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So...first interview for a long time for a job which looks really interesting and ticks a box or 2 more than my current one.
What is acceptable from a dress to impress standpoint nowadays?
I can go full blown suit and tie or slightly more relaxed with open shirt, 'sports jacket', etc.
If they haven't said anything specifically about dress code then I'd go for suit and tie every time (I'm a software developer so usually by far the most dressed up in the room during interviews!).
Always full suit. Always!
as your are local this is relevent 😉
unless you are planning to interview for brewdog where the official line is "leave your suit at the door:"
Yep, suit without doubt.
Even if you're the only one wearing one. Today I interviewed 2 suited sales reps wearing jeans and a scruffy jacket but would have assumed that the guys weren't taking the role seriously if they hadn't
Why risk going too casually dressed? Shirt, tie and suit all the way.
suit and tie unless,as per trail_rat example, the business makes a big thing of being casual. Those will be rare though.
Suit is never wrong. There may be cases where something else is also acceptable, but a suit is never wrong.
Unless the interview request states otherwise then (for men) it's suit and tie. Usually your interviewers are in whatever their office dress code requires but you are there to impress and get the job.
Interview dress etiquette
Well... If your name is Benjamin then a dress maybe not appropriate, but if its Samantha it might be ok. 😉
Little black number?
Another vote for suit, shirt, tie unless the company 'culture' says something different.
And clean shoes.
You don't say what type of job so I assume officey in which case obviously a suit & tie. If it's as an HGV driver or warehouse worker etc. probably just smart casual. Don't ask me what smart casual is though, already plenty of STW threads on that :p
Over dressing is acceptable, under dressing never is.
No-one ever failed a job interview based on being too smart.
They say dress for the job you want, not the job you have.
Which is why I'm now sat outside HR's office in a spaceman outfit.
+1 for suit or at least a formal type jacket and trousers, plus tie. I tend to do a 'sports jacket' and flannels or even sometimes chinos, but I am a scientist (one jacket even has elbow patches)
And a pair of black, polished toe-cap Oxfords. Leather soled.
Gimp suit - with a tie of course.
Gimp suit – with a tie of course
How are you going to answer questions with a ball in your mouth?
How are you going to answer questions with a ball in your mouth?
Depending on whose ball you might already have answered it! 🙂
I wouldn't wear a tie (out of principle). If I didn't get the job based on not wearing a tie, then that's fine as it's not the sort of place I'd want to work at....
I'd ask the recruiter or see if there's any information on the company website about culture that could help. Probably a more accurate guide than some randoms here with no idea what job you are going for.
but you are there to impress and get the job.
If impressing is down to the clothes you wear then you're not a great candidate or the place is screwed up. Obviously if you are applying for a job where you would wear a suit every day (like a lawyer etc) then its self explanatory but since the OP has to ask presumably its not the norm in his industry and this :
No-one ever failed a job interview based on being too smart.
is not necessarily true. I must have interviewed nearly 1000 people in the last 16 years. In the last 5 only 3 have worn suits*. One of them had clearly bought/borrowed it for the occassion and looked and seemed to feel particularly uncomfortable in it - he didn't present himself as confident or relaxed and that contributed to him not going any further in the process. If wearing a suit makes you feel awkward then I'd suggest you don't.
*In this company / sector wearing a shirt, never mind a suit to work everyday would be considered "smart".
Full combats with face paint.
I must have interviewed nearly 1000 people in the last 16 years.
What kind of jibs in which industry?
Think of yourself as an old 7spd bike with each gear representing a level of dress.
Do your homework and establish what gear you would be expected to be in if you worked there then shift up 2 gears for interview.
Too smart can be an issue these days imo; especially for 2nd interview. One person here recently didn't get the job after 2nd interview because it was felt she didn't 'get us'. One of the evidences of this amongst those making the decision is that she didn't attempt to dress more appropriately (down) for the 2nd interview. Conversely, someone who is here got the job after a very sketchy first day of a two day interview but came back the following morning having done a lot of remodelling work overnight to her persona. A change of dress code was part of this even if in the subconscious of the interviewers.
i work every day in overalls and boots
i still interviewed in a suit - as did all those invited back for second interview.
