Job Interview Dress Code Tips – A Response

Recently we came across an article by King5 News in Seattle about the “Dos and Don’ts of Job Interview Dress”. Though a little poorly written, it does highlight some important aspects of dressing for your job interview. Yet the article itself has a few flaws. We will discuss the article below.

Where the Article is Right

• Wrinkles can affect your job interview chances.
• Cleavage or tight fitting shirts are inappropriate.
• Heavy perfumes or colognes should be avoided.
• Dark bras under a white top are too visible.
• Makeup is not a negative, but too much is too much.

Where the Article Misses the Mark

The reality is that you should generally avoid any perfumes or colognes. Too many people these days are allergic. If you are worried about smelling, use a subtle deodorant, but cologne and perfume make it appear you have dressed up too much, and the possible allergies make it a little bit of a risk.

Also, wrinkle free dress shirts are great, but they’re not actually wrinkle free. When you wash then, the collar can still shrink up. You’re going to need to either use an iron, or hope that your collar doesn’t shrink, but it’s a bad idea to assume that just because a shirt is wrinkle free it won’t look awkward. It can. Also, you can find wrinkle free shirts at any cheap store for less than 20 dollars. Buying an 80 dollar one is not necessary. They are not hard to find.

Overall Thoughts

The article is correct, but the information is fairly basic. As stated in the article “it’s not a fashion show” so the article doesn’t contain any detailed information. Overall, remember that the key is to dress professional, but not be fashionable. You want to be so professional that your outfit is boring. The key is to do your best not to be noticed.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Most scents should be avoided.
• Wrinkle free isn’t necessarily wrinkle free.

How to Choose a Men’s Button Shirt Color for Your Job Interview

We say it time and time again. The goal of dressing for a job interview is to not be noticed. You don’t want the interviewer to notice your dashing suit or amazingly expensive black shoes. You don’t want them to notice your fantastic tie or your gelled black hair. You don’t want them to notice anything. You want your clothes to be professional and boring so that the interviewer is focused on your abilities, and not your style.

The same is true for your shirt. The shirt you choose for your job interview needs to be unremarkable. You need to choose a shirt color that has the interviewer thinking “wow, this applicant has a great resume!” instead of “wow, that’s a bright pink!”

Colors Not to Wear With a Suit

The most boring colors are white and an unremarkable blue. Those are the colors you should use a your shirt. The colors you should stay away from are:

• Bright colors
• Unusual colors and patterns
• Deep colors (deep blue)
• Black

For most jobs, you will also want to stay away from traditionally feminine colors as well, like light pink or purple. These colors are fairly unremarkable, but you do not want your interviewer to notice your shirt color, and they are likely to notice a pink or purple hue. Remember, it’s not about the color meaning something – it’s about the color not being noticeable at all.

The two safest colors are a boring light blue (not baby blue) and white. Ideally you should choose a white shirt.

Colors You Can Wear Without a Suit

You have a little bit more leeway if you are not wearing a suit jacket to the job interview. You can get away with some of the deeper colors, like blue or black, but you should still avoid any bright colors or unusual colors, and make sure that the tie you choose matches.

Size Matters

You should also make sure the shirt is fitted correctly. The neck line should fit you perfectly and there should not be a lot of fabric hanging outside of your belt because the shirt is too big. You should also make sure the sleeves fit you well, especially if you are going without a jacket.

Choosing Your Attire

Boring is always better. Again, the goal is to not be noticed. You don’t want your clothes to play any role in your ability to get a job. The more the interviewer notices your clothes, good or bad, the less they will pay attention to the content of your interview. Dress well, but dress boring, in order to make sure the interview is about your abilities, and not your style.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Boring is better.
• Bright colors are bad.
• Words that start with “B” are fun to say.

Choosing a Tie for an Entry Level Job Interview

Oh yeah. You’re stylin’. You picked out some sweet suit jacket. Grabbed a belt and a pressed shirt, and you are ready to pick your tie. You’ve got a box of your dad’s old ties and you’re checking yourself out in the mirror.

-          This one is too pink.

-          This one is too flowery.

