I finally (FINALLY) have landed a second interview. This is cause for much rejoicing and celebration. But I am presented with one small quandary.
I wore a suit to the first interview, as is generally expected. However, I only own the one suit, and am concerned that if I wear it again I will look like a penniless goob.
I have plenty of other professional clothing, and given my druthers I would wear a nice skirt and sweater ensemble. (I look better in it, because it is not a suit.)
I’ll cheerfully wear the suit again if that is what’s required - I just don’t know if the good impression made by wearing a suit is lessened by wearing the same (ugly) suit twice.
The job is at a smallish office, where the standard of dress seems to be the nicer side of business casual - no one in suits, but no one khakis-and-polos either.
Any insights you all might have would be appreciated.
If no one wears suits in the office, I think that it’s fine to wear a nice skirt and sweater or jacket. Maybe it’s even better than wearing a suit because it’s more in line with what they can expect to see from you if you get the job.
I dunno, for lack of other information I’d wear a suit. If people were working in nice jeans and such then I would say a skirt and sweater is fine, but if their standard is skirt and sweater then I think you should go for suit. I think a jacket and coordinating pants/skirt would be okay, but I’d have at least a jacket. It’s better to look penniless than unprofessional.
I’m just repeating the impression I get from others – personally I think business casual interview dress should be fine for a business casual office, but I’ve met more people who disagree with me than agree. YMMV.
ETA: what color is the suit? if it’s neutral then I wouldn’t even worry about it, they probably won’t remember.
Yeah, IMHO you should interview at least a “notch” above usual office dress - it shows you recognize it as a serious event.
Anyway, one way to save the suit is to wear a really different color & type of shirt under it For example, if last time you wore a white oxford type shirt, this time wear a colored tshirt/shell.
Unless your suit is highly distinctive, I don’t think your interviewers will assume penniless goob-ness as the reason for your suit appearing twice. In fact, if it is a reasonably non-descript suit, I wouldn’t assume that they will notice. And if they do notice? So what? I mean, it’s a suit–and you do not now nor intend in the immediate future to work in an environment where suits are required everyday apparel.
Different shirt? Not a bad idea. Different jewelry/purse/shoes/etc.? As long as they are appropriately businesslike and make you happy, I’m not seeing a problem. Different suit? Fine idea if you’ve got an alternate choice, but probably not worth the effort (let along the price in today’s economy) to acquire.
All bets are off if the “ugly” suit is in fact chartreuse or otherwise memorable.
Not that I count as any kind of an expert in any meaningful field.
I was always told that during an interview, you should dress one step above what is expected in the working environment. If everyone else is in nice business casual, you should probably wear the suit. And I agree with everyone else, unless the suit is some heinous shade of violent green or something, they won’t even notice, especially with a different shirt and accessories.
Maybe I’m the only one that sees it differently because this is a more casual place and I tend to notice women’s clothes. The first time that I interviewed them I would expect the suit, and if they wore it again I wouldn’t hold them against it in the least but I might worry a bit that they don’t know that they aren’t going to be working in a suit and tie environment. I might notice that it’s the same suit but I wouldn’t care at all, especially since they wouldn’t be needing one to work there anyway. If in doubt, the suit is safest.
The suit isn’t distinctive really: it’s just gray. I only call it ugly because suits are not designed to look good on pear-shaped women.
If I go by the “one step better than the workplace average” rule, I probably should wear the suit. A different shirt/jewelry won’t be a problem. It just irks because I know I look better in non-suit-type clothing.
I want to believe that, really I do. But if wearing a suit helped me to get to this point, I don’t want to mess that up. I need a job very badly.
If it’s a second interview, do you know for sure it’s going to be with the same interviewer? Second interviews usually have a different interviewer. And if that’s the case, then wearing the same suit is not going to matter.
Even if it’s the same interviewer, keep in mind that they probably interviewed several candidates, and thus, very likely forgot what you, in particular, were wearing.
Wear the suit. If a man interviewed you chances are he has no clue what you wore last time, unless your suit is purple plush velour.
Wear a different tie and don’t worry too much about it. Wearing the same suit twice has less of a chance of making a negative impact than not wearing a suit (which probably wouldn’t matter too much either, if you wear clean professional clothing.)
How long has it been since the first interview? If you wore a suit to one interview and then wore the same one to a second interview two days later then you would have a point. If it’s more than a week, then I wouldn’t consider it reasonable for an interviewer to assume that’s the only one you possess; they might assume it’s your favourite suit, but so what?
Umm… maybe in whatever industry you work in, or in Ontario, this is true. But for many of us, this is patently NOT true.
Orual, since you say it’s a fairly standard gray suit, I’d wear it again with a different shirt and accessories. As vandal mentioned, you probably will be meeting with different people anyway.
Alternatively, if you’re job hunting, and if you can swing it, it might be worthwhile to hit the discount stores and try to pick up a nice jacket or two that can be worn with any number of neutral pants or skirts. There are bargains to be had, and it will open your interview wardrobe options up exponentially.
I agree you should wear the suit again but with a different blouse, accessories, shoes, etc. Also agree with the sentiment that you should dress one notch more formally than what you see to be typical work clothing there.
I had a witness coming to court once and told him to wear his “Sunday best.” He showed up in a suit. An Edwardian-length suit. In bright orange. :smack:
As a fellow pear-shaped girl, and re: my suggestion of jackets, a well-fitted, brightly colored jacket with neutral pants or skirt is a great look, and meets the “suit” requirement in all but the most formal settings.
I always wear a suit with pants to an interview. Should women wear a suit with a skirt to interviews? I would hate to look unprofessional because I was not wearing a skirt.
