Should You Wear a Suit to an Interview?

One of the most nerve wracking things to do before an interview is to decide how you should dress.

It’s an important consideration, even if it seems like it’s not a big issue.

Most people think that their resume, or the school they went to, or even their connections are the main thing that will land them the job. And while that’s true, it is also important that you show up well dressed for the interview.

Presentation is important, especially when you’re first meeting the potential employer.

Enough can’t be said about first impressions. But the basic concept is that you can’t make two first impressions. The first time you meet someone it’s going to create an impression that stays with them for a long time.

Wearing a suit can be the deal breaker between landing the job and being rejected. Not always, but often.

We’ll go into more detail below about the different subtitles that are involved with choosing to wear a suit to an interview or not.

Is it Still Appropriate to Wear a Suit to an Interview?

So, one of the more common questions I get from people is if it’s even still appropriate to wear a suit to an interview.

A lot of people are worried that they’ll stand out and look silly. Overdressed. And it’s a legitimate concern.

However, if you’re interviewing for certain roles, it’s an absolutely necessary that you interview in a suit.

Some positions will require people to dress well, and it would be considered bad taste for you to show up in anything other than a suit.

However, in other instances it might be considered to be overdressed.

Certain jobs do not require a full suit. It often times won’t hurt to wear a suit to a formal job interview, but it can sometimes be unnecessary.

In rare instances it is actually a bad idea to wear a suit to a job interview. For things such as a retail job interview, a medical staff appointment at a hospital or clinic, or even a government job, then it might be overkill.

You don’t want to make the person interviewing you feel out of place, underdressed, or that you are overqualified.

Now, the phrase overqualified is a bit of an overused phrase, but it can sometimes be applicable.

For example, if you’re interviewing for a warehouse worker position, or a retail role, or some other sort of manual labor job, then you’re going to want to reconsider wearing a suit to the interview.

In most cases it will be severe overkill.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t dress well. Of course you should dress professionally. What you might want to do is dress in slacks and a button down shirt. Or perhaps add a sports coat.

For women, a dress suit is always acceptable. The issue comes down to when men are dressing up in a full suit, it can sometimes be intimidating to people.

But Why? What’s The Point of Wearing a Suit to an Interview?

But is this really necessary? Is it necessary to wear a suit to a job interview?

As we’ve seen, not all job interviews require a suit. Some do, some don’t.

I’d break it down into a three types of situations:

• A suit is Mandatory
• A suit if option
• A suit is overkill

The first situation is one where a suit is mandatory. Those jobs include finance, c-level roles, legal role, private equity, banking (primarily I-Banking.).  In these situations, you are best advised to wear a suit. Not wearing one can make you stand out in a bad way.

The second situation is for interviews where it is not necessary to wear a suit, but optional. In these cases it can help if you wear a suit, but it probably won’t hurt if you don’t. Any interview for IT roles, or basic administrative situations, or other work office work. And if you’re interviewing for a Non-Profit or a Social Service institute, then you certainly don’t need to wear a suit.

In these cases, you could wear a sports jacket or blazer and slacks. I would avoid wearing jeans and casual shoes such as sneakers.

The third situation is one where wearing a suit could actually hurt your chances of getting the job. While that’s rate, it can happen. It mostly occurs when the job role is very basic or not something that requires people to dress professionally. For instance, if you’re interviewing for a retail role, or a labor role, or anything that requires physical work or is low paid, then interviewers might think that you think that the job will be beneath you.

It’s a tricky situation to navigate. What often happens is that the interview might also feel uncomfortable with someone who is better dressed then they are. So, for interviews at retail jobs or manual labor jobs, it’s better to go ahead and be more business casual in your dress.

For business casual outfits it can make a difference

In Person and Virtual: Does it Make a Difference?

It doesn’t matter if you are having an in person interview or a virtual one. The choice to wear an outfit is the same.

Consider a virtual interview as important as a regular one. The reason that people participate in virtual interviews is that it’s become more common to conduct interviews, especially first round interviews, via a virtual platform such as Zoom.

This saves time for everyone involved. It allows for the hiring manager to conduct a serious of interviews with people without having to schedule them all to come to the office in person.

In many cases it’s also more convenient to simply have the call over zoom because it can be faster. Most of the formalist involved with in person interviews are eliminated with virtual interviews. There are no awkward good byes in person, no awkward handshakes, or other issues.

Should You Wear a Suit to a Zoom Interview?

Yes, if the interview would require a suit for an in person interview. If you’re applying to work in finance, or private equity, or i-banking, or really any c-level role cross industry, then it is necessary.

However, if the role is more relaxed in nature, such as an account executive for a PR firm or a Marketing director, then it’s acceptable to dress more casually. A sports coat or suit jacket and shirt without a tie is appropriate.

It’s always a good idea to dress up for an interview with a recruiter, and more often than not you’ll want to wear either a suit or at least a sports coat.

The role will dictate the dress etiquette. If you’re interviewing for a role in a firm that is super strict with the dress code and formal outfits, then it makes good sense to wear a suit.

What if You Don’t Own a Suit, What To Wear?

This is a bit of a big topic. I’ll cover it in more detail elsewhere but I think it bears some relevance to cover this in detail.

However, I wanted to cover this topic briefly here to give you some guidance in the event that you don’t own a suit.

First, if you are interviewing for a role at a firm in an industry such as Finance, Law, Investment Banking, then it is advisable that you go out and buy a suit. You’re going to need one for work, and if for some reason you don’t have one from when you had your internships (if you’re a new grad) or if you need a new size because you’ve lost weight (more senior applicants) then you should buy a suit.

If the interview is for something that’s less formal, and you don’t need to absolutely have a suit, then you should go out and get a sports coat. Or, if that’s not possible, then I’d suggest making sure you wear a dress shirt.