Comments on: interview clothes

By: olderwoman

olderwoman — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:22:00 +0000

Well, I’m not “normal” for other reasons and never look fashionable or appropriate by the usual standards. Thus I get really annoyed (as do some others) about all the irrelevant personality attributions that are made on the basis of clothing. (This would be different if the job were fashion-related.) You obviously have to go with what looks and feels good to you.

I think the layering point was just that rooms can vary tremendously in temperature and it is nice to be able to adapt.

By: abarian

abarian — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:08:09 +0000

These kinds of conversations always give me anxiety, because I’m about as short as a pre-teen and look terrible in suits, jackets, coats, sweater-sets, and just about any other layering situation. I know, I know, jackets aren’t the rule. But still. My style (and my body) are not conducive to academia’s standards of “normal.” It’s just something some of us have to deal with.

By: jessica

jessica — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:22:39 +0000

I swear that I commented on this yesterday, providing a link to Dan Myers’ discussion of this (and whether it was wrong for women to wear black on the market) on his white cards message board last year, but I echo what’s been said here by cutting and pasting my comment from that discussion:

I bought a black suit for the job market. I wanted a different color (not because I’d heard the Wisconsin rumor, just that I don’t wear much black), but comfort trumped color. I found one jacket that I really loved and felt was comfortable and flattering, and it only came in black, so I built my suit around that. I did wear a pink shirt underneath to soften it up a bit.

Comfort is what I would suggest people focus on. Not that any suit is really comfortable for some of us who would like to live in jeans, but finding one that you’re comfortable in and that you feel suits you will help give you much needed confidence to sustain you through the interview.

Also, although I bought a pair of “comfortable” (and I use the term loosely) heels, I ended up wearing dress boots for all my interviews and was a MUCH happier person than I was hobbling around in those heels at the ASA meetings.

By: Kieran

Kieran — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:33:15 +0000

People whispered rude comments about the second guy’s suit all day, “Who does he think he is?” etc.

I find this kind of reverse snobbery pretty irritating.

By: scorrell

scorrell — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:51:56 +0000

I would like to second two pieces of advice for women that have already been offered–1) try to find a slightly dressier version of what you usually wear and 2) wear layers with the bottom layer being one that you would be happy enough to be seen in without the outer layer. It is important to feel comfortable and confident. Then, wear that outfit for a day at home to see if it really is comfortable as you go through your day. Many outfits feel comfortable in a dressing room when you are not doing much. And one additional suggestion — spend the time and money to get a comfortable pair of dress shoes.

By: jeremy

jeremy — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:48:30 +0000

I remember once seeing a job talk by a woman who was wearing this shirt with a strange design on it that I realized, maybe halfway through, was these giant gondolas with gondoleers. Then I thought, “she’s wearing a shirt with gondolas” and, “I wonder if she got that while visiting Venice.” And maybe, “I would never wear a shirt with gondolas on it to teach. And certainly not to give a job talk. Would I if I were a woman?” And on and on. I don’t really know if it was a negative impression, really, but I usually am pretty oblivious to clothes and instead I found that my contemplation kept returning to the gondola shirt.

I think there was a moral to that story, but it’s really late and I’m not going to bother trying to reconstruct it.

By: tina

tina — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:18:17 +0000

I think olderwoman’s initial frame of this problem is the most useful. For women, interview clothing is a special problem, and they are likely to draw negative attention to themselves no matter what they do. Whether they err to the boring/frumpy/all black side of things, or whether they are up on the red miniskirt highwire, they run the risk that someone will judge them for it. It is, in my view, exponentially more difficult for women to wear the outfit that will be generally acceptable than for men. While men might get some bad attention from wearing sneakers or having a stained shirt, the norms are clear. For women, not so.

That said, I have to side with those who advise to dress your identity, on the dressed-up side. If wearing a fabulous outfit makes you feel like a great candidate, then that’s the best choice for you.

By: styleygeek

styleygeek — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:14:50 +0000

You also have to check out the culture of the department in which you will be interviewing. We recently interviewed for a senior prof and had three finalists visit campus. One wore unmemorable clothes. The second wore a suit. The third wore shorts and a slightly grubby t-shirt, with flipflops that he slipped off partway through the day.

In most universities, I think it would be the third person whose attire would be cause for comment. As it was, he blended in just as well as the first guy, since that outfit is pretty much the uniform for the other researchers in that dept. And his job talk was about field-work in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, so he just came across as rugged and ready for anything.

People whispered rude comments about the second guy’s suit all day, “Who does he think he is?” etc.

By: Sister Edith

Sister Edith — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:57:32 +0000

The clothes should be something that is in your usual style. Otherwise, they may make you feel uncomfortable or a bit (more) unreal during the talk, which could affect your performance. They will also be suitable with your usual style of conversation and gesture, and your self-presentation will be consonant.

The story about the red mini-skirt outfit is interesting. Such an outfit sounds like a bit of a highwire act: if it succeeds, it makes an impression. If it flops, it will be a big flop and you may not know it. I try to stay away from highwire acts when I’m interviewing for a job.

By: jamybarab

jamybarab — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:56:44 +0000

As a graduate student, I can only remember three of the outfits of some unknown number of job candidates who gave talks. One I remember because she looked nice and professional (and later became my friend): an olive drab skirt-suit. Good talk and she was hired.

Another was a woman in a bright red mini skirt-suit and high heels (I think she was a potential senior hire). Her talk was good but her outfit garnered about equal attention. The students were pretty impressed that she wore something so daring. She was hired elsewhere in the university.

he third was a man with a studied hipster/cool/academic look: jeans, tweed jacket (probably with elbow patches), white button down shirt and huge black-framed glasses. His talk was also good and we got a kick out of his non-standard outfit. It was the jeans and glasses that made it “pop.” He got an offer but there were complications and he wasn’t hired.

However, the more standard your outfit it, the more attention people will pay to your words. It is worth making some effort to look clean, neat and somewhat conservative. If you come in wearing super nice “business school” or “law school” outfits, people will notice, but I can’t imagine it hurts you.