I need to know the hard and fast "rules" for interview dress

In My Humble Opinion
21

I can’t recall ever seeing anyone with a pen in their suitcoat pocket. That’s what your shirt pocket - or inside jacket pocket - is for.

I’ve got no experience at all with med schools, but would strongly suggest that they are nowhere near as formal as most job interviews I and others are suggesting. Get a well-fitting suit, bath, shave, shine your shoes, comb your hair, and you’re good to go.

Of course, if you followed everyone’s advice about dressing as for the job, you might need to get one of those cheesy little white or blue smocks …

22

The main rule is to dress like the hiring person dressed for her interview.
This is hard to guess at, but if you have cased the place ahead of time, and wear a few things you can remove and pocket, such as scarf and brooch, you can change your look after you get started.

23

I wore BR for my interviews, I got a job.

My sister, extremely fashionable, wore a conservative Ann Taylor suit she picked up at TJ Maxx for her med school interviews (she prefers to spend her money on trendy designer clothes)…she got into a med school. Navy blue, conservative shoe, the works. I don’t know how applicable this is to guys but she said that when she showed up at schools (she got interviewed every place she applied) in big cities that most or all of the girls except for her were wearing extremely fashionable, cutting edge outfits (GW/BU/UChicago) while I gave her standard law firm attire advice, and she felt like she looked like an airline stewardess in comparison. Apparently these chicks showed up in coloured tweed, interesting shoes and the works. But she did say she didn’t think they were thinking too hard about her outfit so it didn’t matter one way or the other. I don’t know if there’s as much of a range in men’s attire, so barring showing up in purple, I think you’re okay.

24

My recommendation would be no. Don’t display your pen like a medal; keep it in your inside pocket.

25

This might earn me the ire of my fellow tattooed and pierced dopers but I usually take my nosering out before meeting with agency staff (like if a regional counsel is showing up and we’re all supposed to look responsible) and every single time before the private firm attorneys show up for closing the transactions. I like my job and don’t really see myself moving but I have to consider that I work in a very conservative profession with really old people and they’re not going to appreciate seeing me with my tats and piercings. A lot of the firms and banks are ones I’d apply to if I wanted to go into the private sector. The only people in my office who even know I have them are the people I work with in my suite. With anyone else I maintain a level of discreetness, even though I already have the job.

26

Yeah, but maybe threemae has his hopes set a tad higher than being a gubbmint drone! :wink:

There was a day when I used to take the hoop out of my ear at work, and especially for court. But now that I’m old and tired I just don’t care anymore. Heck, I figure if someone gets pissed about my earring it might distract them from my execrable lawyering!

27

Hey now, I went to Kirkland and Ellis in that suit. Granted, they hated me so maybe BR is a surefire way to end up on the path to mediocrity.

The feds didn’t even deign to meet with me! They interviewed me by phone 4 times. I don’t think they have the budget for flights.

28

Didja take the nosering out for the phone interviews?
Or didja do them nekkid just cause you could?

29

Career Services made me take my nosering out. The employment director gave me a “talking to” about my “look” after one of the firms said something about me being too shady looking during one of the OCIs and that’s why I didn’t get a 2nd interview.

I got it repierced this past year.

As far as my interviews went, I was wrapped in a towel for 2. But it doesn’t beat the time I showed up for the MPRE half drunk from the bender the night before, wrote my ticket in red crayon (for I had lost it between when it was mailed to me and when I had to drive up to that whore hotel in Chi.) and had my friends snap a Kodak Instant Snap photo of me in the back parking lot for my ID photo you have to bring along with you.

And still managed to pass. Not that I admit these things during interviews.

30

Actually, having read these posts over, perhaps it’s best threemae not take any advice I have to offer because I’m a pretty clear corporate fuckup.

31

One general rule I have always tried to follow in choosing attire for a job interview is to try and find out what “everyday” dress is like at the workplace and kick it up a notch or two from that base. If you see everyone dressed in bus. casual clothes, then a suit, tie, appropriate footwear is easily advised. If, however, you find that EVERYONE is bus. formal, then the suit works, but pay attention to the details (tie should be “just right”, perhaps in the company colours (subtle but effective)), have everything properly pressed, watch out for lint, dandruff and other satorial “oppseys”, and mirror your interviewer’s body language.

When (if) asked a difficult question, make eye contact, smile, pause, (no more than 5 seconds)and compose your answer. 3-4 short, to the point sentences, MAX.

and Good luck!

FML

32

They DO say that, don’t they?

