 9/19/2007 9:55:57 AM EDT
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Well it's that time for me again, job search is on. Something better something new. I always struggle with what to wear at interviews. I never want to be too over dressed or too under dressed, ect. So what say all you ARFCOMMERS? I have an interview today and decided to wear kahki colored cordaroys with a dress shirt and heeled dress boots and I am just not comfy  Why do I do this to myself? Wish I coudl just get a sweet job and stay there! I have another interview Friday Ugh!Wish me luck! |
Well I am a woman so a suit doesn't work for me, and I think wearing a skirt suit would be too dressy. You always where a suit for an interview? What kind of work do you do? The work I do is not all that classy lol but I do have to dress nice because I interact w/clients ect. |
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A dark business suit, conservative tie and WHITE shirt. Well shines shoes and dark socks. Nothing with flair, branding or creativity. You can do the fashionista things AFTER you get hired. Have a pen in your jacket pocket, hankercief for those unexpected moments and check yourself in the mirror just before you go in. Avoid a big briefcase. A small portfolio is fine. Have 3 copies of your resume for unprepared/surprise interviewers. Good luck! |
I'm a biologist and work in a lab. My work environment is very casual and I typically wear jeans and a polo shirt. Most females who interview here come in suits and seem to have brushed their teeth. I don't think overdressing is ever really a bad idea for interviews. It shows the interviewer that you are serious about the job. I guess there are some obvious exceptions, like roughneck or stripper. |
| I suggest avoid wearing a watch because when I get nervous I tend to "watch the pot" and I don't want it to be misinterpreted. I also suggest leave your cellphone in the car. No sense in having "Crazy Bitch" blaring from your pocket in the middle of an interview. |
That's a pretty good "rule-of-thumb." I've always dressed this way for interviews. But then in the past 30 yrs I've had only 5 jobs.  And that counts the year and a half I spent in the grocery store as a high schooler. But I've also been an assistant manager of a retail chain store that took part in the hiring process too. Believe me, SB's sugguestion is solid. Too overdressed and you look like a suckup or are trying to show off. Underdressed and you look like you don't care. So go with SB's sugguestion. |
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I would go with the people who are saying dress one level higher than you would normally wear. Since you interact with clients, appearing professional would be an important goal and dressing in this manner for an interview would help to demonstrate that you do know how to dress appropriately for the job. Make sure that your nails are trimmed, have a pen ready (preferably a nice one because I was always told that is one thing that employers will notice), and extra copies of your resume and anything else that you submitted for the interview. Also, I was always told that employers will also notice your shoes and your watch so keep that in mind. Granted, I have always heard that in reference to men's clothing, so I don't know if the same holds true for women. |
In his defense that is standard programmer apparel. 
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IT Director Slacks, Button up shirt and Tie. Nice dress shoes and cell phone. Deoderant, NO PERFUME!!! they should not be able to smell you before you arrive or after you leave. Not alot of make up for the ladies, You are not interviewing for a whore. I do alot of interviews and they are all the same. Make sure you look comfortable and feel that way in the cloths you have. I spot someone that feels uncomfy in a shirt in tie a mile away. For fuck sake, remove the tags. If it is making more than 40,000 a year please go get the suit taken in and adjusted. If it flops around like a sheet it doesnt look good. Maje sure it isnt your highschool cloths from 20 years ago, That lime green suit is to tight and out of style. You can buy cheap suits at Wal mart and get them taylored to look like a nice 300- 500 dollar suit. Cost, maybe 100.00 which aint bad. If I sit there quiet, DONT BREAK IT! Wait for me to say something, I am testing your ability of stress. We will look at each other and it will suck dick but you will pass and I will tell you congrats, you have the job. Dress one level lower than the person you are interviewing with. Call them and ask what the dress code is and go one up. Bus casual wear a tie. Dont go in there looking like Mr T. Watch, glasses and a ring sure. Ladies, no more than 5 things, earrings, ring, glasses, watch, nice necklace. Bring a cell phone but turn the damn thing off unless only your S/O knows the number. Put it on vibrate, if it rings and you know it is your S/O say excuse me but its my wife and she knows I am interviewing and this is important so it must be an emergency. happen to one guy and he got the job after he came back a week later stating his wife was hurt. He ran out the door and never said anyhitng to me, Family comes first always. If it doesnt, your job will not be your second family. |
Must have been a leftover from the halcyon Dotcom days -  At the time I was doing a lot of work for Morgan Stanley and they SAID to me, NO Dotcom OR ISP candidates - WHY? Too many were OVER PAID, are lacking in technical and basic business skills, and hygiene . Good luck with your interviews. |
That sums it up perfectly. |
+1 I do a lot of interviewing. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. When I have a stack of interviews and several that are equally desireable and qualified, guess what will make a difference??? 
