2nd/callback job interview - do you need to be quite so smartly dressed?

[ThurlHoHoHow]

I have a standard very plain, smart office dress which I wear with heels and a decent cardigan for first round interviews. However I've been called back for a 2nd interview and now need something else to wear!

I have this dress, which is smarter in RL than it looks and definitely doesn't look remotely see through. It's a little quirkier than a normal interview outfit IMO. I do have to stand up and give a presentation and I feel comfortable in this dress as I'm not worried about tugging it into place or it moving at all, if that makes any sense. I'm also temped to wear it with coloured ballet pumps too, but that might be a step too far...?

Anyway, any opinions would be great, DP is useless at this stuff!

I think just as smart, if not smarter. But the dress looks beautiful. Do you have a black jacket you could smarten it up with? And I would def go for black heels, but I admit I'm quite conservative. Good luck!

I would wear the same dress you wore to the first interview TBH. Could you wear a different cardigan or accessories so it doesn't look exactly the same?

Yes defiantly , good luck

Second interviews are often with more senior (and potentially more conservative) people than the first interview. I would definitely dress as smartly, if not more so.

The dress is lovely, but not appropriate for interview IMO. As the pp said, if wear the same dress as first time around, accessorised differently. And stick with black shoes .

As smart or smarter

Its hard to compare without seeing the first dress. Second interview is just as dressy as the first. Without knowing what industry it is, I'm surprised you wore a cardigan but it obviously worked so wear something similar.

I would also say smarter. If I am recruiting I will only pull my boss or another senior manager in for a second interview.

What's wrong with a cardigan for an interview?

no to dress in op

Grr on the heels I hate wearing heels. I don't have a jacket but I can put.good jewellery with the dress. There will be some of the same people there so I don't want to wear the same dress again. It's a very professional industry but actually no women wear suits anymore, dresses or skirts and blouses are the standard now.

The dress is a LOT smarter in real life than it looks in that picture - that pic makes it look like a going out dress, but it's not.

You need a jacket with that dress imo
Cardi will look v informal with it and short sleeves also too informal
I like that it is a wee bit quirky, that won't hurt, so long as it is still smart.

Agree smarter - second round interviews tend to be with more senior people.

I would always encourage conservative for interviews, I have a fairly senior job and love fashion so tend to dress quite "on trend" however it really irritates me when people don't dress properly (which in my mind is conservatively) for interviews - to my mind it shows a lack of awareness.

Obviously expectations depend on the job so if you're in PR or marketing you can be less conservative than if you're in financial services but the aim is to never look more casual than the interview panel

I agree with the advice to go smarter.

BTW, I work in a field (law) where no women wear suits any more day to day (just for court and some client meetings), but a suit or outfit of equivalent smartness would be expected for interviews.

Oh, no cardigan with that dress, definitely agree it would look awful!

I'll have a look for a jacket tomorrow but I never have any luck - we only have a few shops and I'm 5' with little shoulders, jackets tend to look very stupid on me!

No to colored ballet pumps as you have enough going on with the patterned fabric. Looks like a good dress to me.

I work in a conservative industry where women as a rule don't wear suits any more, but I would ALWAYS wear a suit and heels for an interview. At the very least a jacket...

Dress as smart, if not smarter. You need to show that you don't think the job is in the bag, but that you are taking this interview just as seriously. Good luck to you, please let us know what happens

I agree that you should be just as smart as the first time. But I wouldn't worry about wearing the same dress again. I doubt the interviewers will remember and, even if they do, I don't see why it would affect their decision.

Trust me - you need smarter than that one. That dress is too casual/pretty for an office - well interview anyway.

just run into H&M and get shift dress or blouse/skirt combo. or Tesco/Sainsburys who do reasonable smart workwear. jacket helps to pull it together too.

Think about it, if YOU were interviewing someone who looked either a bit flaky (cos that dress is a little bit so, like flirty etc) or someone on the ball, smartly dressed who'd made an effort how she looks - ESPECIALLY if it's the boss who'll be meeting you! And what Chottie says you need to show you're saying you take the job seriously too and interview.

To me 2nd interview is about nailing it, and appropriate clothing imo/e.

You need to dress formally and wearing the same outfit from interview one would not be a problem at all. Why do you feel you need another outfit?

Interesting, isn't it - that dress is actually one of the smarter things worn in my office, not casual or flirty. To me that is smarter than a black skirt and a pussy bow blouse, which is my other option. Just felt wearing the same dress again was a little odd, but maybe not.

Really no other option to get hold of anything else! There are hardly any shops where I live or work, and they only gave notice on Friday morning for the interview, including writing a presentation! So it's shop or write presentation

In theory you could do both. Shop and write presentation.

Friend or neighbour you can borrow off? I used to do this.

Also big supermarkets open later today. Godsend for clothes options later on in day.

its just too briedsmaidy