Q. If dress isn’t specified for an interview, what should I wear?
A. Well, it depends. Naturally, interview dress for a summer wait staff position (business casual) should be different than for a full-time job at Bank of America (business professional). In either situation, your packaging will send a clear message about your interest in the opening, as well as the value you place on discussing it. Make no mistake; the interviewer is using your appearance to gauge your professionalism and respect for them, yourself, and their customers. Hint: Cowboy boots, cleavage, and most items from the Kardashian Kollection won’t measure up.
Get through your maze of choices with these guidelines:
1) Get some insider info, if possible.
Ask alumni or others who work at the organization about dress code there. If you don’t know anyone to ask and the business is local, drive by one day at quitting time. Check out what staffers are wearing as they leave the building. If the day-to-day is business casual, then you should dress business professional (think suit), to show your, well, professionalism. Once you get the job, you can dial it back to match the general tone of the place. For specific suggestions and the differences between business professional and business casual dress, go here.
2) If in doubt, you’re better off dressing too formally than too casually.
Recently, a Campus Cutie attended a wait staff interview wearing freshly pressed khakis and a polo shirt. He got hired on the spot, because the owner was so impressed with his appearance, “I’m glad to see an applicant in something besides shorts and a T-shirt!”
3) Give your outfit the “club test”.
If you could head straight to Ziggy’s or The Last Resort after an interview, without stopping off to change, then you haven’t nailed it. See What Not to Wear – below.
What Not to Wear…to a job interview
By the way, if you don’t have a suit yet, get one. Just like the LBD, every self-respecting Collegiette should own one – in a conservative solid color (black, navy, gray). Boring, I know, but useful for many occasions – interviews, funerals, presentations, etc. – making it so very versatile and cost-effective!
Carolyn Couch
A Certified Professional Coach and a National Certified Career Counselor, Carolyn Couch is Associate Director for Career Education and Counseling at Wake Forest University. She has been providing comprehensive career coaching for Collegiettes and Campus Cuties for over 15 years. She is a past columnist for the USAToday Online Career Center and a former board member of Dress for Success (Winston Salem NC affiliate), an international organization promoting economic independence of disadvantaged women.
Send your career questions to her at couchca@wfu.edu.