-          This one has the Green Bay Packer logo.

Most of them don’t work. They’re old person ties, or oddly colorful ties that never suited your dad’s personality anyway, but he bought them because he’s old. It doesn’t look like any of them are going to work, so you need to go to the store and buy a new tie for yourself. Your entry level job interview depends on it.

Picking a Tie

The rule with all job interview attire is that none of it gets noticed. You don’t want to pick a cool tie or a stylish tie or one that makes you look like a clubber. You want to pick a tie that is boring. You want to pick a tie that the interviewer ignores. That means that your tie:

• Cannot have any bright colors.
• Cannot have any fancy designs or images.
• Cannot have any crazy patterns.
• Cannot clash or stand out against your shirt.

Your tie needs to be boring and lifeless. It needs to be a tired color, like blue – but not bright blue or deep blue. It needs to be a boring old blue, with a boring old pattern. It needs to be boring. You should be bored just thinking about how boring the tie will be.

Avoiding the Power Tie

Power ties are not boring. They are useful for high paying sales jobs and executive positions. That’s not you. You are applying for an entry level jobs, and entry level jobs are boring. Power ties may be tempting, but they are for higher up positions. At your job interview, a boring old blue is advised.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Choose a boring blue tie…. Zzz……

Why Not to Dress Casual to a Casual Job

We have gone over this topic several times in the past. There is a debate raging amongst hiring managers that if you are going to a job at an organization that prides itself on being casual, you should come dressed in more casual clothing to “look the part.” Indeed, there has been more than once instance of an individual presumably not getting hired because they came to the interview dressed “too professional.” The idea that you need to dress down for interviews with casual companies is being popularized all over the Internet.

We still believe this to be a risky move, and as evidence, we point you to this (#22):

“One [candidate] came in dressed very professionally and really looked like she had made an effort to look the part. Some people assume because we are laid back and bring our pets to work, that we are extremely casual and will show up for an interview dressed in jeans, so this was a nice change. Toward the end of the interview, I complimented her on how professional she looked. … We ended up hiring her ” — Cindy Lukacevic, owner/vice president of marketing, Dinovite Inc.

Dressing professionally at the job interview shows respect to the company. You want the company to see you are as a professional. You have every day for the rest of your life to dress casually like the company wants, but at the interview, you want to show the company you take the interview seriously, which is exactly what this candidate did.

What Happens If We Are Wrong?

In rare situations, you are going to come across an interviewer that doesn’t hire you because you were dressed professionally. The immediate reaction may be “I should have gone with my instincts and dress down.”

Still, the truth of the matter is that a company that refuses to hire employees because they dress too professional are going to miss out on great candidates that showed respect for the company in favor of candidates that decided casual was a better strategy. That’s their fault, not yours.

You don’t know what the interviewer wants. All you know is that if you dress up for a casual interview, you will probably still get the job, but if you dress down for an interviewer that wants someone professional, you are guaranteed not to get the job.

Take Away Interview Tips

• It’s still a good idea to dress up for your job interview, no matter where it is.

How to Dress for an IT Job Interview: For Women

Recently we had a post on dressing for an IT interview. We generally advise against dressing down for any interview, IT or otherwise, because there is far more risk in dressing down than there is in dressing up. Yet some IT hiring managers insist that they are more likely to hire those that dress “for the job,” and if you subscribe to that belief, we advise that you still dress professionally using the tips described in that article.

However, because IT has been a predominantly male field for a number of years, there are very few articles on how women should dress to an IT job interview. That is why here we will provide some thoughts on how women should dress for an interview in information technology.

Professionally is Always Best

Before we begin, we should note that we still believe that you should dress professionally. There is chance that the interviewer will hold your professional outfit against you, but if they do that is their fault. You should not, and most likely will not, be punished for showing the interviewer respect by dressing up for the interview. That said, if you do believe that dressing for the job is more important, you still need to do so carefully.

Dressing Down for Women

When dressing down for an IT job interview, women should strongly consider wearing pants over a skirt. Professional skirts will be seen as overdressed for the role, while standard dress pants will look both more casual and more appropriate for an IT job.

