… and I’m a bag of nerves!

Not the first one I’ve had since I closed my shop, but I guess I really want this one!

Doesn’t help that I’m 1 of 8 being interviewed for it… That and I’m still not quite sure what to wear! It’s bike industry, so full suited and booted probably too formal, but by the same token T-Shirt/Jeans/Trainers far too informal…

Argh!!!

HELP! Calm me down!

In your context, I’d say suit, with no tie, as it says ‘I care, but I’m also appropriately chill’.

Also, chinos with jacket, but still no tie.

Be calm, though. Go in with warmth and confidence, and you’ll get it.

You can’t do anything to effect what anyone else does, so don’t worry about the other candidates, don’t see it as a competition* – if you go in there and perform, do the best you can, that’s all you can do, be happy with it.

I think you need SOME nerves on the way in, as it makes you sharp – just don’t let the nerves take over, YOU’RE the one in control of what you do. For similar situations, I try and find tunes that put my head in the right place – either something to calm me down if I’m stressed, or something that puts me on that fine knife-edge of being ready to kick ass and handle anything that comes my way without being out of control and over the edge.

Good luck. Smash it. 🙂

* I am aware that it is considerably easier to say “don’t worry about what everyone else does” that it is to think it. 🙂

If you wear a suit you MUST wear a tie – unless going for the miami vice t shirt and suit look. And a jacket with chinos? FFS. Basically if you can imagine clarkson wearing it its wrong!

I would say decent trousers or chinos, polo shirt, black shoes.

AS for the interview? Prepare for it, think of good answers to the stock questions. If you have a person spec then look at it and find ways to say you meet it.

Usual body language stuff. Wait to be invited to sit down. Look the questioner in the eye but don’t stare at them in the face. Take a few seconds to answer questions but do not um and errr. don’t fold your arms or cross your legs. Look relaxed, comfortable and open

find a good story for why your shop went.

good luck

Always wear a suit & tie for an interview. Always.

Nothing wrong with a suit and no tie,
Or chinos and a jacket.

Both perfectly acceptable.

Clarkson could make a perfectly tailored suit look shit, so hardly a great example.

It’s a tightrope mboy

Good luck mboy. Give it your best that’s all you can do. 👍
Oh and yep, full works, suited and booted.

Always wear a suit & tie for an interview. Always.

For many/most jobs in the cycle industry, wearing a suit and tie would often be a precursor to being turned away from said interview! It would show an immediate lack of understanding of the role… From someone who’s done a bit of recruiting before (though not a huge amount granted), and knows plenty of people in the bike trade still, it seems to be a very tight tightrope to walk!

I think I’m going Chino’s, smart shoes, shirt, V neck jumper, and will take a tie with me and see how I feel when I get there perhaps…

Always wear a suit & tie for an interview. Always.

Unless it’s for a NHS role as ties are banned and you should be sleeve free to the elbow.

Good luck Mark

Always wear a suit & tie for an interview. Always.

Not for most jobs with a creative lean. My recruiter told me not to wear one to an ad agency interview. I ignored him. The MD took the piss.

I simply refuse to wear a tie for any occasion …and would only wear a suit if the job I was going for required me to wear one ..

I would er on the formal side of whatever you think is right, its easier to take a jacket off than pull one out of thin air!

I actuslly ask if they want me suited and booted now after being told that let me down at an interview once.

Best of luck today whatever you wear, don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something rather than bluffing and spend time thinking of examples of asked for things.

Always wear a suit & tie for an interview. Always.

I work in the Insurance industry and was specifically told not to wear a suit for my last interview.
2 years later I still have not seen a single suit in our office.
(Apart from unsuccessful applicants who ignore the advice not to wear a suit)

Mboy, being nervous is perfectly normal especially for a job you really want.  I still think a pair of smart trousers and a shirt (think chino and oxford shirt) shows you understand the industry.

Just remember to breath mate, when asked a question count to either 5 or 10, don’t panic yourself into splitting out an answer.  Taking your time to consider will relax you and ensure you answer with the tone, pace and pitch as well as the content you want.   Remember sometimes less is more and a good trick can be to ask a question at the end of your answer to their question.  As an example…what are your thoughts?

Just be yourself.  Don’t panic over 8 people being interviewed.  I’d take those odds nowadays, when I have interviewed people in recent years for sales/account management/area manager roles we would often run 2 days of interviews usually 10 people per day.  So I would take your odds.

Good luck mate, I’ll drop you a note to see how you got on!

Just go one notch up from what you think is expected on the clothing smartness, so nice jeans and a decent jacket should work for a casual industry.

Most important thing is being comfortable and natural.

As Russy says, it’s useful to ask “does that answer your question?” at the end of your answers.

And also useful to have a few stock answers for competency-based Qs, as they can be tricky **** if you’re unprepared.

I think I’m going Chino’s, smart shoes, shirt, V neck jumper, and will take a tie with me and see how I feel when I get there perhaps…

sounds fine to me.

