How to Dress for Success Today

I'm warning you: Based on conversations about this topic at my office, you may find this post to be controversial - you may totally disagree with me. You may even find it to be trivial. But with nearly 1.8 million college graduates this month to soon be looking for work, this seemed as good a time as any to talk about a question that's not so trivial to anyone looking for work: What should you wear to a job interview? And then once you have a job, what should you wear to work?

When I interviewed for my first real job after college, at Radio Disney in Boston, Massachusetts, I went into the interview in a full suit and tie, dressed to impress, or so I thought. Unfortunately, it was a hot September day and I was fifty pounds heavier than I am today. And unfortunately, I had a bit of a sweating problem back then.

I thought I had aced the interview. In fact, I did ace the interview. I received an offer via a phone call from Peggy Iafrate, who would become my boss and one of my early mentors the very next day. Concluded Peggy:

"We loved everything about you Dave and can't wait for you to start. Well, just about everything. Please, oh please, lose the jacket and tie."

I got the job - but not because of what I wore - in spite of it. Through most of the years since then, I've been fortunate enough to be the boss, and help set the dress code for the office, and it's always been a casual or business casual setting. I've also interviewed dozens if not hundreds of job applicants, and I've seen many men and women dressed uncomfortably formally - (and a few dressed uncomfortably informally.) Conventional wisdom says to dress up formally for a job interview. But I disagree. Through the years I've come to this conclusion, truer today than ever before:

At a job interview, you should dress comfortably and (at most) a little more formally than the rest of the office.

At a job interview, you're trying to show the organization that you'd fit in there. If you show up dressed casually and everyone else is dressed more formally, you won't fit in. That's the easy part that everyone gets. But equally true is the converse: If you show up as a man in a three piece suit or as a woman in a formal pantsuit, and everyone else there is casual, you also won't be fitting it. If a job applicant to one of our companies comes in a suit and tie, it shows that he didn't research the culture of our office - and it counts as a strike against him. Why take that risk?

Two years ago, my daughter Charlotte had a boy in her class who wore a suit and tie to school every day. It was a second grade classroom, and yes, at first, I thought Trevor was adorable. But eventually, I came to believe that his parents were doing him a disservice by letting him go to school like that every day. He didn't fit in, and on hot days with no air conditioning in that classroom, he couldn't have possibly been comfortable.

Do you want to be a Trevor, at a job interview or beyond?

So what's the solution?

Before an interview, ask the recruiter or people at the office what the unofficial dress code is. Then come in, wearing comfortable clothes, and dressed similarly, (or just a little bit more formally) to what everyone else is wearing. You'll fit in, and you'll be comfortable and confident throughout the interview.

Remember, too: It might seem like the interview - and getting the job - is everything - but in the long run, it's just the beginning. You want to work at an organization where you'll fit in and feel like part of the culture for a long time - after all, you spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else.

If you like to dress casually, do you really want to work somewhere where formal wear is expected? If you like to dress up, do you really want to work somewhere where most people dress down?

The best solution?

Decide what dressing for success means for you- and then find an industry and organization where - at the interview and beyond - you can be comfortable, successful, and fit in with the corporate culture.

Want to work in a suit? Interview at organizations that'll support that - where it's part of the corporate culture.

Want to work while dressed casually? Interview at organizations where that's the norm.

Want to work at home in your underwear? Luckily for you, more than ever before, there are telecommuting positions and work-from-home positions available. But in that case, it's probably best to get a bit more dressed up for your interview.

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Now it's your turn. Many have told me that it's always better to be dressed as formally and fancily as possible for a job interview - do you agree or disagree with my thoughts here? How do you dress for success at job interviews and at your job - and what do you recommend to others looking for a job? Let me know your thoughts in the Comments section below, and be sure to share this article with anyone in your network looking for a job soon.

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Dave Kerpen is the founder and CEO of Likeable Local. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of Likeable Media, and the New York Times-bestselling author of Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business, and the new collection, Likeable Leadership. To read more from Dave on LinkedIn, please click the FOLLOW button above or below.

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