What to wear for an interview. Jeans and T-shirt? Athletic clothing? Suit? You might be right, you might be wrong it depends on what the interview is for. You only get one chance of making a first impression and this first impression is formed in the first moments of your interview. Where an interview will form an impression, make a swift judgement in the first few moments and then following that moment any information, what they see, what you say, anything will be interpreted to confirm they were correct in their initial judgement. Everyone likes to be correct; we all like to believe we can form accurate impressions. So if your impression has a positive impact all you have to do is maintain it. If your impression has a negative impact you have an uphill struggle to convince the interviewer they were wrong and need to change their minds. Not easy, as an interviewer, once they have formed a negative impression will then spend less time with you.
So now we know that the clothing that you choose is important. But what is the correct dress code? Well as mentioned before, it depends on the job. The best guide is to dress like they do for work only a little bit smarter. When you dress like they do. You are showing the interviewer that you understand the job, the work culture, the organisation, you are the best fit, you can fit in, and you are one of them. If you are applying for an entry level job as a floor-hand on a Service Rig and you arrive for an interview in a suit. You are showing the interviewer: You dont know the job, the culture, the organisation and you are not the best fit. The interviewer needs to be able to see you in the role you are applying for so why dress for a different role.
If you are not sure what the dress code is. Do your homework. Go to the organisation, look to see what they wear. Try U-Tube and search using a job description. Know that the dress code can change due to location. Working in a bank in a suburbs community may have a different code to one downtown.
There are some generic rules:
Dont wear team colours, the interviewer may not support your team so wear neutral colours
Dont wear designer labels or slogans they may not be offensive to you but may to someone else
If the job requires you to be clean shaven or hair cut / tied back, do it before your interview.
If the job requires you to work out in the cold, dont go wrapped up November, show you have acclimatised to the weather
If the job requires you to wear work boots, wear work boots but make sure they are scuffed and look as though they have been worn before. You dont want to look as though your mother dressed you.
Make sure you are comfortable in your clothes. How do you make that happen? Easy, wear the clothes.