I know a
lot about presenting for interviews but my experience doesn’t come
from my image consulting/styling work.
It comes
from spending 20 years in CBD corporate, doing specialized tax work, including many
years of investment banking. In the process, I recruited hundreds of candidates
for teams within these large firms. I
have seen the best and walking around the CBD at lunchtime has allowed me to
see the worst.
This blog
will take you through some non negotiable no brainers in interview dressing.
But bear in mind, that even something which is non negotiable may need to be
negotiated in specific circumstances. So if I say "you can never wear sandals to
an interview", but you broke your foot and it’s still healing, then the non
negotiable becomes negotiable. If you
provide specific facts to your situation, I can take that into account. In the
absence of specifics, here we go….
Never wear
jeans
“Never wear
jeans” to an interview applies whether you are a 16 yo who is going for a job
at McDonalds or a person going for a cleaning job or someone going to a mine
site for an interview as a blue collar tradesman. Why? There will be others in jeans &
qualifications & experience aside, if you dress smarter than them, you will
get the job, as long as you don’t look like a goose. Frankly I have never seen
a smart pair of dress slacks make anyone look like a goose. But there may be a situation where jeans are
appropriate, I cant think of one. If you can, by all means let me know.
Never wear
stocking & open toe shoes
The other
one is always wear stockings & never wear open toed shoes or sandals. I
don’t care how hot it is and I certainly don’t care how good your legs are,
these two pre-requisites are virtually not negotiable – unless you want to give
me some more specific facts to consider.
Not all
offices are created equal
In the
absence of specifics, I’d like to start with dress for interviews for office
jobs because more than half of us work in offices. Yes, offices vary – some are
fashion firms, art galleries or flamboyant creative companies, others are more
conservative - think telcos, finance, property, accounting, medical etc. Then
there are the people professions like retail, hospitality, teaching & aged
care, amongst others.
Jobs within these industries vary too – so the
accountant in a fashion firm or fashion magazine will dress noticeably more
conservatively than the designer or fashion editor. The marketing or sales person
in a finance company will dress more conservatively than the same person in an
advertising firm.
Most office
interview outfits are created equal
If you are
approaching an office interview at entry level to supervisor to mid manager
level, if you don’t dress in a tailored type suit (matched or harmoniously unmatched)
you are doing yourself a disservice. Why? Because there will be other with whom
you are competing who will choose that style of dress and when that happens,
you will be behind the eight ball.
The
interview has higher dress standards than the job
The first
thing you need to remember is that what you wear on the job is not the standard
by which you dress for the interview. The interview demands the highest of
standards. You can relax those standards at the job, but if you want to be
promoted, there’s a whole other blog post on how much to relax them by. Let me
know if you want to discuss that and how to work casual Friday too.
Business casual
Let's think of it another way. Alot of offices have a business casual policy as it improves morale. Basically this means suit not required and you can relax your separates to say chinos or a polo instead of business suits worn as separates.
Why would you ever attend an interview for an office job in similar relaxed clothing, when it is unlikely that you know whether the office has a dress down policy. Even if it does, an interview demands higher dress standards than the job.
If you
don’t look the part, someone else will
The second
thing you need to remember is that you are competing against others for the
job. If you have similar experience and
qualifications to the next fellow, and you are dressed better/smarter, you will
be in the lead for the job. That’s why
there are no brainers in interview clothing, which apply no matter what
category of job you are applying for:
* Clothing
that fits & isn’t pulling & bunching etc
* Everything
pressed beautifully
* No scuffed
heels/toes
* No
peek-a-boob shirt
* No laddered
stocking (keep a spare in your bag)
* No cleavage
* Knee length
skirts
* No chipped
nail polish
* Cover all
tattoos
* Remove
visible body piercings
* No VPL
* No jeans
I could go
on, but all you have to do is google this.
The
subconscious indicators
Thirdly,
there are items which put you ahead sub consciously.
A jacket is
one of them. If you are walking into an air conditioned office, in a pair of
smart pants or skirt (code for not a flamboyant outfit), then wear the jacket.
It will give you credibility and authority & maturity that your non jacket
competitors will never bring to the table.
Others may
include:
* panty
hose
* the
closed toe shoe
* a
neckline that has a piece of jewellery filling the décolletage space
* hair tied
back (to avoid the “glamour look” or fiddling with it when you are nervous)
* a heel
(but not to the extent that they are uncomfortable to walk in) - many studies show that you have more presence & authority in a heel than a flat
* pulling
out a notebook & asking if you can take notes
(& actually taking some
notes)
* sending a
thank you email
If you want
me to expand on the subconscious indicators, it’ll be a whole other blog. Just ask.
Appearances cant be distracting - ever
Fourth, we
need to talk about distractions.
An
interviewer looks for certain preliminary things. Once he/she finds them,
he/she ticks them off in their head (or a checklist – yes, the big firms do
have them). Once ticked off, he/she can move to the juicy stuff – namely your
background, experience, communication skills & your fit within the team.
