<p>It is always better to overdress than the other way around. I always suit up and I like it that way.</p>
<p>Can anyone post pics (or links to images) of basic, no-frills women’s suits? WHere to find them would be great too! Macy’s? Sears? Kohls?</p>
<p>In general, one should dress for an interview according to the company culture, perhaps slightly more formally than it. Since the interview may involve giving some kind of presentation to a group and/or at a whiteboard, I would recommend shoes that are comfortable for standing. With regards to briefcases, etc., I’d recommend something that a thin laptop or notebook computer can be put in.</p>
<p>^swank-city. I’ve never heard of an intern/co-op interview that demanded making a presentation.</p>
<p>I think a suit is a bit overkill for guys, and shows a bit of insecurity. </p>
<p>Nice khaki’s or black dress pants, good dress shoes, and a nice button up, neutral colored shirt with a normal-looking tie are more appropriate for an engineer IMO. Take a shower, shave, apply deodorant, and trim your nails. That’s really all there is to it.</p>
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<p>Insecurity for putting your best foot forward? YOU may think that, but I doubt that that you will find many, if ANY, hiring managers that would find the donning of a suit to be a sign of insecurity. haha.</p>
<p>I have interviewed and received multiple jobs and coops. Myself, and the other candidates were all wearing suits. This was for both engineering, and non-engineering roles. </p>
<p>A suit is not the end all be all but, I feel, you should at the least have a blazer/jacket, slacks/Khakis, and a tie. When there are 30 people interviewing for the same position, you may want to act like you take it seriously.</p>
<p>OP: You may want to check out this link from Vatech that gives a good guide.
<a href=“http://www.career.vt.edu/Interviewing/InterviewAppearance.html[/url]”>http://www.career.vt.edu/Interviewing/InterviewAppearance.html</a></p>
<p>Adding to this, at what point do you think one should purchase a suit? It’s clear when one should be worn, and therefore you COULD purchase a suit right before you need it, but if you’re not one of those guys who want to run to the mall because you have an interview the next morning, at what point should you buy one?</p>
<p>I don’t have a suit. My daily wear consists of dressy shoes, jeans, and a dress shirt tucked in. I have ties, shirts, and shoes, but I can’t say I have the proper attire for an interview if I got one right now. (Which is unlikely considering I’m a freshman and haven’t applied anywhere).</p>
<p>Buy a suit at least a month or so before you think you might need one, to allow for tailoring - it does not cost that much more, and the improved fit will feel and look much better. </p>
<p>Don’t pick anything elaborate, you do NOT need to oversell your attire! Just pick something that is a decent material (i.e. not Polyester), subtle in color and pattern, up-to-date, and sized correctly.</p>
<p>If you want to wear a suit (which, I’m not saying is necessary. As an engineer you’ll more likely than not be interviewed by engineers, just don’t dress like a slob and you’ll be fine), buy it early, and this is important, get it fitted. Makes all the difference in the world…</p>
<p>Agree with the posts that suits or other dressy clothes should fit properly. A poorly fitting suit or other dressy clothes looks ugly and defeats the purpose.</p>
<p>In general, the minimum lead time is to shop so that there is enough time for alterations to be done ahead of the time you need to wear the suit.</p>
<p>College age men often have a hard time finding off-the-rack suits and dress shirts that are reasonably close to fitting properly (i.e. within reasonable alteration range). Most off-the-rack suits and dress shirts in the US are sized for a 6" drop (chest minus waist = 6"). “Athletic fit” versions (which exist but are not that common) are sized for an 8" drop. Men who have a 10" or greater drop may need to order made-to-measure suits and dress shirts to get a reasonable fit, although suit separates (with considerable alteration of the jacket) may be usable in some situations.</p>
<p>More on suit sizing: [Determining</a> Your Suit Size](<a href=“Delberts.com”>Delberts.com)</p>
<p>I interview executives for a living.</p>
<p>When interviewing, I do notice what the person is wearing. The worst thing to wear is something that is distracting, because then the interviewers’ eyes will focus on the distraction, rather than her face. </p>
<p>That means that colors should coordinate, and complement her skin tone and hair color. </p>
<p>I would wear a suit to the on-campus interview, and for an on-site interview, I would contact the person arranging the interview and ask how to dress. That may sound odd to some, but people will usually tell her whether they dress business casual or dress well. They may say something like, “We’re going to give you a plant tour and you could get grease all over anything you wear – no need to wear a suit.” Nothing wrong with asking.</p>
