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Dress advice for interviews

Paul Andrew Cunningham

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?

  • I haven't read these discussion boards for some time, and I acknowledge many of the responses so far as from our seasoned and well respected HR professionals. However, I am struggling to comprehend why we are offering advice on what someone should wear to an interview?

    Surely an individual should wear whatever they feel appropriate, be that a dress, suit, skirt, trousers, jeans or swimming costume - although if someone turned up for an interview for an office job, I would worry they may get cold in the latter!
  • in reply to Linda

    Because inevitably (and interviewers only being human) there are judgements made about candidates at all sorts of levels. Much of the literature says we make some judgements in 10-30 seconds. What someone wears therefore is an important part of their first impression.

    If a candidate did turn up in a swimming costume then its highly unlikely in 99/100 workplaces they would be starting on a level playing field.

    Is this right? Well that's probably a subject for an interesting essay but does it happen? Certainly. So whilst as a HR practitioner I might want to be training out unconscious bias and designing schemes to minimise it, as a candidate or as a dad of a candidate taking some simple steps seems eminently sensible to me.

  • in reply to Linda
    Don't think Jean's would impressive anyone!
  • in reply to Linda
    Couldn't agree with you more Linda, I'm also baffled as to why the amount of makeup a person chooses to wear to an interview would make a blind bit of difference, but maybe that's just me...
  • in reply to Amy Humphreys
    The clue is in the question Amy. "Make up" = invent. Like Keith we make judgements - thats what interviews are for.

    It might not be right but thats how we judge people in interviews. By how they dress/look, behave, speak and reply to questions.

    Perhaps it may be better if we all wore Chairman Mao suits? ;-)

  • 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

  • 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!
  • 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
  • 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.

  • 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!