Video interviewing is still a business meeting

  • Post published:01/06/2022
  • Reading time:5 mins read

Proper dress codeJust because you are WFH does not give you a dress code freedom when interviewing with a potential new employer. You must dress the part – so dress up, please.

  • You are wasting your time turning up in a very short skirt and plunging neckline, very high heel gold stiletto platforms with a 23 cm spike heel, extreme facial piercing, big hoops earrings and excessive jewelry with heavy make-up.

To dress the part means to dress the way that people in particular roles and companies usually dress – that is if you want the interviewer to believe that you’re a professional.

Meeting face-to-face in a meeting room is now a rare occasion at least for the first round of interviews. Dress code has for too many people gone out the window.

Guys, meeting or interviewing on video is still business. Please drop the singlet, the no-collar T-shirt. Don’t turn up with an unshaven face (unless it’s your “look”). Dress as if you were interviewing at the company’s office.

She was blasted and criticized for posting this on LinkedIn

The insider.com has recently reported that a recruiter has been criticized after a LinkedIn post saying some candidates had not been considered for jobs because of appearance and outfits during the video call.

Have we become too accustomed to working at home that we have forgotten that we are still ‘working? Would you have turned up to an office in a hoodie for an interview back in the days of face-to-face interviewing? Does it matter? Should it matter?

Louise Ogilvy, tech recruiter in the UK, in her LinkedIn post

An HR consultant and TikTok’er based in New York took a screenshot of the post and uploaded it as part of a video in which he said Ogilvy was being “blasted” on LinkedIn.

The video has been viewed almost 300,000 times and received 2,000 comments, many of which appear to also wrongly assume it was her choice to not hire the candidate.

Read the full insider.com article here; you can also see the original disputed LinkedIn post and the TikTok video. Wow. I tell you.

Not to wear at a job interview

Woman waiting on chairFour years ago, I wrote a blog titled: How you should dress for the job interview? You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Ladies, coming for a job interview dressed as you were heading for the night club on Saturday night, will simply not do it.

  • You are wasting your time turning up in a very short skirt and plunging neckline, very high heel gold stiletto platforms with a 23 cm spike heel, extreme facial piercing, big hoops earrings and excessive jewelry with heavy make-up.

Gentlemen, you may be proud of your nose, ear or lips piercing, your cool tattoos, your light make-up and eye mascara, your extremely long fingernails, but believe me, you are not making it easier for yourself.

  • If your dream is to work for a multi-national company. Do not turn up in jeans and jogging shoes, please.

Read the 2018 blog here. that also covers these points

Single most important dress code advice

How should women dress for a job in the city?

Dress code if working in a factory

How should men dress?

Style isn’t expensive, fashion is!

Tom Sorensen

Tom Sorensen is an executive search veteran with over 25 years of experience recruiting in Asia, Europe, and Africa. He has worked in executive search in Thailand since 2003 and is recognized as one of the country’s top recruiters and most profiled headhunters.