How to Dress for a Job Interview

How Should I Dress for a Job Interview?

When you’re wondering what to wear to an interview you should know what to avoid wearing, and that job interviews are usually business casual interviews. The general rule is to wear business professional attire.

Business Professional includes skirts, suits, suit jackets, blazers, button-down shirts, collared shirts, dress shirts, and dress shoes.

Dressing for a job interview also includes proper grooming and hygiene. The ultimate goal when dressing for any job interview is to look clean, put together, and professional.

Here are a few ideas of things you could wear in a job interview: 

• Job Interview Outfit Ideas
• Khaki pants 
• Suit 
• Blazer 
• Pencil skirt 
• Button-down shirt
• Dress

Good Job Interview Grooming

It’s also important that you manage your grooming before a job interview. To give your best first impression you want to be clean, look clean, and smell clean.

Also, be careful not to wear too much perfume or cologne. The purpose of proper grooming is to look like you know how to manage and take care of yourself.

Do’s and Don’ts of Dressing for a Job Interview

Take heed to these important do's and don'ts of dressing up for a job interview and you'll professional and ready to take on whatever job you seek.

Don’t pick the clothes you are going to wear on the day of the interview. 

This will make it take longer for you to get ready and leaves you vulnerable to wardrobe malfunctions and catastrophes. Instead, pick your clothes a few days before, try them on to see how they look and make sure they’re clean, ironed, and neat.

Choose to be overdressed rather than underdressed. 

No matter what the job might be, your best bet when deciding what to wear is to always choose a business professional outfit.

Don’t assume you know the office dress code. 

Maybe the job you’re interviewing for isn’t a formal type of job, or maybe you’re previous office’s dress code or dress culture was very casual. This doesn’t mean you can make assumptions about the new office dress code or dress culture.

Don’t wear flip-flops. 

Very casual footwear is something you should avoid wearing to a dress interview. This can include any kind of sandal that might play down your appearance and professionality too much.

Don’t be afraid to wear a suit. 

Men and women alike shouldn’t be afraid to put on a well-tailored suit. When you wear a suit, you can rest assured you aren’t going to be underdressed no matter the interview. You can even dress down your suits a little by wearing less formal items in your suit outfit, like a nice polo shirt or blouse instead of a dress shirt.

Be mindful of colors. 

If you love to wear bright colors don’t feel like you have to wear all black to the interview. Strategic pops of color can bring an outfit together and still maintain an appropriate amount of professionality in your appearance.

In Conclusion,

But most of all, don’t worry so much about what to wear to your job interview that you forget about all the other important parts of a job interview. 

You still have to answer job interview questions and once the interview is over you need to send a follow up email. To read about all our other job interview tips for 2020 check out our “How to Succeed at Job Interviews” article.