Turning up to interview in jeans and trainers

All good points- probably the rule is always dress at least as smartly as any dress code for the job if known and normally be.at least a little bit smarter than that if you want to give an impression you do want the job. And for non-manual especially jobs with prospects or high salaries or roles with high presentation standards like escort in a high class night club, creatives etc more appropriate to power dress up as a statement of intent; for the stripper role, may be less is more.
of course the whole thing is a bit like the wrapping on Xmas presents- it’s only later does the employer hopefully find out if you were the immaculately wrapped bottle of regifted boots shampoo or a brand new iPhone handed over in a Poundland bag.

Call centres just glad people turn up for interviews

Best to turn up looking neat and professional but conservatively so (no high fashion or gimmicky outfits unless you know it's that sort of environment). You don't want your clothing to distract from your abilities and personality.

When you're offered the job, there's no harm in asking if there's a dress code if it's not obvious.

Seems entirely appropriate for that type of role, put as much care into dressing for the job as the organisation puts into looking after its staff!

Even when I've hired warehouse or caretaker roles I would expect black jeans, polishable shoes or smart plain black trainers and a collared shirt as a minimum dress code. For admin trousers (not jeans) and shirt plus proper shoes or female equivalent as a minimum

I think people should dress however they'd dress in the role. I've rejected people before for being overdressed because it tells me they didn't understand what we do and thus would be difficult.

In my industry you only wear a suit to an interview if you're interviewing for a director level job.

Completely depends on the role. If it's a skills based job then no, don't think it's necessary at all. I got a job and I went to the interview from work where I was wearing jeans, trainers and a hoodie bc it would have looked obvious if I had come to work dressed up.

When I was young I used to buy a skirt or trouser suit to wear for interviews. The jobs, as a teacher, didn't require that degree of smartness but it was the done thing. Plus wearing a tailored jacket was more common generally back then. I remember wearing tights to one interview on a particularly hot day as bare legs seemed wrong and ripping them off as soon as I got out.

I'd still dress smartly now but more smart casual. I see lots of interviewees in my role - for various jobs in a school. Management level candidates still tend to dress up, most others wear smart casual or clean and tidy at least. If it's a non teaching role they do sometimes turn up in what I imagine they'd normally wear to work to sit on the floor with the younger kids. But we never judge on clothing, only what they have to say and performance on tasks.

Where I work, we specifically tell interviewees not to dress smartly. But that’s because we take them on a tour of our facility to show them what we do, to meet the other staff members and to give them a couple of tasks to see how they deal with the basics. It would be mortifying if they ruined perfectly good clothing. So, it really depends on the job and the type of interview being held.

Are you saying i should of turned up for my job interview in a aldi uniform. A bit presumptuous but I like it 🤣🤣

But whilst I think it's daft having clothing requirements at a non customer facing job- it would make sense to me to interview in the same style.
If you can work in jeans or other more casual clothing once you get the job I don't get why you would need to wear different clothes for the interview.
You should be able to dress for the role you are applying for imo.

It's about respect, isn't it? Respect for the role (whatever it is) and respect for the interviewers. Respect for self as well.

I once interviewed someone wearing ripped jeans and flip flops for a professional role.

I was completely thrown by it. They interviewed terribly but believed the role to be theirs so made zero effort.

It is important, it does make a difference to how you present your first impression and shows that you give a fuck.

I worked in a call centre and you weren't allowed to wear jeans, denim skirts, t shirts or trainers. Had to be minimal of smart casual trousers or skirt, shirt or blouse or a dress. Daft really as customers couldn't see you

Depends on the profession / company vibe, also were a lot of the other interviewees younger than you?
If the company is young / hip/ trendy start up/ very creative, then jeans and trainers might show that they would ge a good fit

I personally would not wear jeans and trainers to an interview but I’m 49 and would be looking at senior positions, I think for some of the more junior roles nice jeans and trainers might be acceptable though as long as they weren’t ripped jeans etc

As a person who recruits to quite senior civil service type jobs. Professionals etc. I can honestly say I don’t take in to account attire. More their performance in assessments and interviews. Albeit this may be different for client facing roles. Genuinely don’t think it matters.

I totally agree.

The whole point of these "worthy" initiatives is to rule out what you neatly describe as "a natural reflex either consciously or sub-consciously to judge, trust, assess, like or dislike."

Which is why there is rarely only one interviewer, why there are often set, unbiased questions, and why there are unbiased scoring systems.

The "vital and primeval survival tool" is no such thing. Prejudices and opinions about how people dress, speak, walk, about their appearance and about many other attributes (e.g. the school or university that they went to, their gender, background, religion etc.) are all learned.

In other countries, for example where I live in Europe, nobody wears a suit. Society here has not been brought up to believe that the right attire, the right tie and the right accent is any indicator of ability or trustworthyness.

I think you have to make an effort but that would mean different things for different people.
I think it's important that you are be clean, fresh and make a good impression of yourself.

As PP have said some people don't have 'dress shoes/clothes' and can't afford to buy them esp if quickly organised interview.

On a similar note many yrs ago we had to ho to family court (for a good reason). DH, DS and myself smartly dressed.
Other people waiting were dressed in dirty jeans, and jumpers etc and I can remember thinking I wouldn't have gone 'anywhere' planned looking like that. The thought of making a good impression obviously of no concern at all.

It varies hugely depending on the culture of the company. As a starting point a suit is usually good insurance if you’re going for a white collar job but not always.

As PPs have mentioned in a lot of tech startups a suit would be a definite red flag: they define themselves in part by being “not suits”. You have to read the room a bit culturally before deciding what to wear. I often have to do a couple of meetings in a day, one with “City” people and then later on with “tech” people and the dress codes are very different even though the actual roles can be quite similar.

And in a lot of blue collar jobs you would just look daft if you tipped up in a suit. It’s not nearly as uniform as people are making it.

Of course you should look smart and unless for a particular type of company you know you should dress smartly and that does not include jeans and trainers

you will find many people excusing people who just can't be arsed

I have interviewed many people and its quite obvious there are some who have no interest in the role and are ticking boxes for the job centre.

Did not think of that, trackie bottoms would make sense for that role for sure.

Jeans and a top can be smart. I think a full suit or blazer and skirt is quite dated now, unless you are applying for a job where you’re expected to dress like that all the time. When I’m interviewing someone I will judge their skills over what their wearing. You also need to think about the type of job. For example, I work in a non customer facing office role so we don’t have to go overly smart. It would look odd if someone was dressed really formal and I wouldn’t expect them like that at an interview. Our clothes policy is no ripped clothes, no offensive slogans, and nothing you’d wear to the beach. Most of the team were in hoodies and jeans today as everyone was cold and had post Christmas blues.