what should 18 yr old male wear to interview?

[woodkitchen]

What would you expect teenager looking for apprenticeship (after college) to wear to interview for office/computing type role? Is a suit too formal nowadays?

Shirt, tie, trousers and shoes at an absolute minimum

Smart trousers, not jeans or trackies. Clean polished shoes, not trainers. Long sleeved shirt, tucked in, fully buttoned. Tie.
Jacket good but not essential.

As smart as he can manage. No trainers.
I wouldn't expect a suit, a smart knit sweater over a shirt would be fine.

A suit wouldn't be out of place if he has one, but smart shirt, tie, trousers, polished shoes is fine too.

Presumably doesnt matter if the suit looks cheap?

Cheap suit is fine. Everything should be clean, ironed and polished though as appropriate.

Always better to overdress. Cheap suit is fine as long as it fits correctly and is clean and ironed, shoes polished. Neat bag / folder if taking one for any documents etc.

If he was clean and neat and wearing shoes, trousers, shirt and tie that would be fine.

I wouldn't judge if he wore a cheap suit or if he didn't wear a jacket.

I would also not be entirely surprised if some of the clothes looked a bit borrowed or like it was part of his school uniform.

I interview regularly. Please pay attention to personal hygiene. Bad breath or BO is a problem I'm not willing to take on. I'm astounded at how often this year I have had to turn down an otherwise qualified candidate for this reason.

Wow I work in tech and this would be quite overdressed I'd expect chinos and a shirt but definitely not a tie. But seems like I'm the minority.

Best of luck to him!!

I agree with pp , smart trousers, white or very pale blue shirt , clean shoes , plain ish tie , get him to check the soles of his shoes before he enters the building, he doesn't want wet leaves / mud or dog crap on them.

I agree with @namechanger563 re the BO but also he shouldn't over do the aftershave/ body spray .

A single ring , watch and chain are fine , but the Mr T look is not .

When he first meets and when he is leaving the interviewer , a firm ( not knuckle crushing) hand shake is a must imo.
There are few things worst in this kind of situation than shaking hands with a 10 day old wet lettuce leaf !

18 yo DS wore a relatively cheap suit to his apprenticeship interview. I reckon he could have got away without the jacket. Proper shoes, not trainers.

For IT/tech a suit and tie will likely look out of place unless it is perhaps a small/old-fashioned company. A lot of people in tech and IT actively dislike ‘suits’, both the garment and the people who wear them. Chinos and polo shirt or similar would be fine. Avoid the tie.

It doesn't hurt to overdress for a job interview even if the eventual job has a casual dress culture.
If he doesn't have a suit then school trousers , shirt and tie plus proper shoes not trainers.