Shoes should not be expensive. Heels are generally not recommended if you are dressing for a casual IT interview. Still, try to keep them a professional color, like black.

Your hair should be done, rather than styled or in a ponytail. Your shirt should still be something more professional, like a blouse, but you do not need to wear a suit jacket over the blouse. Just make sure that the blouse is conservative. A nice looking but non-suit jacket over the blouse is also acceptable.  Do not wear any fancy jewelry. Try to use studs in your ears  instead of hoops, since studs are considered a little more casual.

Final Thoughts

There is no surefire way yet for women to dress down for a job interview. Men have a little more leeway with their outfits. If you are certain that you need to dress down for your job interview, rather than try to dress completely casual, simply look for casual versions of professional outfits. That is the only way to get the best of both worlds.

Take Away Interview Tips

• We generally don’t recommend dressing down for any interview.
• If you are going to dress down for an IT job interview, try to keep your outfit conservative and at least moderately professional.
• Pants are a better choice than skirts for casual interviews.

How to Dress for a More Casual IT Job Interview

The corporate world is changing. Where once the idea of casual was a wacky tie every Friday, these days some companies have gotten rid of dress codes completely, since most of their work occurs behind the scenes where few people will judge them by their professionalism. IT jobs are the most notorious. It is extremely common to find an IT job where the interviewers themselves come in dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

IT Job Dress Code

Because of the casual dress at these job interviews, many hiring managers recommend that you dress for the job, showing that you fit into their corporate culture. They believe that if you come to the interview in a black suit and tie, you are not going to get the job because you won’t “fit in” with the rest of the staff.

We at Everyday Interview Tips have our doubts about this. It seems illogical that a company will judge you negatively for wanting to make a positive first impression, and it seems risky to dress casually for a job interview, because if the interviewer is looking for someone dressed professionally, you are going to fail miserably. The opposite is must less true.

Still, it is well known that there are companies that do still want to hire someone that dresses for the job. When you know for certain that the job interview you are attending is casual, here are some IT job dress code tips.

Dress Down, But Not Unprofessionally

You still want to make a positive first impression. Dressing in an AC/DC shirt and ripped jeans is not going to make a good first impression on anyone, even if the interviewer is wearing the same exact shirt. It’s ugly, and it makes you look worse.

You still want to come across as professional. So the best idea is to come as a what we will call “IT professional.” Dress like you are a slob that is trying their best to look professional that doesn’t actually know how. Dress in the following (for men):

• Short sleeve professional button down shirt in a boring color, like light blue.
• Boring tie.
• Non-pleated khakis.
• Boring black shoes.

The short sleeve will add that casual flare, but the khakis and tie will help it appear more professional. Then, if you find that you are still overdressed, you can un-tuck your shirt somewhere during the interview and make it appear you are even more lucid about dress code.

Women should look to dress similarly, except instead of the short sleeve button down shirt and tie, it should be replaced by a blouse that is not too dressy.

Advised But Not Recommended

Above represents the best way to dress down for an IT job interview. However, we at Everyday Interview Tips still think it is a better idea to dress completely professionally. There is more risk in dressing down than there is dressing up. Still, we recognize that some people disagree, and the above IT interview dress code advice above represents the best combination of both.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Dressing down is not recommended.
• If you do dress down, try to still be professional by wearing a tie.
• Short sleeve button downs are considered more casual.

To Ask or Not to Ask: Is There a Dress Code?

We often emphasize how important it is that you ask questions at your job interview. It’s very important. It’s so important that if you have a fantastic interview and the interviewer asks you “do you have any questions” and your answer is “nope, I’m good” you will probably not get the job. That’s a considerable amount of importance.

Coming up with interesting questions though can be difficult. Not all questions are created equal. Asking the interviewer “What type of training programs do you offer?” is going to get you considerable more brownie points than “Do you mind if I show up to work drunk?”

Questionable Questions

Recently we came across a few websites that had recommendations to applicants about what types of questions they should ask. On several of these websites, they suggested that the applicant ask “Is there a dress code?”