<p>Jewelry should be minimal or not worn at all, and perfume should be out (some people are allergic, and I interviewed a woman with perfume so strong it bowled me over – a powerful negative). She should know the obvious about peekaboo blouses and miniskirts, but I’ve interviewed women who think that these are fashionable or attractive or something, and it comes across as inappropriate.</p>
<p>When in doubt, overdress. If the interview is a daylong affair, the jacket can come off if she’s wearing a suit, so she can become less formal. Also, for daylong trips, have her bring a change of clothes, in case she gets a blotch gets on her blouse. I (I’m male) always have an extra shirt and t-shirt in the car, and once in a while, have to change midday. </p>
<p>You asked about a briefcase. A nice portfolio will do fine, unless she has to carry more than her portfolio will hold.</p>
<p>An about-to-graduate college student isn’t expected to walk in wearing a $2,000 outfit and $800 shoes. Key is that it doesn’t look cheap, and fits. As mentioned above, fit is very noticeable, whereas the caliber of the wool isn’t as easy to discern, especially when new. </p>
<p>And someone mentioned tailoring – that’s worth the small investment.</p>
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This is not always true and therefore not a safe bet to make. For the first interview I would ALWAYS recommend a suit unless instructed otherwise, and would make a point of asking (if not told up front) what attire is appropriate for subsequent interviews. While there will always be exceptions, it is better to overdress than underdress, and the ones expecting more casual attire are much more forgiving than the ones expecting a suit. Underdressing implies that either you did not know what was appropriate or did not care, and neither are appealing attributes in someone looking for a job.</p>
<p>As a personal example, my first interview for my current job was done on campus at a career fair. The interviewer was an engineer by training, but was in management at a level where a suit was daily wear - he wore a suit, and after finding out that I had been awake the previous 36 hours (I had a night job during my last year) he congratulated me on still coming in appropriately dressed. My next series of interviews was onsite, and I was told upfront to dress business casual in shoes I could walk a mile in - standard attire for engineers at the company, but nothing I would wear to an interview without specific notice. Interestingly, there were a couple people who did NOT follow those directions and they had a tougher time of it from what I saw.</p>
<p>At my big engineering school’s career fair, a business formal dress code was strictly enforced. It sounds absolutely nuts that you’d go to a job interview as a male without a suit.</p>
<p>UCB; You just blew my mind! How do you happen to know that level of detail about shopping for men’s suits?</p>
<p>Mainly from reading around the web, after I found that most off-the-rack suits and dress shirts do not fit me very well. Then I figured out why the new graduate and intern candidates coming to interview dressed in suits or dress shirts tended to have way too much dress shirt around the abdomen area.</p>
<p>Fortunately, work is a very casual dress place.</p>
<p>Well, I’ll be…!</p>
<p>As far as dress shirts go, I used to have problems with there being too much shirt around the abdomen when the sleeve and collar fit. Being 6’1, 175, I found that fitted shirts are a much better fit for me than slim fit or any other. They’re still big at the chest, but they move inward at the abdomen.</p>
<p>They’re sometimes harder to find, but anyone who’s having the problem I used to have should try a fitted shirt.</p>
<p>Terrible to find stuff with small waist ( think <28 inch for male) and big shoulders and my weight fluctuates so much. Can drop 3-4 pounds in a week if i dont eat 3000+ cal a day. terrible to find anything that fits ever, pretty much given up… I am always awkwardly dressed. Even if I get something tailored, it may fit one week, but another week its just not gonna work…
Think a lot of young guys can relate with this, especially those that body build or lift. Not sure what the solution is though…</p>
<p>If you have a small waist and large chest, you likely have to go made-to-measure or full-custom / bespoke for dress clothes (though possibly suit separates with a lot of alteration on the jacket may work for the suit), although if you body build and change size all the time, that still may not work.</p>
<p>30" waist is pretty much the smallest size commonly seen in men’s clothing, except for board shorts that go down to 28". Supposedly the average waist size for men in the US is around 38":eek:, so clothing of that size tends to be well stocked.</p>
<p>The kicker though, is that a 30’’ isn’t actually a 30’’ anymore as retailers have made the waist measurements smaller than what they actually are. With tape, my waist measures 35’’, but depending on the store I wear between 31-32 in the waist. There was a report done not too long ago that ABC aired that showed 36’s were actually size 41’s but retailers had changed the sizes as a marketing ploy. For instance, In 1999 (high school) I was 6ft 175lbs and pretty average wearing a 34. Fast forward 12 years and some time in the gym and I am 195lbs wearing a 32…something is wrong.</p>