It has been many years since I did a job interview that was serious. Now I’m thinking about doing some interviewing for a temporary accounting agency. I think I will find a temp job and do that for awhile until one clicks–you know, I fit in, they like me, everyone is happy.
So, skirts don’t matter any more, do they? Can’t I just get some nice slacks? Especially if I take my daughter with me to make sure I’m not too frumpy-looking?
So the question is: Do I have to wear a skirt or can I wear nice pants?
I’d play it pretty conservative for an interview. I wouldn’t do pants and a blouse alone, but you could get away with that if you add a matching or coordinating jacket.
Well, on the horrible, awful chance that you get an interviewer like my dad, who despite being likeable and easy to work for in every way, won’t hire a gal that shows up in slacks, I would get a skirt.
I’d suggest that the key here is that you’re interviewing in the accountancy field. Go staid and formal - pinstripe jacket, white blouse, pinstripe skirt to just below the knees, sensible shoes.
Lilith, call the receptionist at the place where you’ll be interviewing. If it’s a temp agency they’ll be interviewing on a pretty much constant basis. Explain to him/her your situation, and ask what most of the interviewers wear. Then dress at least one level more conservative than that. So if they were jeans, you should wear slacks. Get as much detail as you can.
Note: This doesn’t mean if they wear a suit you should wear a tux (or evening gown with pearls). It pretty much ends at nice business suit.
A dark suit is almost (unless you’re, say, maybe interviewing at a quirky art design firm or something) always correct. Sometimes you can get away with a nice skirt or pair of slacks and appropriate blouse, but you never go wrong with a suit. A tailored pant suit is almost always fine, but I have interviewed for jobs that I felt I had a better chance of getting in a skirt suit.
If you don’t have a suit, I really do reccommend getting one that suits you (no pun intended) and fits well, and then keep it forever. If that’s not an option, I’d go for a skirt rather than pants - step up the formality if you’re not wearing an interview suit. And if you’re wearing a skirt, for an interview you still ought to wear hose, even though you don’t have to practically anywhere else. And no open toed shoes or big jewelry. Also no perfume, or hairspray or anything that can be irritating to anybody.
I can’t really address temp agencies, Lillith, but I’ll offer up what I’ve observed in my sphere.
The environment in which I toil was a suit and tie business for the first 15 years or so that I worked at it. Then, in the mid-90s, it went to business casual rather rapidly. Many of our professionals wear slacks and polo shirts, while the mover/shaker types wear dress slacks and dress shirts, but without ties or jackets.
Almost all of our successful interviewees (hmmm…, I’ve never typed that word before; is it correct?), male and female, appear in business suits. They may later come to work wearing sandals, but they interview in suits. If you don’t have one, I wouldn’t go out and buy one for an interview, if you think that’s the only time you’d wear it. Just dress fairly well and conservatively. Slacks, IMHO, are fine for a female.
Conventional wisdom has it that you should find out what the average worker wears at your prospective workplace and then dress one step above. In some situations, this might mean a conservative skirt- or- pantsuit. In others, it might mean jeans that aren’t yet showing visible wear and a nice blouse instead of a Megadeth t-shirt.
My mom has actually lost out on a couple of jobs because she had overdressed for the interview. She would go in wearing either a suit or at least a matching skirt and blouse outfit, find herself being interviewed by a gaggle of people wearing sweats and repeatedly emphasizing that people dressed casually in that particular workplace, and not be offered the job.
Conventional widsom doesn’t apply because interviewing at a temp agency isn’t the same as interviewing for a regular job.
The temp agency doesn’t care whether you fit in at the temp agency. They want someone who they can send out to their clients without fear of being embarrassed or worse. And part of that is being sure that you have appropriate clothing for the type of work that you’ll be doing. When they send you out on a job, they do tell you what sort of thing to wear. It’s a standard part of the information that they give you when they offer you the temp job. If you walk in wearing a business-appropriate suit, that tells them that you have something to wear to a job in an office with “professional” dress. And you can wear “professional” clothes to a more casual office if you have to, but not the other way around. A temp should err on the more formal side of things.
So, the answer is simple and non-negotiable–wear a dark, somewhat conservative suit.
(If you don’t have one, buy one, because you’ll need it if you’re temping, anyway.)
I’ll be in the same boat as you once I graduate and start looking for a “professional” job.
What I plan to do is take advantage of a department store’s personal stylist service. Since I’ve been able to wear jeans and T-shirts to work and school for so long , I have no idea how to dress professionally. I have even less clue about what looks good on me, and since I’m built funny, it’s a big deal.
If you’re serious about this, it might be worth looking into.
