The secret to dress for job interview success isn’t
much of a secret at all. It is basically the simple
advice to dress more or less exactly like all the
people who are already working in that office, only a
little bit nicer. The important thing to remember
about dressing for your job interview is that you are
not dressing to win, you are dressing not to lose. In
other words, our efforts should be aimed not so much
at impressing anyone as towards not offending anyone
or attracting a great deal of attention to yourself.
In practice that means two things. The first is to
dress as similarly to the others in the office as
possible. The second is to avoid any flashy,
noticeable or distinctive elements to your job
interview attire.
Though this philosophy of how to dress for a job
interview might sound unimaginative, boring or
anti-individualistic, there is a strong and valid
reason for this kind of corporate thinking. A
corporation is an organization of many different
people, all agreeing to work under agreed upon rules
for agreed upon rewards. In this kind of environment,
it’s important that everyone understands and is in
accord with that basic concept. The dress code is a
visual symbol of that agreement. By showing up for the
job interview in an outfit that accurately matches
what the existing employees wear, you are signaling
two things. The first is that you are aware of the
nature of the organization, and what its values are.
The second is that you are willing to live under those
values yourself.
Dress for a Job Interview -- Do’s and Don’ts
When you dress for a job interview in ways that
deviate from the company’s corporate culture, you
signal that you either don’t understand the nature of
the corporation you are interviewing at or that you
are unwilling to live under its rules. For some
individuals, possessing certain qualities and in
specific positions, this may or may not be that big an
issue. For instance, if Albert Einstein went to work
for a research laboratory, chances are he would be
able to get away without wearing a tie to the job
interview. But for most of us, who lack those kind of
attributes, it is safer and more effective to simply
play along for the rules to get the job offer that we
want.
Another exceptional case for knowing how to dress for
a job interview is if you are applying for a job that
puts a great deal of emphasis on creativity and
individuality. For instance if you were going to work
as a creative at an ad agency, or to be a photographer
at a fashion magazine, you would not necessarily want
to show up for your job interview in a suit and tie.
Doing that might show that you don’t understand your
company’s corporate culture, or show that you lack the
proper creative mindset for that particular job.
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