Should You Dress Up for an Interview with a Recruiter?

The way in which you present yourself during an interview can be the make or break it aspect of the entire meeting. If you come across poorly, then your resume won’t save you and you will likely not be called back.

On the other hand, if you’re resume is run of the mill, but it was still strong enough to get you into the meeting, then a good presentation and being well dressed can be enough to tip the scales in your favor.

Of course, there is quite a bit of variation in how one should dress when going on an interview. And when you are having an interview with a recruiter, then it’s even more important to know how exactly you should dress.

It’s important to remember that appearence is important. That’s why it’s so crucail to maintain and watch what you post on social media. Recutiers do look at your social media, so if that’s a wild scene you could also be hurting your chances of being hired.

Let’s review some of the particular questions you might have regarding how to dress for an interview when it’s with a recruiter.

What Sort of Interview Is This?

First of, it’s important to know what sort of interview this is. Are you interviewing with an agency recruiter for a specific role, or is this more of a general meeting with an agency recruiter?

Or, are you meeting directly with an internal recruiter at a company.

These are two different types of interviews.

First off, it’s always advisable to dress well whenever you are meeting with someone in a professional setting. You do not want to dress casually. So, women should wear business attire and men should likewise wear suits, or slacks and sports jackets.

Unless you are working in the medical field as a Nurse or Tech, then appearance is important. Even in manual labor jobs such as warehouse and concierge work, an interview can go wrong and you can lose your shot at the job if you show up in jeans and a t-shirt.

But, it can be a bit more relaxed if it’s not a interview for a specific job and it’s just an introductory meeting with an agency recruiter who wants to discuss potential jobs with you.

In any event, it’s best to make sure that you keep your dress code professional. Don’t overdress, but certainly don’t show up in jeans and a t-shirt or blouse for any sort of interview or meeting. One of the main things that recrutiers look for is someone who is professional in apperence.

Dress The Part: Different Jobs Require Different Dress

It is important to know what sort of interview you are going to have. If you’re planning on interviewing with an Investment Bank, then the dress code is obviously going to be much more serious than if you’re meeting with a level 1 internal recruiter for a hospital.

Investment bankers dress well because they come from excellent schools and do professional work. If you’re job is to potential handle billion dollars in investment, then more is expected of you than a clerk who takes names in a public hospital.

That said, if you are interviewing at a public hospital, you should certainly show up dressed professionally. The hiring managers in hospitals are almost always met with applicants and interviewers who show up in street clothes and unprepared, so by dressing professionally you will do yourself a service and stand out in a positive way.

As a general rule, certain roles do require suits and business attire. Others are more business casual, which means that you can dress more casual in sports coats and slacks and a button down without a tie, for men, and casual skirts or slacks and blouses for women.

Is The interview In Person or on Zoom?

Another important distinction is between in person interviews and ones that are conducted on Zoom. If your interview is an online virtual one, such as a Zoom interview, then you might think that you can get away with not dressing up.

But that’s not the case. If you are having an online interview via Zoom, then the expectations are that you will come as prepared as though it were a regular interview. That means that you will dress up professionally.

While many people think that they can show up to a Zoom call in their pajamas, rest assured those people are not going to get the job. In a prior article I covered how to prepare for and impress on a Zoom interview.

In fact, many Zoom interviewers are more stringent with dress code than in person interviewers. The idea behind this is that if the person isn’t able to even dress professionally in their own home while having a comfortable virtual interview, then there is no point in bothering to consider this person as a viable candidate.

So, my advice would be to spend as much time preparing if not more for a Zoom interview. There’s a good article here that covers the tips to acing a Zoom interview which you might want to review.

Can You Ask the Recruiter about Dress Code?

This depends upon the type of recruiter that you’re working with. If you are having an interview with a recruiter about potential jobs, then it’s not advisable to ask them about dress code.

If, however, you are working with a recruiter and they have scheduled you to have an official interview with a client of theirs, then it is totally advisable for you to ask them how you should dress.

In fact, many professional recruiting agencies have formal pre interview emails that discuss official dress code.

While a professional interview is normally going to require professional dress, there are some instances where you would want to be dressed in work casual, or business casual, as opposed to a business formal dress.

Each situation will differ depending upon the work environment that you’re looking to interview at. In some cases the agency recruiter will have a good idea as to how to dress for the interview and ensure that you won’t show up and look out of place.

Is it Better to Be Overdressed or Underdressed?

It’s a fine line between showing up looking like you just came from the gym and showing up looking like you’re dressed for a black tie event. Neither are going to win you any favors.

First off, lets be clear that you should never show up dressed casually to an interview. If you’re idea of dressing for an interview is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, then you are sadly mistaken about any sort of professional behavior.

On the other hand, if you’re interviewing for a medical position as a nurse or a social worker role in a non-profit that deals with mentally ill individuals, then it’s not expected that you show up to the interview wearing a suit. It would be nice, but most people don’t wear suits in such environments and business casual is appropriate.

When interviewing for a job at a hospital, the way in which you dress is less important than having the legal credentials required.