Dressing Tips For Interview

An interview is a conversation between two or more people (the interviewer and the interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee. This article deals with the dressing code including clothing tips, shoe, belt etc etc for any interview.

Related Post:

• Eye Contact Is More Important In Personal Interview
• How To Develop Marketable Skills
• Jitters Before Job Interview
• Top 10 Reasons For Failure At Interviews

Basic Tips:

• First Impressions count significantly. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.
• An interviewer will check you out from head to toe to make sure that you fit the image of their company. Dress conservatively and professionally. Avoid trendy clothing, big patterns, and bright colors.
• Dress the part and research ahead of time what to wear for an interview. Don’t wait to the last minute to try and find a suit. Get it weeks beforehand, so it is tailored and ready to go.
• Call to ask the Human Resources department of a particular company where you are interviewing, research interview dress online, or read a book on the topic.

Specific Clothing Tips:

Interview Suit (Jacket and Pants)

• Wear a navy, navy pinstripe, charcoal gray, or charcoal gray pinstripe suit for a first job interview. Avoid black since it is more formal.
• Wear a jacket with 2 or 3 buttons. Stay away from jackets with more than 3 buttons since they are considered to be more trendy.
• Button the top button on a 2 button jacket and button the top either the middle button or the top 2 buttons on a 3 button jacket. Never button the bottom button on a jacket.
• Wear plain front or pleated slacks. Make sure to get them tailored properly, wearing dress shoes with an average height heel, not sneakers.
• Wear your pants at your natural waist which is right below your belly button. Do not wear them down low, or they will look sloppy. Pants should be able to stay up on your waist without a belt. Pant length matters. You don’t want pants to be too long or that will look unfinished and untailored.
• Pants can have a cuff or a plain bottom. Typically a cuff bottom is worn since it looks more finished.

Interview Shoes, Belt and Socks

• Match your shoes to your belt (leather to leather). For example, with a charcoal gray suit you should wear black shoes and a black belt. With a navy suit, you can wear black shoes/belt, or you can wear burgundy shoes/belt.
• Wear lace up shoes on interviews.
• Match your sock color to your pants color. For example, charcoal gray socks would be worn with a charcoal gray suit.

Interview Dress Shirt

• Wear long sleeve dress shirts, not short sleeves.
• Show a quarter inch of your dress shirt at the bottom of your jacket sleeve.
• Wear 1 of 3 collar choices—either a button down collar, a point collar, or a spread collar shirt.
• Wear a white or light blue shirt. These are the only two colors that are recommended for a first interview.
• Wear a barrel cuff shirt which is a shirt with one button at the bottom of the sleeve. Do not wear cuff links to an interview.

Interview Tie

• Wear a conservative tie with a small pattern that complements your suit. Avoid big patterns and bright colors.
• Striped ties are always appropriate with the best color choices being burgundy, red or gold. Avoid ties that are fashion forward in color like pink, fuschia and dark olive. It’s OK to pick up the color of the suit in the tie, but it does not have to match exactly.
• It’s fine to wear a striped tie with a pinstripe suit as long as they don’t clash.
• The bottom of your tie should hit right at your belt.
• Tie a medium size knot. Avoid big knots.

Overall Appearance

• A well groomed, conservative and professional appearance is important.
• Hair should be washed, combed and combed.
• Beards or mustaches should be trimmed.
• Avoid wearing jewelry. If you wear a watch, it should be conservative. You can wear one ring, but avoid bracelets.
• Do not wear sunglasses on your head into an interview.
• Your suit should be pressed, not wrinkled.
• Your shoes should be polished.
• Avoid colognes and perfumes since they can offend people.
• Get rid of gum, candy or cigarettes.
• Trim and clean your fingernails.
• Check your appearance BEFORE you enter an interview.

There are several reasons an interview may not go well. Many candidates who try to learn from their last interview mistakes, asking themselves – why did my last interview fail and how should I avoid this interview failure next time? Needless to say that, the way you determine and handle an interview failure, pointing out key factors and working on these points will aide in future interviews results.Read more: http://www.bench3.com/2010/08/top-10-reasons-for-failure-at.html