I’ll definitely back up what people have said about shoes and black suits. And having gone through more than a few med school interviews myself, I can tell you that a good proportion of the interview pool on your day will be wearing blue suits. Light pinstripes, grays, and charcoal can help you stand out in a good way.

I would also advise against going with a subdued tie. A moderate amount of contrast is good. Golds, maroons, and stripes are good options. But like you said, you want to avoid being flashy. Stay away from excessively bright colors, novelty patterns, etc.

It’s tough to strike a balance between dressing assertively versus going too far. Here’s a suggestion in case you have the time: visit a few tailors in your town and see what they say. They can help you figure out what works best for you, but they could also just want to close the sale, so visit more than one. This helped me out a lot with confidence, and I was very comfortable with the suit I bought.

Lastly, the fit of your suit is very important. For example, you want the shoulders of your jacket to line up with your own shoulders. You oughta do some research on this, because a suit can feel like it fits ok without actually sitting on you properly. This is where a tailor can really help you out.

Of course, I interviewed last year and didn’t get in, so take my advice as you will. :dubious: :stuck_out_tongue:

I was waitlisted though.

33

I will stump for Nordstrom in this case. Their men’s department is usually staffed with very good people. Throw yourself on their tender mercy and say “I have an interview at XYZ- dress me, please.”

Dark suit, properly fitted and tailored. White dress shirt, properly tailored (yes, you read that right) if you can (otherwise, you can’t go wrong with the standard Nordstrom men’s dress shirt, $39.50 every day). Black wingtips or other lace-up dress shoes- and they must be relatively new or at least very neat-looking and not run down at the heels. Black over the calf socks. Nice tie, no cartoon characters.

Good haircut, clean shaved face, neat nails. If you are a nail biter, stop.

Good luck!

34

Bounce your boobies!

Believe it or not, this can come in useful even if you’re female.

35

threemae, there are very few never-going-to-change rules for interview dress, but the question I always ask interviewees (friends and family who ask for my opinion) is “How badly do you want this job?” Because if you really want the position, you’ll need to beat out all the other potential candidates. Which means you’ll need to make the best impression on the interviewer based upon those few minutes that the interviewer will take looking at your appearance. Which may mean following a bunch of rules in addition to the basic ones.

The goal of interview dress is to walk that fine line between, “I took the time to present a neat, well-groomed, professional appearance” and “Hey look, I should be on the cover on GQ.” Discounting my user name for a moment (ow, the pun), here’s my take on how not dress like a pirate:

Suit - charcoal gray is fine. Stripes are fine if they don’t scream from a distance. The BR example you showed is fine. I am more in line with Dewey Finn and EJsGirl, though. If you have the budget, go to Nordstrom, Men’s Warehouse, or Jos Bank and tell the salesperson that you need a suit for an interview. Salespeople at these places assist people in your situation on a regular basis.

Still, $200 for a suit (with matching pant, right?) is a great deal. In any case, make sure that the suit is in your size. On a related point, definitely get your suit (no matter where you bought it) tailored. Yes, you’ll have to pay for it, but tailoring can work miracles on any suit. Suits (unless they’re bespoke) are designed to fit the 50% population profile, so unless you are literally an “average American”, tailoring will provide a benefit.

White shirts are fine; depending on your skin complexion, off-white (cream or ecru), or pale blue may work better. Again, size and fit are key. You should be able to button the very top button and still fit a finger or two behind the button without choking yourself. Shirt sleeves should stick 1/2 inch out of your suit coat (cite, and yes, tailors will alter shirt sleeves). Shirts should have straight or wide collars.
As Jurph said, avoid so-called “button-down” shirts that give a more preppy look. (Yes, I know Brooks Brothers made them popular, but they have a tendency to make the tie knot look as though it wants to jump free of your neck.)

If you can afford it, get a 100% cotton shirt then get it professionally laundered and pressed. Cotton-polyester blends are tolerable, but all-cotton shirts breathe more and are more comfortable in the long run. Rayon or satin-like shiny shirts are out.

Tie should show contrast against the shirt; typical interview ties are shades of red or blue. Avoid pastels, black, or solid grays.

Lace-up shoes are the norm. Get them polished. Experienced interviewers look at your shoes out of habit to see if they’ve been shined.

Belt color must match your shoe color. Doesn’t matter if Kenneth Cole, Ralph Lauren, or Lord Versace himself breaks this rule.

Socks should match either the shoe or (preferably) trouser color.

