What to Wear to an Interview

Wondering what to wear to an interview? Read on…what to wear to an interview

What to wear to an interview

What to wear to an interview is one of those questions that can’t really be answered without knowing what kind of job you’re interviewing for. If you’re interviewing for a job in a very creative industry, for instance, you may be able to dress a little less conservatively than someone interviewing for a job in a more traditional workplace, but there are still some basic principles that remain the same regardless. It’s these basic principles we’ll be looking at in this article, as opposed to specific interview outfit suggestions, so here are some basic guidelines on what to wear to an interview…

An interview is not a fashion show…

… unless, of course, your interviewing for a job in fashion, in which case you probably don’t need advice on what to wear to an interview anyway! For the purposes of this article, however, we’ll be assuming that’s NOT the case, and that you’re interviewing for the kind of job in which your personal appearance isn’t a primary concern.

Joking aside, for many people, what they wear is an important expression of their personality and creativity: they’re reluctant to sacrifice that by toeing the line, and adopting a stuffy dress code which they feel suppresses their true selves. This is a legitimate concern, but the fact is, a job interview is not an opportunity to express your inner personality and get creative with your outfit choices: it’s an opportunity to demonstrate how well you’ll be able to do the job. Your interviewer doesn’t care about your creative use of pattern-mixing, or that high-low hemlines are “on trend” this season, so when deciding what to wear to an interview, it’s best to err on the side of caution, and wear something that’s contemporary, but not too edgy or experimental.

what to wear to an interview

What to wear to an interview… and what NOT to wear to an interview [ASOS headband]

Instead of viewing this a suppression of your personality, try thinking of it as an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to adapt to different situations, and behave/dress appropriately for them. You may feel your ironic slogan t-shirt, or Hello Kitty headband truly represents who you are as a person, but refusing to take it off, even for a job interview, won’t impress your prospective employers with your strength of character: instead they’ll be more likely to view you as difficult, inflexible and even childish in your insistence on having things YOUR way, rather than the way that’s most appropriate for the situation.

Don’t despair, though: you may be having to sacrifice some of your personal style now, but you don’t have to sacrifice ALL of it, and it won’t be forever. You can still add a personal twist to your interview outfit (more on this later), and what you wear to the interview won’t necessarily be what you’ll wear for the job itself, so if you do ace your interview, you’ll be in a position to assess just how far you can afford to push the boundaries of the office dress code. The key is to wait until you have the job before you attempt to do this!

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