Im pretty sure theres more than 2 gears between those two points.
But then a majority of my industry are dinosaurs and the legacy lives long.
I must have interviewed nearly 1000 people in the last 16 years.
You need to work on your management skills.
Plenty of industries where if you turned up in suit you would not get the job. Can't really go wrong with chinos and a casual shirt.
What do you wear at work / when is the interview? For my last interview ( a few years ago mind) I was fitting it in basically over lunch. Me turning up in a suit in the morning at current work would have been very strange so I made do with adding a jacket to chinos / shirt and smart shoes.
I am the main interviewer in my department.
I'm pretty relaxed but would expect suit and tie as the norm. If someone is clearly not able to buy their own I would expect their best effort...
Sports jacket or blazer and tie plus smart slacks are acceptable too.
I do mention that they should be comfortable and feel free to take jacket off in the interview.
Plenty of industries where if you turned up in suit you would not get the job. Can’t really go wrong with chinos and a casual shirt
Such as? Chinos and a casual shirt will look crap alongside everyone else.
As for the lunchtime option the old switch on the way trick works fine
Over dressing is acceptable, under dressing never is.
Is the correct answer here. If over dressed, it can be shrugged off with a polite apology and you still look like you made an effort. If under dressed, you just look scruffy.
I got turned down for a job at betfair once . Turned up in a suit, and after 20 mins of management skills type questions it reverted to why I was dressed in a suit . I was asked if I thought I'd fit in with the team - of solution architects - in the pub .
The had no interest in my technical nouse as apparantly the SAs where so out there I wouldn't understand .so it was management and interpersonal skills for which I was judged " too corporate" most likely based on my suit by the jeans and jumper wearing directors in front of me.
Sounds like a lucky escape kryton,
They had no interest in my technical nouse as apparantly the SAs where so up their own arses.
FTFY
Yes that thought had occurred to me, he was so pushy on my "pub talk" I swear he was trying to get me to say "****" in an interview.
Still, I went back to work told my boss Betfair had offered me £10k more to work there and he matched it, so I had the last laugh. I'm still here now though lol.
Ring them and ask? Being seen to care about detail like that can’t hurt at all.
Rachel
I went back to work told my boss Betfair had offered me £10k more to work there and he matched it, so I had the last laugh. I’m still here now though lol.
My office. 0900. HR will be there.
Quite CFH. I was obviously underpaid beforehand,disgraceful.
What kind of jibs in which industry?
Science, software, associated marketing, admin, sales roles.
You need to work on your management skills.
🙂 it means I've spent far too much of my life politely sitting through interviews where clearly this was not going to be a winning candidate, but its rude to tell them that after 15 minutes.
I would never want to work anywhere where the company was more concerned with my ability to pick clothes than my ability to do the job.
Been there before. The sort of manager that cares about suits and ties is the same sort that'll be tutting if you turn up at 9.01, even if you did five hours unpaid overtime the night before. The sort that is quite happy to jeapodise project success in order to meet some arbitrary PDR objective.
When I interview I'm much more impressed if people have done their homework, know the industry and ask intelligent questions. Good candidates may or may not dress up. The chancers always do.
I’ve had two job interviews in the last month. Both times I wore suit & tie - always do.
I was the only person in the room, on both occasions, wearing a tie. Clearly the local dress code didn’t normally extend to ties
Didn’t make any difference, both interviews led to job offers.
Cant go overdressed? Awesome, I'm going to go to my next interview in a 19th century french revivalist court suit. Je Suis Napoleon!
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Science,</span> software, associated marketing, admin, sales roles.
Pfffft, I once went to an interview full of bumbling badly dressed academics looking like something out of Mad Men. I got the job.
I live near a 6th form college and there rules state students /children should wear a smart business suit to school/college.
Poor things parents waste so much money on fancy suits they have no money for bus fares or warm waterproof jackets.
Finally worked as an Apprentice and two of the older blokes always wore a shirt and tie, and trousers, while i usually wore skinny jeans and a t shirt, and that was a long time ago, pity things havent changed much in workplace since then.