What to Wear to a Walk-In Interview How to Dress for Success - Career Sidekick

What to Wear to a Walk-In Interview How to Dress for Success - Career Sidekick What to Wear to a Walk-In Interview: How to Dress for Success Interview Preparation / https://www.edenscott.com/blog First impressions count for a lot, so its important to dress for success in any job interview. Yet theres a fine line between being well-dressed, and over-doing it.So lets take a look at how to dress for any type of interview. Well cover how to dress for casual interviews, as well as business dress and professional dress for interviews, so you can walk in feeling confident and land the job!Dressing for Success in Interviews:As a general rule of thumb, you want to dress at least as nice as the typical employee working there, and usually nicer. (For example just because the employees wear jeans doesnt mean its okay to come to the interview in jeans. The interview is not a typical day of work).If youre not sure what the employees wear, play it safe and wear a business suit.You also want to avoid wearing anything distracting, like bright colors or big earrings. Dress up, but keep it simple and subtle too. You want the focus to be on your interview answers, not what youre wearing.Youll also need to make sure your clothes look new and wrinkle-free. Dont wear anything that looks worn or old. This is extremely important when you decide how youre going to dress for your interview.Also, if youre traveling to the interview in snow or bad weather, bring a tissue to clean your shoes before going in. You can step into the bathroom before entering to do this.Quick tip: If you have a video or Skype interview, you should still dress professionally. The same rules apply.How to Dress for a Casual InterviewA casual interview would include a blue-collar job (like landscaping), a retail job, or some tech jobs where employees dress casual and typically wear jeans, polo shirts or short sleeve shirts, casual shoes, etc.Casual dress for an interview should still follow some rules though, and in general you do *not* want to dress like a typical employee you should go in looking nicer and being better-dressed than them.I would not recommend wearing jeans. Ever. Instead, if employees wear jeans, Id wear khakis or nice business pants at the very least, with a collared shirt (tucked in).Also wear nice shoes. Even if youre interviewing at a tech startup where employees wear sneakers, find some black or brown shoes to wear for the interview.As a general rule, its always better to be a little over-dressed in a casual interview, or any interview. You dont want to walk in wearing jeans when the interviewer or hiring manager is wearing a dress shirt and slacks.So if in doubt, dress up. At the very least, wear business casual dress shirt, tucked in. Dress pants. Black or brown business shoes. But no need for a tie, business coat, or anything like that in a lot of casual jobs.But if youre not sure, do more, not less. Its always better to go in over-dressed.Thats how to dress for a casual interview. Now lets talk about if its a more formal work environment and you need to wear professional dress or business dress in the interview.How to Dress f or a Business or Professional InterviewBusiness dress or professional dress in an interview is different. In this case, you want to aim to dress as professionally as possible (without being flashy or distracting). This usually means a business suit or an outfit youd wear to an important business meeting.Even if employees at a company dont always stick to a full business or professional dress code (suit, tie, etc.), you should wear that for the interview.Wear a dress shirt, tucked into business pants (not khakis!). If youre a man, wear a tie. If youre a woman you could also wear a professional-looking skirt instead of pants.Wear black or brown business shoes and a jacket. If you are bringing papers or documents, consider carrying them in a nice bag or briefcase. (Studies show that carrying multiple objects in your hands when you enter the room makes you appear less competent and more disorganized/scattered, so this is another reason to bring a nice bag!)What Happens if You Dont Dress for Success in Your Interview?You might be thinking okay, I dont own a tie, or I dont own nice dress-shoes, etc. And youre wondering what happens if you dress a little down for your interview.Youre going to be in there feeling uncomfortable, looking at an interviewer thats dressed nicer than you. Thats NOT what you want.You also NEVER want to be dressed worse than any employees. In fact, you need to be dressed better than the typical employee.Youre going to feel awful if you show up wearing khakis and a shirt, and the employees are wearing full business-wear.My advice: Dont risk it. Always dress nicer than you think you need. Invest in nice, professional dress clothes to interview in.If you dress for success in your interview, its going to pay for itself after a couple days of work at this new job youre going to land, so it really is an investment, not an expense.Thats how to look at it.Itll also help you feel confident in your interview. And it will help you impress the interviewe r.Most importantly, itll put your mind at easeIf you go in dressed poorly and you regret it, or notice people are dressed up more than you, its going to distract you throughout the entire interview youre going to be worrying about that and wondering if you blew it, instead of focusing on giving awesome interview answers that land you the job.So its a lose-lose situation if you dont put in the extra time and effort here to get it right.The good news is once you figure out one or two interview outfits, you can wear them every time.Other Questions/Concerns About What to Wear to an In-Person Interview:If youre going to your interview from your current job:If youre going to an afternoon on-site interview, and spending the morning working at your current job, you MIGHT be able to dress more casually.Example: You wear business-casual attire at your current job (no jacket, no tie, etc.)So if you dress extremely nice for your morning, theyll know youre interviewing somewhere (not good!)Or ma ybe youre going for an early morning interview, and then going to your job immediately after, at 9 AM or 10 AM. Same situation- if you show up dressed much nicer than usual, theyll know somethings up.SoIn this case, you have a few options:You can ask the company youre interviewing at for permission to come into the interview wearing business casual dress, so that your current employer doesnt know youre interviewing. Ive done this and its been totally fine with the employer.Bring formal business attire, but leave the jacket (and tie, if youre a man), in your car or in a bag. Then only wear it for the interview.If youre completely stumped and have no idea how nice people dress at the company:Just wear a suit or nice business attire. Dont risk it. Even if its a relatively casual job, showing up in a suit isnt the worst thing in the world.If you follow the steps above for what to wear to a walk-in interview, youll be well-dressed and confident so you can stand out in your interview and get more job offers.Good luck!