Dress advice for interviews - HR Qualifications and studying - Careers Clinic

34 Dress advice for interviews

18 Feb, 2017 12:54

My daughter is about to graduate from university and is starting to attend interviews. As her dad, in his 60s, I am the least qualified person in the universe to offer advice. What advice on dress would you offer her?

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Keith | 0 Posts

23 Feb, 2017 14:34

Taken straight from the CIPD guide on "How to be successful at interview"

First impressions last

First impressions count. Make sure you’re wearing something professional and appropriate for the interview. Avoid clothes that are uncomfortable as you don't want to be worrying about them whilst trying to answer questions. Your handshake is important, so look the interviewer in the eye and shake firmly. A smile will often help too!

rest of guide here...

www.cipd.co.uk/.../succeeding-interviews
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Laura Hood | 0 Posts

24 Feb, 2017 10:11

If I could offer one piece of advice, when I was interviewing and planning on wearing a pair of tights, I would always, always ensure I had a spare pair (sometimes even two!) in my glove box. It's amazing how easily they get snagged!

My kit bag also used to include a box of mints, a lip balm, a bottle of water and a neat note pad and pen haha! But I like to be really organised as it stops me stressing out on the wrong things rather than focussing on the interview itself.

Also I'd say not to bother with heels that are too high - I've made that mistake before and felt like I was tottering around!
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Jasmine | 0 Posts

24 Feb, 2017 12:39

As a recruitment officer, I would recommend, freshly washed hair, (theres nothing worse than someone greasy or unclean looking or smelling. Not too over the top with makeup ie black eye shadow red lipstick, smart simple clothes, black trousers, black flat shoes, natural look. but yes it depends on the job type I interview for carers and I have high standards
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Henry | 0 Posts

24 Feb, 2017 14:51

Tell her to go as smart as possible.
It's far better to be remembered as the person who over-dressed, rather than the one who went too casual and - at the very least - it's you they'll be talking about after your interview, which is infinitely preferable to the alternative.
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Kerry | 0 Posts

27 Feb, 2017 16:33

Having interviewed a lot of young people for roles, the one that stood out to me was a 17 year old who came in a smart, fairly trendy, suit - but with converse All Star shoes on. In fairness, recruiting for a theme park, I thought it was great, and he looked appropriate for his age whilst smart. However, if I was recruiting for a more professional role, I would expect a smarter outfit. To me, that doesn't have to be a suit, i've seen a lot of smart trousers with very nice tweed jackets lately!
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Owen | 0 Posts

27 Feb, 2017 16:57

In reply to Kerry:

A smart suit and cons? I wonder where he got that idea from...
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Sajda | 0 Posts

1 Mar, 2017 16:26

In reply to Jasmine:
Hi Jasmine,

I have defied a few of your suggestions simultaneously and fortunately, have never been adversely affected. :)
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Clare | 0 Posts

5 Mar, 2017 22:06

As an aside to this I'm interested to hear other HR opinions of dress code for males - particularly if they are being interviewed for a manual Cleaner role. I would always say smart and clean as many have already advised, but I have also heard some managers say that a suit (and tie) is bit much for this kind of manual role - however you can never be overdressed for an interview can you? Interested to know your views....
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Keith | 0 Posts

6 Mar, 2017 10:10

In reply to Clare:
Clare
For me a suit wouldn't be expected but probably a plain shirt (with optional tie) and clean formalish trousers
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Johanna | 0 Posts

CIPD Staff

8 Mar, 2017 09:30

Hi Paul I spotted this on twitter yesterday and thought I'd share with the group here twitter.com/.../839036775641284608 - quite relevant to the discussion on dress. The social media audience was definitely in collective agreement that this girl had made an effort and looked polished and ready for work. But her interviewer allegedly disagreed.
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Fiona | 0 Posts

14 Mar, 2017 12:46

In reply to Johanna:
I think this girl looks smart but at the same time is clearly expressing a bit of her personality. Don't see anything wrong with it.
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Elizabeth Divver | 0 Posts

15 Mar, 2017 09:11

In reply to Linda:
Hi Linda
We are offering advice on what to wear to an interview because someone asked us for our advice. No one is arguing for HR to have a seat on the board to uphold dress codes at interview or that this is what the profession is for. One of our virtual colleagues has simply come to his network for a bit of advice for his daughter. Not every post on here deals with obscure legal points.
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Paula | 0 Posts

13 Apr, 2017 10:11

Sorry for late post Paul, I have 3 daughters who have all gone through this more difficult than it should be scenario, they have come up with their own response.

A couple of days before their interview they visit the business and watch staff arrive/leave, they then dress in a similar smart version of what they have seen the staff wear.

Their premise is that a similarity in work wear develops amongst work colleagues and that if they look like they will fit in from the off then they stand a better chance, too be fair they have had real success in interviews.
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William | 0 Posts

14 Apr, 2017 21:24

In reply to Paula:
Interesting topic! I've interviewed people for all sorts of roles. I find people going for things like gardening, engineering and cleaning jobs either turn up in their work wear from their current role, or just something very casual. Sometimes not even clean! I don't really care, if they prove to be the best and right person for the job, I'm not going to select someone less suitable just because they may have been dressed better. However, I do find most of the time the ones who make more of an effort with their attire also seem to present themselves better in the interview. Maybe that's unconscious bias on my part, but I don't think so - reading the notes back usually confirms they did give better answers to the questions.

Then you have roles that are either more managerial, office based or customer facing. I might actually turn someone down if they were really scruffy for one of these roles, but as long as they manage tidy and presentable, I just think it's better to select the strongest candidate, not the best dressed. Times they are a changing - the world is less formal now but you can still get brilliant people into roles - its just that they might be wearing jeans.
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William | 0 Posts

14 Apr, 2017 21:26

In reply to William:
I mean think about it - if someone is office based in the finance team, they're not customer facing normally. Do I give a stuff if they wear jeans? Or do I care that they're not going to make a huge blunder and cost the company £1000s? Anyway its off topic a little - to answer the OP's question, I would just say whatever makes them comfortable.
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