Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

What to wear for an academic job interview

34 replies

ss412zx · 28/05/2015 13:50

Having finishing my PhD I am applying for jobs and have got my first interview for a research position at a UK university in a few weeks time.
What do you wear? Nobody in academia (that I have seen) ever wears a suit on a day to day basis, or even dresses smartly really, jeans etc mostly.
So for interview obviously I am not going in jeans, and I do own a suit (dislike wearing it though). Would black skirt and blouse be too admin-like? Should I just wear the suit and feel like an idiot!?

OP posts:
ThatEffingCreakyFloor · 28/05/2015 14:08

You're right, no one wears suits unless they're v senior! (Or trying to be!) How about tailored trousers & nice top? Or slightly casual trousers (not jeans) & a jacket/ blazer to smarten & structure it a bit. Just make sure you're comfortable & it's not something you need to adjust or wriggle around in if sitting down. Good luck! Smile

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 28/05/2015 14:10

I would wear a suit! An interview is different from normal.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 28/05/2015 14:11

That said, it's probably not worth stressing as long as you look smart and professional. Good luck!

Skeppers · 28/05/2015 14:15

Ahem. As someone who works in academic administration, what's wrong with looking 'admin-like'!? Wink

None of us wear suits either...I'm currently sat in jeans and flip-flops.

I've interviewed for academic posts both at FE and HE level and agree with the poster above; smart trousers/skirt and fitted top. To be honest, most people I've interviewed have just worn suits, but they've tended to be on the older end of the spectrum where interviews were maybe much more formal. Guess you stick to whatever you're used to.

Oh, and don't turn up drunk. I've interviewed someone for a teaching post before who was completely pissed! Grin

Honsandrevels · 28/05/2015 14:19

As you have a suit you may as well wear it. I've worn either a suit or smart shirt/trousers combo.

In my dept the interview panel is usually dressed in suits or v smart, when usual office wear ranges from smart to crumpled.

Good luck!

Original poster
ss412zx · 28/05/2015 14:21

I did Uni admin pre-PhD too, nothing wrong with looking admin like, but just that would have been the kind of thing I would have worn to an admin interview - although not sure there is necessarily a difference.

Thanks all, annoyingly my smart wardrobe (other than the ugly suit!) is very much lacking - will do a bit of online browsing!

And will stay away from booze pre-interview. I doubt I'll get the job (anticipating abt 20-30 applications, apparently that is usual after a PhD?!) so the plan is just to get experience and not make a fool of myself, getting pissed will probably ruin all that!

OP posts:
pasbeaucoupdegendarme · 28/05/2015 14:21

My dh is an academic and you're right about the dress code. On a day to day basis he's smarter than anyone else coz he tends to wear chinos and a casual shirt!

For interviews he has worn chinos, a smarter shirt (but not the sort you'd wear a tie with) and a jacket. So if guess female equivalent of that would be nice trousers and a smart top? I agree suit would be ott though.

Good luck Smile

Honsandrevels · 28/05/2015 14:24

You could wear the suit jacket with a dress?

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 28/05/2015 14:25

Dh went to an interview for a head of department post once where one of the other interviewees was wearing a fleece! I was shocked, I tell you. Fleece guy didn't get the job though.

Original poster
ss412zx · 28/05/2015 15:16

Grin at fleece guy!

I like the idea of female equivalent of chinos and smart shirt or suit jacket and dress - if only I already owned those very things in just the right style. The suit I own is a bit nasty, it was the best fit for me when I bought it about 7 years ago but it isn't even a solid colour so useless for combining with other things...I think anyway?! I saw a fairly okay suit-dress thing in M&S but they only had one size left in stick (obv not my size).

Any suggestions for where to look online beyond M&S and Next (where I have already looked) would be great! Budget is unfortunately minimal.

OP posts:
Original poster
ss412zx · 28/05/2015 15:17

Left in stock, not stick.

OP posts:
Whiteshirt · 28/05/2015 15:23

Academic interview wear bears no resemblance to the sartorial horrors we show up in on a daily basis! I am sitting at my desk writing a chapter and marking scripts wearing Birkenstocks, one of my husband's shirts and a pair of very old jeans out of which toddler-sicked-up-carrots have never entirely washed out. (Syntax!)

If in doubt, go formal!

Good on you for getting an interview before you even finish your doctorate - we never interview anyone who isn't entirely finished, post-viva etc. Suggests an impressive CV? Though, depending on your field, you may be significantly underestimating the number of applicants you've already beaten to get to interview - we had almost 200 applicants for our last entry-level lectureship. So pat yourself on the back, whatever you are wearing, and however the interview goes.

Just remember (as I have wanted to shout at tight-lipped interviewees in the past!) that we actually want you to impress us, and to talk freely about your research, experience, plans etc. There's nothing worse than trying to drag information out of people whose work you suspect is very interesting, but they aren't showcasing it well.

moresnow · 28/05/2015 15:24

Good luck with the interview. 'They only have it in stick' will come in handy next time I see a solitary size 8 garment on an M&S railing.

Whiteshirt · 28/05/2015 15:28

Oh, duh, you're in for a JRF type thing. Still, same advice. Knock'em dead. Interviewing is exhausting, so make it as easy and pleasant as possible for the panel. You've done really well to get to the interview stage, so have nothing to lose.

No clothes advice, really. I wear expensive assymmetric black dresses with killer jewellery and boots for stressful/formal work situations. I've interviewed people wearing anything from neat trouser suits to dresses to 'Gillian Anderson in The Fall' silk blouses and trousers. I do remember one woman wearing a very chic 50s-looking wide black skirt and and a narrow-fitting black blouse and looking all Audrey Hepburn, but we hired a woman whose train was late and who ran in the door looking like she'd bee dragged through a wet hedge backwards. Auidrey Hepburn is now at another university and still chic.

Original poster
ss412zx · 28/05/2015 15:34

Thanks whiteshirt, I am pleased to have got this far, especially as I have just realised in my OP I can't event use the English language properly - I have just finished my PhD!

Love 'they only have it in stick' even if that is my typos again - better be careful with that!

OP posts:
Original poster
ss412zx · 28/05/2015 15:36

And so my typos become even more frequent as I go on. Crikey!

OP posts:
missmoon · 28/05/2015 16:33

I would stay that if it's for a postdoc-type position then smart trousers and a nice top/blouse would be fine. For a lectureship or a JRF it might be better to wear a suit, that is what most people seem to wear. It can be highly subject-specific, for a subject like economics or business a suit would probably be better, for engineering or computer science a less formal outfit might be ok. If in doubt (and you have one), I would wear a suit.

KondoAttitude · 28/05/2015 18:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

badg3r · 28/05/2015 18:35

I don't know what your field is but I would dress like you would of giving a presentation at a conference. If it's just for a post doc a suit is a bit much, smart trousers and top would be fine I think.

badg3r · 28/05/2015 18:37

Sorry that sounds a bit dismissive... obviously a post doc interview is brilliant! 'Just'in the sense that it's not as senior as a jrf or teaching position, in which case i would wear the suit.

Bilberry · 28/05/2015 18:50

I would go/have gone in a suit. We wore all sorts at work but still needed suits to attend meetings, some conferences (if presenting) and I suppose wearing a suit to interview showed we were capable of looking presentable! We also occasionally got an email round saying some big wig/important funder was visiting the department and could we all turn up suited and booted!

One of my colleagues did a scholarship-thing (not actually a scholarship as she was fairly senior but can't remember what it was called) in America for six months. There was a bunch of British academics and they were attending various events. After a week the organisers cleared their diaries one afternoon and told them to go shopping Shock. Academic dress in USA is culturally very different!

PiratePanda · 28/05/2015 18:53

Academic here. Depends on the discipline - e.g. law and economics, wear a suit. Anything else wear a nice pair of tailored trousers and a nice but, crucially, non-matching jacket. Or wear a dress with a jacket, if you're more of a dress kind of person. I'd wear heels, but nice flats if you prefer. Minimal "natural" makeup, no perfume, brushed hair!,,

Bilberry · 28/05/2015 19:27

Fellowship! Just remembered, seems obvious now.

TheWordFactory · 28/05/2015 19:30

For my job today I wore black slouchy trousers ( smart though) and shell top.

I wore converse too. But wouldn't have for interview.

26milesofcbeebies · 28/05/2015 20:12

Another academic here. For my post doc interview 2 years ago I wore a smart skirt and blouse and a jacket.
I had another interview recently and wore black trousers and a top and black jacket from Zara- well worth a look at their stuff, and it's all quite reasonably priced.
I was much, much smarter for both interviews than I am day to day!