If the
interviewer gets distracted with the preliminaries, it’s like you are
experiencing a road hump during the interview. Road humps are not good especially if your
competition isn’t experiencing them.
One of
these is that you are prompt & punctual. The other is that you
dressed/groomed appropriately, so your clothing doesn’t become a distraction to
the juicy stuff.
In a non flamboyant
office job, the interviewer doesn’t want to see that you stand out sartorially
speaking. They just want to see that you
fit in.
You see, in
an office job, the interviewer doesn’t give two hoots if you are wearing a red
top or a blue top or a white top. But if you wear the colour that flatters your
face, it will ensure the highest level of engagement from the interviewer as
they wont think that you had a late night & don’t care about getting the
job.
Even if
everyone seems to be wearing white tops, the interviewer doesn’t don’t care –
unless the top looks sloppy. All they
want is to tick off appearance so they can get to the juicy stuff. If colour is your thing, wear it, but in
conservative industries, head to toe colour, at entry-mid manager level, may create
an impression that causes distraction. Once you get to the executive levels, you can do whatever you like, but even at the senior manager levels, too much whimsy at interview time isnt advised.
Interviewers don’t
care of you wear a print or a plain top. But if the print is really eye
assaulting or optical illusiony, it will distract the interviewer from the
juicy stuff at some stage during the interview.
The
interviewer doesn’t care of you are wearing a dress and a jacket or a suit. If its business like, as
long as it suits you and flatters you and it’s fine.
If you fill
your neckline with a bold necklace it will distract from the juicy stuff
compared to a more subtle necklace. Please don’t try to tell me that you need the
bold piece to show your personality. If it’s a non flamboyant office and you go
with a bold piece next to your face, it will create distractions for the
interviewer. Accept that & dont complain if you wear it & dont get the job.
So will a
bangle which jingle jangles during the interview.
You can
wear a bright shoe with a suit, but sometimes the combination of too many
bright pieces will be too distracting – so you need to assess the whole package before you
finalise the outfit.
Whatever
you wear, if there is a pulled thread or its creased (especially around your
face) or its tugging/pulling, I guarantee you that during a 45 minute interview, it
will be noticed & it will distracted from the juicy stuff.
The other thing that gets noticed is your cuffs because your hands sit on/above the table in plain sight. If your cuffs are too long and you have folded them up - reconsider. Get them altered - nothing looks more "I couldnt be bothered to go to the trouble to do this right" or "if I take short cuts with my dress, I will take short cuts in your business".
You can
wear a contrasting jacket, just be 100% sure its your best colour and the fit/trims don't remind anyone of the 80s.
Yes, you
can wear a Mary Jane shoe in a conservative colour, but Mary Janes have a girly
softness about them than a non strappy pump doesn’t have. As long as you are
aware of that, then by all means, wear them if you want to.
For the non
flamboyant office jobs, I suggest against wearing fashion trends like oversize
coats, or booties or full waist pleated pants, chunky sweaters or anything that
suggests a previous era. I would even avoid a small scale gingham print shirt
because it will remind some interviewers of Pizza Hut tablecloths.
Another
thing to note – no matter how lovely you think you look, if the interviewer
comments on your lovely shirt, shoes, necklace, brooch or whatever, I can
guarantee you that your chances of getting the job just plummeted. Why? The
interviewer wasn’t bonding with you & your love of fashion. They only
mention your appearance because the candidate’s juicy stuff isn’t impressing them.
If the juicy stuff was impressing them, they wouldn’t be talking about your clothes.
You see,
you cant risk wearing anything that could create an image or connotation that
isn’t about the juicy stuff. If you think “this gingham top wont look like a
Pizza Hut tablecloth because its blue”, I can guarantee you that some
interviewers will go there. You cannot afford to dress even if the distraction
odds are low. You need to dress in a way that there are no distraction odds
that you can think of. I’d also get the opinion of someone more experienced to
see if the outfit conjures up anything you haven’t thought of.
Personality?
For anyone
who thinks that the corporate look means no personality – it doesn’t. You can
wear colour, just make it appropriate. You can wear jewellery, just make it
appropriate. You can wear an unmatched suit, just make it harmonious rather
than highly contrasting.
An interview is not the place to show an interviewer that you love the boho style or the rock chic style or a romantic style or a whimsical style. The style that will get you the most points is a classic style. You need to adapt to that for the sake of that 1 hour & possibly a second hour for a second interview. If you think that is too hard, you may need to change you line of work.
Smart candidates think like an employer
Finally,
when I hire someone to do a job, all other things being equal, I want the
person who demonstrates the most professionalism. Professionalism implies you care. If I am paying you a salary, I'd better see that your care or I will cross you off my list. In fact, if I see candidates in suits
and candidates in relaxed clothing, it’s a no brainer who I will go for. Think
like an interviewer and you’ll come round to my way of thinking.....
