Job interview attire

[bumbershoot]

It may seem a bit old fashioned but with an "office" job, better to be conservative unless you know it is someplace "creative" like Google.

This, absolutely.

Probably doesn't apply to the OP since her location tells me there are no positions like this, but, for specific example, this is what amazon tells people being interviewed:

How should I dress for the interview?
Amazon has a casual work environment. While some positions in our fulfillment centers may limit certain clothing for safety reasons, most of our offices are filled with people wearing everyday clothes. Dress nicely but comfortably. A suit and tie won't impress anyone here.

And it won't impress. DH specifically did NOT get a job there one time BECAUSE he wore a suit. They didn't tell him that then, but a couple years later when he got another job there, he met up with one of the hiring managers he'd met back then, and she said it was the suit that was the death knell for him. And how glad they were to see that he just wore khakis and a polo this time.

I didn't say "don't wear a suit" and feel free to walk in wearing a basketball jersey and flip flops. I said the idea is to look crisp and professional. Frankly, if your options are a poor fitting cheap Sears suit or a crisp white dress shirt and a knee length black wool skirt then go for the attractive fitting dress shirt and skirt.

Most offices do not expect the AA to wear a suit and frankly if you came in wearing some ill fitting outdated Penneys concoction I wouldn't want you as the greeter for my company, I would pick the polished dress shirt and skirt applicant simply because it looks more like what I would hope she would wear on a daily basis and would be a better representation of the company.

Just remember...not everyone has the money or opportunity to find THE perfect thing for an interview. And sometimes, fashions simply dictate a certain look, and looks don't always flatter everyone. A person wearing an unflattering, icky, suit to an interview might just be a person who couldn't find anything else in time, but who might very well develop a nice closet-ful of more current items in the future.


I hate the "if you don't wear X you're deemed unworthy" nonsense, personally...mainly because I'm useless at figuring out proper clothing for almost any occasion... But you do have to play the game, especially in formal places like the east coast, or super-casual companies that state right in their FAQs that suits are NOT the way to go...