My younger son had one interview in a lawyer’s office in NYC and another in the Starbucks in our town. He dressed much more formally for the interview in NYC.
Like I said, to me it’s not worth wearing a pair of jeans over a pair of khakis. If nothing else it’s good preparation for interviews in general.
My D had another interview recently at a college. This time she wore jeans that didn’t have holes, a nice sweater, but wore her Converse high tops. The school is considered kind of artsy. Again, I would have dressed more formally, but she walked out and said “I nailed it. I think she loved me”. She had two interviews now and felt that way about both. I have a feeling that college interviews are different than job interviews. Teens can look put together even when they are casual, but who knows how it will play out.
@citymam9 but as I said, that seems like a neat version of herself.
Interview attire is definitely important, especially in the eyes of the interviewer. If interviewer is a bit old fashioned he/she may not appreciate some of the attires teens wear to school these days. It could give some wrong impression that the applicant may try to avoid.
Job interviews are generally quite different that college interviews. If you interviewing for a job as banker, attorney, or similar position in which you are expected to dress formally for the job, then you’d almost certainly be expected to dress formally for the interview as well. Job interviews generally ask different question than college alumni interviews, focus on different things, evaluate on different criteria, etc.
in contrast, when college interviews do mention something about attire on their website or in the alumni interviewer handbook, it usually says something along the lines of dressing comfortably. For example, Harvard’s interview handbook as published in the trial states, “We hope applicants wear whatever will help them feel comfortable.” Stanford’s website says, “You are welcome to dress in typical high school attire.” This is a good point about comfort. If a student’s clothing is uncomfortable or unnatural, it may increase the chance of feeling less comfortable in the interview and could increase rate of mistakes and other issues during the interview. Similar, a lucky shirt or outfit that makes a student feel especially confident could have positive effects.
I completed my alumni interviews this week. All the women I interviewed wore a short sleeve blouse or tee. None were button down. I didn’t look at their legs doing the interview (sitting at a table), so I’m generally not aware of what pants/dress or shoes they wore. I don’t feel that their shirt selection impacted my comments and evaluation of the criteria specified by the college.