This is a perfect example of a question that seems at first glance to be perfectly acceptable, but may actually cost you the job. Let’s look at it in terms of a scenario:

You are a 21 year old college graduate. You have just finished your degree and are looking for a career at a medium sized company. You have never worked before. You go to the interview and wow the interviewer with your personality and your intelligence. The problem is that the job was originally designed for someone with more work experience. The interviewer decides they are willing to overlook your lack of experience in favor of what appears to be a bright young mind entering their company’s ranks. Then you ask “Is there a dress code?”

The interviewer is probably going to hear: “Do I HAVE to dress up for this place or can I wear jeans and a t-shirt like I want to?” Suddenly their fears kick in again, and they worry you may not be ready for the corporate world.

Questions Have Implications

Interviewers are always going to try to figure out your motivations for the questions you ask, and asking about the dress code is one of those questions where the motivation doesn’t reflect highly on you. You may simply be asking because you need to update your wardrobe, but the interviewer may see it as you hoping you can work somewhere that you don’t have to dress and/or act professionally.

You can find out the dress code simply by observing the staff during the interview, or showing up dressed extremely professionally your first day and simply dressing down on all subsequent days. It’s a question that doesn’t need to be answered, so we at Everyday Interview Tips would recommend not asking that question.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Not all questions are great to ask, even when they are not bad questions.
• Avoid asking about dress code at your job interview.

Reader Testimonial – The “Stripping Down” Effect

Recently I had a long time reader ask me a question. She was going to a job interview with well known website, whose business is known to be fairly casual. She asked me the following:

Hey, Mr. Interviewtips,

I have an in-person interview at XXXXXXXXXXXX on Thursday. I’m not sure what their dress code is, but I’m guessing it’s pretty casual just based on what I know about the company. So, considering how much I want this job, I thought I’d get a second opinion from someone well-informed on the subject: What should I wear? I’m thinking my usual business suit look is too much, so should I do slacks & a sweater, or even jeans/blazer/heels? Thoughts?

I’ve written about this topic before. I don’t personally believe it’s a good idea to dress down to an interview. I prefer what I like to call the “stripping” method. I think you should dress as nice as possible, and if you feel you are underdressed you should slowly “strip” in a way (take off the jacket first, maybe roll up your sleeves a bit) and casual yourself up that way. There are several reasons I think this is the right move:

- Very few hiring managers, if any, are going to not give you a job because you’re dressed nice.
- First impressions are still first impressions, and “professional” is never a bad first impression.
- Once you strip down, you’ll still fit in. You can’t strip up into nicer clothes.
- If the place does want to see someone professional, you’re screwed.

There are stories about a company that won’t hire people that show up in a suit, but there are very few of them, and I find it hard to believe. Still, if you’re worried, you can consider your least professional nice clothes and take the jacket off before you even go into the interview, putting your jacket back on if it ends up being more professional.

Well, the reader took my advice and wrote me today, and her response was the following:

I went with your advice, mostly: pin-striped slacks, a black blazer, and a jersey shirt (one step up from a t-shirt, but not a button-down or anything). Considering that I was interviewing at a tech start-up, a buttoned shirt seemed overkill – and pretty generic/forgettable.

Upon walking into the office, I noticed it was a pretty darn casual place – everyone was wearing jeans or skirt/leggings. So in the interim between being shown into the interview room and everyone showing up, I cuffed the sleeves on my blazer (as is a current trend) and unbuttoned it, thus instantly feeling a bit more casual but still a couple steps above the general attire. The “stripping down” idea works, particularly if you plan for it (and I wore a blazer with a fun pin-striped lining with the intention of cuffing the sleeves if that was appropriate).

We’re glad it worked for you, and hopefully it will help you get the job you’ve always wanted. As always, you can contact us if you have any questions, and if we have any idea what the answer is we’ll try to do our best to give thoughts.

7 Major Job Interview Fashion Mistakes

You can only make a first impression once, and the first thing the interviewer sees is going to be your appearance. Before the first word has been spoken, the interviewer is already going to try to figure out your personality based on your appearance.

