Turning up to interview in jeans and trainers

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/about-us/news-and-media/latest-news/what-is-the-flexible-support-fund

It's a call centre not a court. "The clothes don't make the man(woman)" Maybe the casually dressed are very experienced call centre workers and better qualified for the job than the ones in suits.

Even our underwriters dressed casually when they had to come in, we worked remotely long before it was popular.

It’s still the same, if you sign on for JSA, even if you don’t get a payment you can get funding towards transport and clothing for interviews.

I interviewed for a Senior EA role and dressed smartly. My interviewer wore a lounge suit with hoody.

I work in a call centre, if you turn up for the interview and you can read and write you are pretty much guaranteed a job, most are gone a few weeks later anyway!

It absolutely has changed massively.

I worked in the Secretariat of a Quango between 2002 and 2013. The Members, appointed by Ministers, met formally once a month. At the start dark suits and a tie were de riguer on Council Day.

By the time I left it was shirtsleeves and open necks.

I was just about to say that.

What matters is that the person being interviewed looks as if they have made an effort! Ironed jeans and top would be ok if it was clean and tidy, likewise shoes. But of course ability to do the job is the most important, along with being on time for the interview and being polite.

It depends on the job and the nature of the interview and the field. In my line of work jeans and trainers would be absolutely acceptable providing the person is otherwise clean and well presented. I'm now working in senior management and only now am I going for jobs dressing up slightly more but still avoiding anything that looks corporate.

I think the key is knowing what type of interview you're going for. The other thing is not everyone knows how or why to dress appropriately for interviews.

This might be the case in some places but my partner is a recruitment manager looking after North America and he's organising processes for companies where they have up to 12 interviews for each role. Not all like that of course, but the majority have at least 2 in the companies he recruits for.

You don't necessarily need smart clothes to work in an office - and even if you do, a well fitting jeans and a nice jumper can look a lot better than cheap polyester.

There is a significant amount of people who will purposely ruin job interviews as its a way to keep getting universal credit

At least they turned up!

I read elsewhere recently that in the US they are much less formal about hiring. There are posters up in almost every establishment, you go in, talk to the manager and they give you a bit of an interview then and there. It’s much more human and gives the manager a better idea of the person. I wish the UK could be like that. It doesn’t have to be an ordeal.

I’m an HR manager for a Wealth Managers and Ive seen some real sights over the years. We are fairly smart/casual for non client facing roles however for our industry, dressing smartly for an interview is the standard.

Someone once turned up in a tracksuit with wet hair saying she hadn’t had time to go home from the gym and get changed!

And sometimes looking too formal could be the wrong image.
My son works for a small charity everyone dresses very informally if he had turned up for the interview dressed very formally I doubt he would have got the job because it would look as though he wouldn't fit in.
And what is smart is subjective. It's arguable that polyester trousers from Primark are smarter than nice jeans

I once went for a job as tech support in a senior school a hundred yards from my front door. Four smartly dressed candidates and a tramp. Turns out the tramp was already employed by the school in a more junior role. His interview took a fraction of the time of everybody else and I was informed I wasn’t successful by phone on my way home. Guess who got the job. I felt really sorry about the candidates who had travelled up to 50 miles to get there. I should have complained about their unprofessional methods.

If it's an office job, you need smart cloths. If it's as a labourer on a building site, probably not needed. Generally rule is slightly smarter then employees, so if they're in smart-casual, I'd go with shirt/blouse, but not a full suit/equivalent.

I think many workplaces are much more casual now than they were 10 or even 5 years ago.

I used to work in outdoor clothing retail and anyone who turned up for their interview in a suit and tie got a very odd look indeed 😂

Equally I now work as a dog walker and if I interviewed someone in a suit and smart shoes I'd think they didn't have a clue!

She's wearing a shirt and trouser suit? Is colour unprofessional?

I wouldn't concern myself too much about it. Ultimately if it makes a difference to the recruiter you'll have the edge. But if I was interviewing for a call centre role I'd be more concerned about the applicant's soft skills and understanding of the core competencies.

Until I was interviewing somewhere known to be particularly formal my go-to interview outfit is:

Black skinny jeans (not faded or ripped)
Black and silver slim belt
Black Chelsea boots or flats depending on weather
White shirt, but a nice fitted one rather than one that looks like you've nicked your dad's
Black blazer
A couple of bits of silver jewellery

I have a French colleague who had a strict dress code, he cracked me up

1. I don't want to wear a tie
2. I don't need to wear a tie
3. You can't make me wear a tie
4. Fuck you and your fucking tie

I’d be more interested in a candidate’s abilities than their appearance, as long as they were clean.

It’s a call centre, clients won’t see them. Some of the most nicely spoken/well educated people I’ve know over the years were scruffy as they come.

It depends very much on the job. Someone wearing very formal dress for an interview for a job in an organisation that is very informal could look as though they wouldn't fit in.
Interviewees need to do their research before deciding what to wear..