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Depends on the job. I'm in IT - and a suit is overkill. Typical daily dress is basically a polo/button up shirt (with an undershit and clean underwear) and khakis/courderoy pants and maybe dress shoes - some people wear stuff as casual as Doc Martins though. A watch and cell phone are nice. I actually have a (mock) interview tommorow (part of some kind of training) and I think I'm going to wear a nice blue Nautica dress shirt and some khakis and some polished, leather dress shoes (with dark dress socks of course  )
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| I would not want my competitors for the job to be better dressed. That means a (tailored, clean, pressed) suit for all but the most dirtiest jobs. No white socks, either. A woman should wear a woman's suit or some kind of blazer/skirt combo, but I'm no expert so I'll leave it at that. You won't look "stuck up", it's an interview for Pete's sake. |
Not in NYC. One should dress to the level or next level you are interviewing for EVEN if the environment is business casual. You get one first impression, there are NO "do-overs" - I speak from 32 years of IT Recruiting experience on CONUS, NZ and UK. Have I ever had a company say the candidate wouldn't fit in because they were over-dressed - yes, some ISPs and Dotcoms. There are always exceptions to any rule - on interviewing 99% want the professional attire candidate walking in. Oh and this also applies - TRANSITION LENSES in your prescription glass. I had a company get bent on these lenses. Apparently the candidate had the darker variety and the interview / conference area was basking in outdoor light, turn the candidate's lenses to a complete SUNGLASS shade. She didn't get the offer. She was qualified but the Director got a bug up his ass because of it. Now if I had preemptively made the interviewing parties aware this would have been a none issue. I have had candidates walk into the most corporate of environments in overalls (they were working and pulling cable) by just ASKING the interviewers if this would be OK because of the circumstances. Being polite and courteous counts, turn off the cellphone or pager. Best of Luck. |
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uhhh, what kind of job? I'm in software sales (pre-sales engineer) and when I interview for new positions within my company, I toss a suit/tie on (if there's face to face). When I initially interviewed at my company 7.5 years ago, I wore a polo shirt and jeans as it was a tech support (phone support) position. |
yeah, but not for an interview. |
| This was an interview with an insurance company that provides insurance for truckers so they don't do a lot of face to face with customers, that's why they are so dressed down there. I think I will be called back for a 2nd interview but I don't think they can pay me enough. |
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I've been recently interviewing for a few communications engineering positions. I had on my black suit, my nice white shirt and a red tie with my patent leather corfams from the military. The first guy I met at Lockheed commented on my shoes, he was former military and said he still had his sitting in his closet. I suppose I should have went with my regular low quarters after I threw a shine on them but they served as an ice breaker with my new boss. |
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I own a Managed IT services company. I go on sales calls all the time. Each one is essentially an "interview". I wear a suit or at least slacks/shirt/tie. There is no such thing as over dressed in my book. Every reaction to my level of attire has been positive when noticed or commented on. Most of the comments are "You're the computer guy? You don't look like a compute guy. Most computer guys dress like slobs!" Most of my competition are living the IT dream and still running around in slacks and a company branded polo, and that's fine with me. I'll keep it up a notch. As for when I am hiring someone I don't put too much into what they are wearing, but they do have meet a minimum appearance. The attire for an interviewee is a pass/fail, with a fairly easy pass criteria. If I am looking at you for an IT role (any kind) you had better have a snappy business casual look at a minimum. After that I am really far more interested in what you say and what you know than how your dressed. So far all my staff dress far better than the "IT standard" with out even being asked. Even my 1099 (contractors) people roll out in a tie. ETA- Suit and tie is not overkill. ETA- Jeans and flipflops for an interview!? Not getting the Job. ETA- good luch nikkif8! |