There is no denying that how you dress for the job interview is important. Very important. In some ways, it is the most important aspect of the interview, because if you come dressed like a fool, your interview will never recover.

The Key to a Good Outfit is an Ignored Outfit

When you pick out your clothes, your goal is to not wear anything that gets you noticed. Quite the contrary, you want your outfit to play no role at all in your ability to get a job. None. You don’t want the interviewer to even notice how you are dressed. You want all of the focus to be on your interview answers, and none of the focus on your outfit. For that reason, here are several common job interview fashion mistakes.

• Sexy Shoes

If you are a young woman wearing open toed, high heeled shoes, you are overdressed. You don’t want the interviewer noticing how sexy your shoes are. You want your interview looking only into your eyes.

• Gaudy Jewelry

A diamond tennis bracelet or a large chain necklace may be expensive and stylish, but they are also far too noticeable. Your jewelry (if you wear any) should be inconspicuous, so that it does not catch the eye of the interviewer.

• Labeled Purses

You are going to a job interview, not trying to show off how expensive your tastes are. Yes, it’s cute that Coach purses make the “C” look like little bubbles, but a purse with a label is going to be noticed by interviewers, and you want their eyes off of your stuff.

• Odd Colored Shirts

You may have worn a pink shirt under your suit to prom, but pink is a fairly noticeable color. The interviewer does not want to be blinded or distracted by your oddly colored outfit. You want all of the colors to be boring and professional.

• Odd Colored Accessories

The same goes for your purses, suitcases, etc. The Hello Kitty suitcase may have seemed like a fun idea at the time, but it should not be taken with you at the job interview. The same goes for fingernails and makeup.

• Unprofessional Jackets

Some people interview in winter. Winter is cold. You will need a warm jacket. You never know when the interviewer will see you. If you show up to the interview in some bright or awkward jacket, it is going to be noticed, even if the suit you are keeping dry underneath is the peak of professional.

• Visible Tattoos

Employers don’t really care if you have a tattoo. They do not, however, want to see some big one at the job interview. If you have a tattoo anywhere on your body, do your best to hide it at the job interview. This means that if you have a tattoo on your ankle, it should be invisible by your stocks, stockings, shoes, etc.

Going to the Interview Incognito

It seems counterintuitive that the best job interview outfits are those that the interviewer completely ignores, but it makes sense as well. If the interviewer is distracted by your outfit, they are going to pay less attention to the answers you are providing. Less attention means that once the interview is over, they are going to come up with fewer reasons to call you back for a second. Keep your outfit boring and professional if you hope to get the job.

Take Away Interview Tips

• The best outfits are those that play no role in your job interview.
• Your outfit should always be boring and professional.

How to Choose Your Tie for the Job Interview

Job interview dress code is extremely strict. Good or bad, employers judge you by how you dress. The rule for dressing for your job interview is that the more your clothes are ignored, the better you have dressed for your interview. Essentially, you do not want employers to notice your outfit. Rather you want your own voice to do the talking for you.

For men, part of dressing for the job interview involves selecting a tie. Like everything with job interviews, there are rules for the type of tie you can wear.

Ties Not to Wear

• Brightly colored ties.
• Ties with sports teams on them.
• Ties with any type of image on them.
• Ties with crazy patterns.
• Ties that visibly clash with your outfit.

What you should ask yourself before selecting a tie is “Will this tie get noticed?” If the answer is “yes,” then you do not want to wear that tie to your job interview.

Ties to Wear

In general, the rule for job interview ties is that less is more. Wear a color that is muted and barely noticeable, like a blue tie without any special designs. The less your tie is noticed, the better. The ties should be solid in color, though a small pattern is acceptable only if the pattern is not very noticeable.

Power Ties

Despite their fame, power ties should not be worn to the job interview unless you are applying to a particularly “power” position, like executive. They may also be worn to positions in sales, but only if you are certain that the position truly requires that “go getter” attitude that is often stereotyped among sales staff. Power ties are otherwise too distracting and are not that likely to give you a better impression than a boring solid color tie.

Take Away Interview Tips

• The less noticeable your tie, the better.