Turning up to interview in jeans and trainers

[Cuffi]

Awaiting for interview/assessment day. Out of the ten waiting. Three are wearing pale jeans, trainers, Adidas tracksuit bottoms.

All the rest including me wearing smart trousers, tops and shoes.

From what few workers I have seen, some are wearing dark jeans.

I think everyone needs to wear smart clothes for interviews. Doesn’t matter if the prospective employer has a casual dress code

Unless it is customer facing, why is it an issue as long as clothes are clean and in good repair. Call centre sounds fine.

Yeah, it's going to vary by sector, but if you are in say, games development, or AI, or music software, wearing a suit is a red flag that perhaps you don't have the skills and don't understand the culture. Even within the finance sector it varies: wealth management - suit; fintech - jeans and Star Wars t-shirt.

The inverse snobbery about suits and ties among hardcore techies is very real. It also acts as an invisible barrier to entry for candidates from ethnic minorities who often are more conservatively dressed, especially for interview.

That’s my outfit for going out of a night sometimes my boots have a heel on them too

my take is
1 they showed up
2 clean
3 no BO
4 their qualifications

in a field I’ve worked in Ive asked for wellies or waterproof boots and some didn’t get why err we work with animals and it gets very messy.

one lad turned up in a suit to big for him, he looked so embarrassed I sent him home to get something else and a pair of wellies (he was local) and we proceeded with the interview, he was the only one to ask questions about everything which I found very refreshing. He got the job and worked for us for 4 years he’s a vet now but not local to me bummer 😂

I think it's important that you're comfortable in whatever you put on for an interview. I've seen lots of candidates in grey/navy/black suits and they were clearly not happy in their skin. And running them round on the office tour gave a great insight into how often those heels really got an outing!

Trainers can be fab but I WILL judge on your brand!

Last interview I did in person was summer time, so I turned up in a long yellow dress - looked smart and did the job whilst feeling cool in the hot weather. Didn't get the job but that was due to other things, not what I was wearing. I'd imagine a man could wear smart black shorts.

That's it!
It's the colour!

It makes me think of a lettuce - which is very unsettling for me.

Because it's irrelevant what the job is, it's about giving the impression you are a capable adult who gives a shit. I always remember working in a clothes shop and this 16 year old lad came in for an interview in a suit and tie and my manager said to the interviewer give him the job this was before he had even opened his mouth because he had made such an effort

Without being rude, when was this? In the last 15 years/ post 2010?

Does this freak you out 🤣🤣

It was about 7/8 years ago

Really depends on the job, though I struggle to think of a job where trackie bottoms would be suitable for the interview.
Last two people that came for interviews at my workplace, the first wore hiking trousers and a flannel shirt, the other wore jeans and a big coat that he didn't take off. No one batted an eyelid as no one dresses formally in my workplace, not even the boss or the ceo.

I find it really difficult to believe that in something like 2017, that someone was hired for a job in any form of reputable shop based on appearance alone and without "opening their mouth" unless they were the only candidate

Believe what you want it happened. I dont think its that suprising it was a 16 year old being interviewed by someone in there 50s for basically a Saturday job earning less then £5 an hour nobody else made the effort he stood out. I honestly don't understand why you think I would waste my time making that up it's really not that deep

For anyone reading this and thinking it might be a good way to hire, it isn't.

Work culture has changed. Many sectors are very informal and a trouser suit would look ridiculous there.

DP is mid fifties and no longer owns a suit or any ties. My Dad worked in the same sector 25 years ago and wore a suit and tie every day of his working life.

As long as they are clean and have the requisite skills, who cares whether it’s jeans or trousers?

we had someone turn up in what i assume were pyjama bottoms.

"It's rude to wear jeans for an interview, it shows disrespect for someone who could be your boss"

This seems to be a very British thing. I've been working in Europe on and off for 20 years and living in Europe for the last 6 years. Everyone - my GP, the folks in the bank, my lawyer, most managers in offices (if they're not wearing chinos or smart/casual clothes), the officials at the Town Hall, car salesmen etc. - wears jeans, albeit smart jeans. If anyone is wearing a dark suit it is assumed that there is a funeral somewhere.

Surely when you get an interview, which is hard enough these days, you aim to maximise your chances of getting the job. Wearing jeans or a tracksuit is not maximising your chances, it smacks of not giving a damn about yourself, the interviewer or the job.

First impressions and how you present yourself are important. I accept if you're a tech bro with heaps of experience and qualifications it might be different but with no/little experience and qualifications you need to go out of your way to give a positive first impression.

Perhaps these people don't really want the job and are just ticking boxes going for interviews?

Well it won't hurt i would hire someone dressed smartly over someone in a tracksuit as I would assume they don't actually want the job and are just being made to go to the interview by dwp.

I’ll be honest most of our interviews are done via Teams now. It’s quite unusual to do face to face anymore

Biggest eyeroll in the world, here.

There's a better thing to do than make assumptions based just on appearance and that's to ask questions.

Like a person with hiring responsibility, kind of, should!?

It sounds like you have too much time on your hands. It’s not 1950 and it’s perfectly fine to introduce colour to your work wardrobe. There’s nothing unprofessional about it.

I'm talking about unskilled minimum wage jobs a tracksuit screams i don't give a shit, iv put zero thought into this interview and I don't want to be here. Just because people dress more casually in the workplace an interview is different and about making a good first impression I honestly can't believe you would think its acceptable to turn up to an interview in a tracksuit and trainers

I wouldn't wear a suit to an assessment day when I was told the dress code was casual. There's no need. Though you're not in the wrong, neither are the ones in jeans.
A one to one interview for a corporate role, client facing, then I would dress office smart.
But lots of jobs in the media and creative industries would not expect such dress.

Your point wasn't about two equally skilled people where one was dressed better. It was about someone where the decision was solely based on appearance. You were clear to mention it was before they spoke and solely based on dress

I'd rather a candidate with clean casual clothes with experience and understanding of the roles. Over someone in a suit their mum forced them to wear with no understanding of the real world.

A suit is no more effort than any other form of smart clothes. In fact in some cases a suit would indicate that you have done zero research into company culture, and lack experience where as a dress code matched to the organisation shows understanding and research.

Obviously it often falls in the middle but your point was specifically about someone who's only qualification for a job was "putting the effort into wearing a suit'and hadn't spoken

Genuinely I currently am involved in recruitment in two vastly different industries
One would view a suit wearer as someone out of touch and likely to fail the physical tasks given on the day
The seconded has points based interviews and like most big corporations these days has hr process coming out of your ears that would make it hard to justify employing someone based on their dress.

I'm not saying a suit isn't right in other industries. It's like going on a date with your employer, if I take you to a fancy restaurant dress in a suit and heels, if I'm taking you hiking then you'd look a lemon dressed in the same!