The question is very rarely “Can they do the job?” The question is really “Can they do the job as we want it done, in this particular environment, and do we want to work with them?” Though I’d cut a kid some slack if she or he overdressed for their very first interview ever, showing up overdressed or underdressed demonstrate the same lack of understanding of that particular workplace. There are usually multiple people vying for any given job, and who gets it can come down to some really small issues, such as how they treat people the very first time they come into the store or what they wear.
It has absolutely nothing to do with reverse snobbery. It has to do with determining whether the person is a good fit for the job. A hiring manager might have legitimate concerns that the guy in the suit “doesn’t understand the level of the job.” (to quote dnooman)
Nope. It’s whether the person would be a good fit for the job. Ability to do the tasks in the job description is only one part of that.
Besides, anyone with relevant shit-job experience would probably know that you don’t wear a suit and tie to an interview for a job as a Target cashier. That would be a huge red flag, suggesting that you don’t really understand the realities of working in a non-upscale retail store.
The best thing to wear to such an interview is nice business casual.
More important than being polite, IMO, is understanding context. It’s something I stress very hard in language discussions, and it holds no less true in other social matters like clothing. Most retail and food service are going to be a lot less formal than executive management, and it displays more intelligence and cooperation to meet someone at their level than be way under or way above it.
The best way to show respect in such situations is simply to be clean. Wear well-fitting jeans or slacks instead of dirty, baggy pants. Shave, comb your hair, and otherwise look like you prepped rather than rolled out of bed. That says far more than how high a level you take your clothing.
Not sure if your post was directed at me or not - but I didn’t reject the guy because he was overdressed - I rejected him because
a) I didn’t feel he was a good fit for the company culture
b) I didn’t think he understood the local working style, mindset and how to appeal to our clients (he was Irish, all his experience was in Ireland, this was a Singaporean company and would have been his first job in Asia)
I didn’t doubt his skill level - just his working style
The suit was just something highly visible and easy to point to as an example of this.
If it had been that he came in and was highly personably, friendly, and a “bright spark” personality that obviously worn the suit to impress I would have been impressed - the thing is I got the impression that the suit really was a reflection of his work style and personality
My last job interview I wore a nice pair of jeans, a good shirt, and pair of clean boots, for a job at a factory. Considering that I was dressed better even than the plant manager who i met that day, I have to say it was a fairly good call to wear that and not my funeral suit.
I honestly would never wear a suit to a low end job interview such as that. If it were some classy place, maybe a pair of khakis and a tucked in shirt. Maybe.
Though tbh, so long as the person is wearing clean clothes, I can’t understand why anyone would care one way or the other. Your clothing choices do not reflect your competence, and maybe only a bit of your personality.
I think the idea of dressing one level up from the job you’re interviewing with is the way to go. It shows that you are actually aware of what this job is, not just “insert any job here so I can make some money.” A factory job interview is not a downtown oil and gas business interview.
I think when you’re applying ,the ‘basic sunday wear’ tack is the one to take. As one that hires somewhat frequently, I think it matters that you care enough to look presentable. While I’m cool with tattoos, nose rings and ripped jeans, looking like that to apply, or worse, interview, shows really bad judgement.
For the interview, should that be separate, dress one level up from that, whatever that level happens to be for the place you’re looking to be hired.
Bottom line is; if you’d wear it as a guest at a wedding or to attend a funeral, it should be ok.
This is what I’ve always heard, as well. If your job is working construction, and you’d be in a (probably dirty) t-shirt and jeans all day, then wear (at least) nice, clean, jeans (if not khakis) to the interview, and some sort of collared shirt, I’d say a tie isn’t needed.
If you’re job is like most “office jobs” and is business casual (collared shirt (usually full buttun up, sometimes just a polo,) maybe a tie,) then yes, wear a suit to the interview.
Of course, the “dress one level above the job” doesn’t work if you have to wear a suit everyday. I mean…I don’t think anyone expects you to wear a tuxedo (or evening gown for the ladies) to the interview. It “tops off,” so to speak, at a suit and tie.
“One level up” can be interpreted in at least two ways, and in most cases I think it works to interpret is as “as the person working one level up in the organisation ought to.” So, if it’s an organisation where every one wears suits (or the equivalent for women) most of the time, then you should aim to dress as your supervisor would when meeting a client or attending a business meeting – which may be the same as you ought to dress in the position being applied for. And if it’s a job as a builder’s labourer, you should dress the way your foreman would dress.
OK fine, but what exactly is “nice business casual” I Googled the term and came up with a lot of various things. Can you give some example, I’m still looking for help thanks 
When it’s appropriate to wear a suit to an interview, is it appropriate to wear everything but the jacket? Or would that knock it down to business casual? I ask because I have a suit minus a jacket that got lost somehow a couple years ago.
Frylock, I’m not trying to be snarky, but isn’t a suit without a jacket, just a pair of pants?
I once saw a guy arrive at my office for an interview wearing a tuxedo.
It turned out his interview was rescheduled at the last minute for 5:30, and he had tickets to the opera that evening.
Still pretty funny, though. Alas, I don’t recall if he was hired.
Do you generally wear a jacket over your bare chest when going formal?
No… Sans jacket, a suit is slacks, a nice long sleeve button down shirt with a collar, and a tie. Also, shiny black shoes and a shiny black belt.
In other words, it’s what people who wear suits to work generally wear all day. I’ve never been clear on whether, once that jacket comes off, you’re still “wearing a suit”.
I did something like this. I wore my interview suit and no one else there was even wearing a tie, so I made some small comment to the interviewer that I had to go out to some fancy party after the interview.
What about coats? My winter coats is a leather coat. It’s a simple leather jacket, no chains or anything. Just black.
oops, wrong thread.
I think it depends where you’re located, too.
For example, here (Queensland) you don’t wear a tie unless you’re applying for a Really Important Government Or High Level Corporate job.
A collared button-up business shirt (generally not plain white; that just says “My mum brought this shirt for me from Target”) and business pants/chinos (or maybe cargo pants if they’re a “business” style) with a decent pair of shoes is fine for most (male) retail position interviews, IME.