Non-clothes stuff: hair should be neat, mustaches and beards either shaved or trimmed, nails should be clipped. (Filed nails is a plus; most businessmen I know file their nails and car salespeople look for filed nails as an indicator that their customer is a business professional.)

Because of potential allergic reactions, interview books discourage the use of colognes. However, if you are like many people (including me) and use a cologne, apply it sparingly. Take a cue from the Densha Otoko TV series: spray the cologne on your wrists and rub them together.

I know the above looks like a laundry list for “How to be a metrosexual.” But these are the things most interviewers make judgements on during their first (and possibly only) impression.

By the way, Full Metal Lotus’s advice is worth bearing in the corporate world: dress one or two levels above regular staff and/or dress as the same level as your potential boss. If you are serious on a promotion (I know this is a med-school interview, but it never hurts to practice early), kick it up another notch and dress like your supervisor’s supervisor. I know it sounds superficial, but when you are networking with people from all different management levels and you look like a manager, people will treat you like one (until they find out otherwise, but that’s a different story).

If you want visual examples, try 007 (you don’t need cufflinks although they are more popular in Europe), Ask Andy About Clothing, or even Stephen Colbert (I kid you not).

The upside of all this is that whether you get the position or not, you can wear the same outfit for future interviews as well. Interview dress is on the conservative side and therefore won’t go out of fashion for quite a while.

Best of luck!

36

Applied to vet school successfully two years ago. Was terrified and spent hours laboring over what to wear. Found out after the fact that the applicants melded all together in the eyes of the interviewers. They would have latched onto someone who was wearing something strange. Other than that, they didn’t really care.

Lesson learned: Wear something nice. Try not to make your clothes the one thing they remember about you. Suit and shirt with some sort of shoe and matching socks should be fine. And CALM DOWN!

OK, I know you won’t beleive me on the calm down part, but I gotta say it anyhow. Good luck!

37

I’m all in with the “look neat and professional” idea, but I find this laundry-list of 60-year-old sartorial norms given so emphatically to be quite odd.

I have been in my share of interview situations from both sides, and from the applicant side, it all seems mysterioso and daunting and so perhaps it is best to be as conservative as possible (although, still, some of these very specific suggestions seem over-the-top to me).

However, from my experience as the interviewer, both singly and in teams, I have to say that not once has anyone brought up a nitpicky item like this as a reason to devalue a candidate. What’s important – don’t look or smell dirty and don’t behave like a jackass. Beyond that it’s your qualifications and skills that are important.

I doubt very much that any of these items will have significant impact on the fate of a medical school applicant. I mean, come on, we’re talking about physicians and professors. They’re trained to see whether your shoes are shined? They’re going to care whether they’re laced or slip on?

The bottom line is, of course, be aware of your surroundings. There are many businesses where the standards are far more casual, and more importantly, far more simple. Be clean and neat and wear a clean, pressed simple business suit. In an academic situation like you’re in, I doubt they even would care or notice about the “suit” part. A jacket and tie would probably be be more than sufficient.

38

acsenray, I posted late last night and re-read my words this morning.

You’re right. I did go overboard. Probably gave threemae a panic attack, too. If I did, many apologies. I was trying to steer him clear of those interview traps where an otherwise qualified applicant gets doubted because he violated some obscure interview clothing rule. ascenray and Pullet, I’m glad that saner heads do prevail at interviews. Perhaps I’ve been hanging around too many corporate and MBA-types recently. Time to make more (ex)-dot-com friends :slight_smile:

In any case, threemae feel free to disregard my previous rantings. Again, best wishes on your interview!

39

Yeah, on reconsideration I’ve decided not to panic.

I’m dropping my weapon, releasing the hostages, and returning to my seat.

Basically, when I went suit-shopping last Tuesday I was at BR when I casually asked about the shoes that would go with a certain suit and asked about the boots and the salesperson went apoplectic. He demanded to know who had even suggested that I wear the round-toe black boots and went on to prescribe, “the uniform.”

Well, I’m wearing the off-white shirt anyway. I think it looks good, I’ll be decently dressed without coming off as a fashionista, and I suspect a quarter of the interviewers will consider a bolo-tie an equally appropriate neck-piece anyway. I’ll refocus my attention upon delivering pat answers to silly questions like, “what do you think of human cloning?”

40

threemae, I’m confident you know how to dress appropriately for an interview. But Lord knows when you ask for advice, you get it. I applaud your getting a grip on yourself and refocusing on what is important. As far as appearance goes, just use some common sense, don’t have anything green in your teeth and remember: First the undershorts then the pants, not the other way around. :wink: