Smart/casual interview

The answer to this question is always the same. If you are unsure wear a suit, if their dress code is smart casual then remove the tie but frankly I would probably still wear a tie. I've worked in both environments in many different companies, sometimes setting the dress code and I've never been concerned with a person turning up for an interview in a suit in a smart casual environment, which is often an argument I see on here. If you are met by people in jeans and t-shirt then make a comment about your suit, such as "hope you don't mind me wearing a suit for my first meeting, I felt it both appropriate and respectful and a sign of how important this role is to me" or suchlike. It's easy to make a suit casual and business casual for many is a suit without a tie.
 
Yes Suit-Up, that way the interview panel will know that you can dress down. If you turn up dressed down they might think you have made every effort to dress up and have, in their eyes, failed.
 
Belly said:
Yes Suit-Up, that way the interview panel will know that you can dress down. If you turn up dressed down they might think you have made every effort to dress up and have, in their eyes, failed.
Click to expand...

Why would they think you've made every effort to dress up when they've specifically asked you to come 'smart casual'?

If there is nothing specific, always dress up. If you've been asked/told a dress code, the go with that dress code.
 
Impossible to say without knowing company or sector you're applying for.

If something like a bank, wear a suit but without the tie (but take a tie just in case!).

If something in retail or fashion for example, wear a shirt, chinos, blazer with tastful pocket square, brown shoes.

For everything else, pick somewhere in between!
 
Suit no tie. Make sure enough of your shirt buttons are undone so that the interviewer can see how alpha male your chest hair is
 
What is the industry and what is the format of the interview? You don't want to be wearing a suit if they're doing group interview/activities or other such nonsense. That might be why they specified.

I do think turning up in a suit for the sake of it when they've specified not to is a bit stupid. Would certainly make me think you can't follow simple instructions, or think you know better, or just didn't read your email properly.

For smart/casual I would go with chinos/slacks, smart shoes and a shirt. Maybe a sports jacket if you're comfortable with that (I'm not). But I know full well in my industry that would count as overdressed for most people day-to-day.
 
I think I would go in smart jeans, smart boots, a crisp white shirt with a jacket for "smart/casual".

What is the interview for? They might have said smart/casual as you might be doing something other than just sitting in a chair talking to someone.
 
Kenai said:
Why would they think you've made every effort to dress up when they've specifically asked you to come 'smart casual'?
Click to expand...

Exactly, while it isn't likely to be a deal breaker you'll look a bit silly turning up in suit and tie after having been told it is smart casual. It is slightly negative in some ways - showing you've either got poor attention to detail and missed that bit of the instructions or that you've chosen to ignore them.
 
meandu229 said:
I went to an internal interview in a suit, the guys interviewing me had hoodies on and the other guy that went to the job went in a t-shirt and trousers. I knew this would be the case so I thought Ill show i made an effort and actually want the promotion. (Nailed it)
Got a few comments about how I didnt need to put the effort in but better to be over dressed in this case shows you care.
Click to expand...

Had this experience recently. Infact the people interviewing me were colleagues i work with day-in day-out. So it was just a little weird for them me turning up in a suit, while we have a casual policy here. It obviously wasn't needed, but as said above - you can't be too smart for an interview.
 
For an internal interview where they haven't specified anything a suit is fine, similar situation to the other poster occurred at my old place. Guy we thought was the best fit wore a hoodie, guy who was all talk etc.. wore a suit, brought a folder of his work etc... v.smarmy. Our manager was a bit inept, non technical... guy wearing the suit got the role despite the hoodie wearing guy being the better candidate.
 
dowie said:
For an internal interview where they haven't specified anything a suit is fine, similar situation to the other poster occurred at my old place. Guy we thought was the best fit wore a hoodie, guy who was all talk etc.. wore a suit, brought a folder of his work etc... v.smarmy. Our manager was a bit inept, non technical... guy wearing the suit got the role despite the hoodie wearing guy being the better candidate.
Click to expand...

Which just goes to show that wearing a suit makes a difference. Now imagine if the guy who knew his stuff also wore a suit and presented himself well. He'd have killed it at the interview and got the job.
 
Semple said:
Had this experience recently. Infact the people interviewing me were colleagues i work with day-in day-out. So it was just a little weird for them me turning up in a suit, while we have a casual policy here. It obviously wasn't needed, but as said above - you can't be too smart for an interview.
Click to expand...

You can be too smart for an interview, especially if you are told to wear a certain attire (ie. not a suit). It completely depends on the environment. For example if I went for a job at a start up and they said "Wear smart casual" then I'd not wear a suit because you'd end up looking like a complete ****. The same thing applies for a lot of large tech companies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom