How to dress for a job interview
Congratulations! You got a job interview! After weeks of sending applications, you finally landed something. Now, you need to start…
Congratulations! You got a job interview! After weeks of sending applications, you finally landed something. Now, you need to start preparing for your big day.
But, you feel like you forgot something… “OH! What do I wear!?” What you wear to your interviews is extremely important. Why? What you wear and what you look like is the first thing your interviewer sees. This means they are going to judge you on what you look like prior to even interviewing you. The best way to set yourself up for success is to make sure you look good. Do not give the interviewer the opportunity to make a negative impression of you.
“I get it. What I wear is important. But what exactly do I wear?!” You need to do some research. You don’t want to out-dress everyone at the company, but you certainly don’t want to underdress. Underdressing to a job interview is the worst thing you can do. When in doubt, dress up.
Not long ago, I was in your shoes. I had interviews every week, and I needed to make decisions about what I was going to wear. Every company I applied for had a different dress-code, so I was super nervous that I would wear the wrong outfit! I was super conscious of this. So conscious that I’d send my Mom a picture of what I was going to wear before every interview I had. Then, I’d call her just to confirm my outfit was good! I did this before every interview. Sorry, mom.
I wrote this article so you don’t have to call your mom asking for outfit-advice every time you have an interview. It’s a step-by-step guide to help you answer the question “what the heck should I wear to this job interview?!” In this article will answer the following questions:
What is the company’s dress code?
What are the different types of business attire?
What is the company’s dress code?
The first step to figuring out what you are going to wear to a job interview is to identify the company’s dress code. This can be done in three ways:
Google search
First, we will cover the google search. This is the easiest way to figure out what to wear. For example, if I had an interview with Apple, I’d search “what to wear to an interview with apple”.
Don’t settle for this first search result. Scroll down a little and get a few opinions about what to wear. Most of the results will come from online forums like Quora, Reddit, Indeed, Glassdoor, etc. But, sometimes you’ll come across a link to the company’s website. In this case, the company’s website is the source of all truth. If the company you are interviewing with doesn’t blatantly tell you what to wear, then you have to make your best judgment. When in doubt, stick to sites like Indeed or Glassdoor. They are geared towards helping people with their job searches.
Ask your recruiter
There is no shame in asking your recruiter what to wear to a job interview. They want you to succeed just as much as you want to succeed. Shoot them a quick email a few days prior to your interview asking what to wear. Here’s an example
Ask someone at the company
If you feel uncomfortable asking the recruiter what to wear, ask someone at the company. You can use a similar template to the one above. If you know someone at the company, shoot them an email. Otherwise, look someone up on LinkedIn and contact them. For details about how to find someone to contact on LinkedIn, check out Get an interview with any company you want. It may seem weird asking some random person what you should wear to your job interview, but don’t worry. Everyone has been there. Everyone gets a little nervous about what to wear. Just ask the question and move on.
What are the different types of business attire?
You did your research. You know what the company’s dress code is. Now what? Generally, dress codes fall into two categories; business professional and business casual. If the company you are applying for doesn’t fall into one of these categories, don’t fret. A lot of companies don’t fit perfectly into a specific dress-code. Over time, companies have become a lot more liberal with their dress codes. Check out this NPR article about how dress codes are changing Not Just Fridays: More Companies Embrace Casual Dress Codes. Companies who have had a business professional dress code for 50 years are now changing their dress code to business casual. All in all, companies are getting a lot more relaxed about what their employees wear. BUT DON’T BE FOOLED! If you have doubts over what to wear dress it up.
Business professional
Business casual
Again, if the company you are interviewing for does not fall under the business professional or business casual category, don’t worry! You just need to do a little more work. Do a quick Google search, ask your recruiter, or contact someone working at the company.