Charlie Wade's Job Hunting and Employment FAQs

"I got an interview!  But I don't know what to wear to it!"

First of all, congratulations. An interview is always a positive sign.

OK, so you don't know what to wear. Most people I know feel that you should dress at the level at which people in your position at that company dress or generally wear at that employer, which I would agree with. If someone in your position at that employer or everyone there dresses business casual, then dress that way. Casual? Fine. I draw the line at wearing shorts for myself. I will wear jeans, that is as informal as I will go. Even if everyone at the whole place is wearing cut-offs or the like, wearing jeans will still not look out-of-place on an interview.

How do you find out what people at that employer wear? You'll have to do some investigating. A recon trip to them and just watching for a few minutes as people come and go should give you a pretty good idea right there. If you can't do that, see if you can't find someone who knows someone who works there and ask them. Or contact one of the administrative assistants at that employer and ask. If all else fails, you can always simply ask your contact person at that employer and ask. It's not a stupid question.

If you're still unsure, then it's always better to dress up, not down. Yes, people might wonder if you're in a suit and everyone else is in shorts. But what if it were the other way around? It would look worse.

Remember, though, that appearance is more than just what you wear. If you look uncomforable in what you're wearing, that'll be something people will pick up on. People who aren't used to wearing the clothes they have on often appear to be fidgeting or adjusting or pulling at something. The next time you go on open interviews, look around and see how many people you can pick out who look uncomfortable with what they're wearing, obviously don't wear those clothes very often, wear clothes that are mis-matched, or their clothes are ill-fitting. You don't want to be one of them.

If you're not used to wearing your interview clothes, get used to wearing them before you actually go on an interview. Also, it helps to dress up in your interview clothes and have someone else look over your look and give you some feedback before the interview.

Here's a really, really good suggestion, made by Peter Swisher: the first thing you should do after getting after getting an interview offer is to apply for other jobs. Use that window of increased confidence and good job mojo to carry over in applying for a couple/few new jobs.

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