November 9, 2012

Job-interview outfit do's and don'ts

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(Thinkstock)

NWjobs staff
Congratulations -- you finally landed a job interview! Now, what are you going to wear?

For advice, we turned to Seattle-area career experts Lisa Quast of Career Woman, Inc., and Josh Warborg of Robert Half International, who critiqued these interview-outfit photos provided by OfficeTeam.

First up, the women. (Click on the image to enlarge and make text clearer.)

Both Quast and Warborg emphasize the importance of researching the company and its competitors ahead of time to determine what interview attire would be appropriate.

"What job seekers wear is often seen as a test of their familiarity with the company and industry," says Quast. "Don’t let your interview attire be a reason for a hiring manager to rule you out as a viable candidate."

Next up, the men. (Click on the image to enlarge and make text clearer.)

In the "do" photographs, it's clear that the job seekers have selected professional attire and paid attention to polishing the finishing details, says Warborg.

"Ultimately, you want your experience and skills to be the focus of the interview -- not your outfit," Warborg says.

Among Quast's and Warborg's other tips:

• If you still aren't sure about what to wear, call the company's human-resource department, explain that you’ll be having a job interview in XYZ department and ask what they recommend as the appropriate attire.

• When it doubt, it is better to error on the conservative side by being slightly overdressed than it is to show up to an interview dressed too casually.

• If you buy something new, wear it a few times before your meeting to make sure it fits well, and you feel confident in it. You want to look as relaxed as possible, so avoid uncomfortable clothing.

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Resumes and Job Hunt, featured, interviewing, job search

1 Comments

Amy on May 12, 2013 1:51 PM | Reply

I absolutely love this; however, as a teacher, I can tell you that business casual is not appropriate for a teaching interview. I have known people to be turned down for a teaching job solely due to the fact that they did not wear a suit to their interview. This may not be true for teaching interviews throughout the U.S., but I can assure you that it is true of the Southeast.

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