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I'm female (duh) and I never particularly liked wearing suits. I'm a middle manager level marketing person.
My go to outfits in my last couple of interviews have been:
1. A trendy suit (linen blend) with 3/4 sleeves and a peplum top
2. Printed shift dress and a cardigan
3. Zip front slip dress and a cardigan (in a bright color)
4. Pencil skirt, printed blouse and a cardigan
5. Printed jersey dress with a full skirt and 3/4 sleeve blazer
6. Printed knit dress + cardigan
I paired these outfits mostly with dressy flats or kitten heeled shoes as the interviews had a bit of walking to get to the office. Heels would be overkill!
In my current job, those outfits in the interview process were over dressed for the environment but well matched to my bosses outfits. She dresses up for work, so I matched her!
I just finished up a round of interviews at another company, and pushed the envelope a bit attire wise. The hiring manager was in dressed up casual, and the rest of the people I interviewed with were in weekend casual. During one of my interviews the hiring manager asked how I felt about working in a casual environment. LOL! Maybe I was too dressed up. It all worked out though, currently in the final negotiations.
Seriously? You dress like a professional. You don't have the job yet, when you start working there than you can dress like everyone else.
It's kind of like being a guest in someone's home. You're on your best behavior. You may not make your bed at home or keep your bathroom the tidiest it can be, but if you have any manners you take it up a couple of notches while you're a guest.
You're a guest at the company while you're interviewing. You can worry about fitting in dress wise after they make an offer.
And no "duh", people aren't mind readers, your CD name could be either sex. You should have said you're a female in your first post.
Khaki's or navy blue Dockers
Collared shirt with a tie
Sport jacket
If you are feeling uncomfortable because you are clearly over-dressed you can always remove the tie and/or jacket.
Female:
nice pair of slacks with may matching jacket but not blazer, think collared with zip front
conservative blouse, no cleavage, no see through, should have sleeves in case you need to remove your jacket during the interview...if you can wear it to a club then don't wear it to an interview
conservative shoes, minimal jewelry
The other thing we are seeing that is becoming a problem is body art. Many of our applicants are proud of their tattoos and piercings. Our company, though casual, feels that body art is a personal choice and therefore should stay in your personal places or be covered during working hours. So if you have more than two piercings (we only allow ear piercings and no guages) remove them for the interview. And cover your tattoos.
The name Chad Stugatzi carries some weight in my industry, so I decided to personally help you.
In your case, Id wear a nice bright yellow pair of baggy pants to the interview, complimented by big red floppy shoes and a rainbow colored oversized top, complete this ensemble with a flower of your choice in the brest pocket, complimented by twenty foot strand of braided handkerchiefs, multi-colored of cource.
Since im sensing you are of the female persuaion, you might want to go heavy on the make up for added effect, I suggest a base of pure white paste-like facial foundation, highlight the lip and jowl area with bright red, and of course, you might even want to accessorize a bit by buying a red foam nose at your local party supply/costume shoppe.
Show up to the interview a few minutes early, and bring seltzer water and meringue pie, you can also announce your entrance with a air horn.
And we have rejected candidates who were a good fit on paper for this very reason.
That's ridiculous.
However...since I know there are people like you out there, I always ask about the dress code prior to an interview. Almost always, it's business professional.
Job-hunting is stressful and degrading enough without worrying about being rejected because you wore normal interview clothes.
I have always believed it is important to "dress for success". It is better to be professionally dressed for a job at all times, unfortunately we are judged by the way we 'carry ourselves', therefore, being well dressed in a dark color suite and tie for men and skirt and jacket for a woman can take you a long way, you will be seen as a serious and mature prospective employee. You will make an impression on the interviewer, you may get that second interview.
Blue jeans are only acceptable interview attire for retail, warehouse or other blue collar jobs.
Blue jeans would not be acceptable for retail, not even Wal-Mart, wear khakis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by utsci
The other thing we are seeing that is becoming a problem is body art. Many of our applicants are proud of their tattoos and piercings. Our company, though casual, feels that body art is a personal choice and therefore should stay in your personal places or be covered during working hours. So if you have more than two piercings (we only allow ear piercings and no guages) remove them for the interview. And cover your tattoos.
I had an interview at Ikea, I have a fairly conservative appearance, short hair, clean shaven, no ink or piercings, one of the managers in the interview had hair standing up in the middle, scroungy goatee and both arms inked, totally did not see that one coming.
Seriously? You dress like a professional. You don't have the job yet, when you start working there than you can dress like everyone else.
There is quite a lot of nuance in "professional" dress.
Men can wear a suit, dress pants/dress shirt with a non-matched blazer, khakis with a dress shirt and a blazer or a polo with khakis and a blazer.
Women can wear a suit, suit pants or skirt with a button down blouse, dress skirt or pants with a non button blouse, dress in a suit fabric and a cardigan, dress in a non suit fabric and a blazer, dress and cardigan, skirt, blouse and cardigan.
Clearly based on other posts you can be dressed professionally and still dress wrong! Hence the idea this would be good for discussions sake.
Quote:
And no "duh", people aren't mind readers, your CD name could be either sex. You should have said you're a female in your first post.
I assumed people would infer my gender based on the outfits I described. The info is also readily available in my profile.
One step better than the employees...sounds like shirt, slacks and coat, not a suit and no tie. I have on occasion simply asked the HR people and they may be able to help.
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Casual dress code