Too late to get some Rapha mechanic’s trousers?

And also useful to have a few stock answers for competency-based Qs,

This in spades! There is a standard interview technique based around this using stuff taken from the person spec. Ie the person spec states that something say ” able to work independently” the interview will ask something like ” can you give us an example of being able to work independently” or will use an example “problem occurs, boss is out of the shop, what would you do?”

If you have a person spec read thru it and have in your mind ways to show you can meet the spec.

Times are changing, 5 years ago I’d say always interview suited and booted.
Not today. Understanding the culture and symbols of the org you’re going to work for and acting appropriately are part of the assessment. Go with what you know.

I was speaking with a recruitment agent the other day and he recruits for IT positions all over the country and he gave me a good tip for interviews that I think in certain situations I’d go for if I could. He said when interviewing if possible try to flip the tables so you become the one who leads the interview. Something along the lines of as soon as you’ve shook hands and sat down say something along the lines of ‘I know you have multiple questions and situations to potentially ask me about but before we get started on those stock questions I’d like to thank you for inviting me in to interview, I think I would be perfectly suited to this job because…..’. A guy did it with him and straight away he sat up and realised the guy had confidence and it really got the interview started off well and meant he sort of lead the interview, even if it means repeating what you’ll be asked it shows you’re keen.

Don’t go overboard on enthuasiasm and forget everything you need to tell them about your skills and your attributes. Confidence and enthusiasm will only get you so far. You may know you’re perfect for it but they dont.

Good luck, I dislike them but so long as you walk away thinking ‘there was nothing else i could of told them or said’ then you’ve done as much as you can and you’ll either fit or you wont and that fit is beyond your control.

Interesting approach GolfChick – needs the interviewers to be of a certain maturity to pull it off and can cause problems if there are multiple candidates that the interviewers have to relatively score – ask the same questions. No harm in being assertive though.

…but before we get started on those stock questions I’d like to thank you for inviting me in to interview, I think I would be perfectly suited to this job because…..’

The bit in bold sound a bit …. smartarse ?

Other than that though, it’s a good idea to thank them and let them know you are confident in your suitability for the role.

Yup Neal I’d file them under having an attitude, questions are for the end and the ‘stock questions’ comment is totally unnecessary. Also suits haven’t been needed since the 90s just look smart, clean and well presented.

Golfchick – I guess it depends on the industry. When I have had hire and fire power in healthcare that would cost them any chance of the job immediately. As would anyone dressing like clarkson 😉 ( not really)

I meant more the fixed/routine questions that they’ll have that then need answering, the ones that have marks against them. It could lead to some repetition but I tend to find that there is often some overlap. The last question on Mondays interview was to tell them about why I felt I was suitable for the role advertised but the previous 4 questions had all covered it already with lots of evidence so was a little repetitive. It may depend on the interview and situation, I had one a while back for islabikes and it was very informal without a ‘script’ but then I had another this week which the company very much had a script that they stuck to and it wouldn’t of been suitable in that situation.

If you wear a suit you MUST wear a tie – unless going for the miami vice t shirt and suit look. And a jacket with chinos? FFS. Basically if you can imagine clarkson wearing it its wrong!

I would say decent trousers or chinos, polo shirt, black shoes.

Sorry, but that is terrible advice. I hire people and interview people for a living, currently £100k investment managers, previously low level IT guys and sales people.
No tie is fine if it’s with a good suit, pocket square and a crisp white shirt. The key is to look like you meant it and not like you forgot your tie. Even the up tight world of financial services is dropping ties now.
Chino’s, shirt and jacket/blazer is also fine for the right level of role (the OP’s sound like one he’d get away with this) but again, look like you meant it. The shirt should fit well and be smart, not a casual one. The jacket should not be the top half of a suit.
A seriously, a polo for an interview?! No, just no.

A seriously, a polo for an interview?! No, just no.

What about a rugby shirt? Collar turned up?

Too late to get some Rapha mechanic’s trousers?

He was a bike shop owner, not a hedge fund manager.

Good luck mate, I’m sure you will do well…

Every industry is different when it comes to appropriate dress. Remember that. The bike industry (unless corporate finance or maybe sales) is not a suit and tie industry, so I would go smart trousers, shirt (debenhams do a great crisp white tailored fit one, 30 for 3!) etc. But unless you look terrible the decision will be more on how you come across and your technical skills. Hope it went well!

Well I managed not to cut myself shaving this morning (man I hate shaving!) unlike before the last 2 job interviews, so hopefully that’s a good sign…

Smart shirt ironed, new Chino’s and V neck jumper purchased, shoes shined… Got the interview at 2pm, small matter of 50 mile drive first…

Cheers for the positive responses guys, there’s been some useful advice (and some not so useful!) so far. I’m going in armed with a little presentation about myself which I’m going to ask to deliver first if they’re happy (the role will require a lot of presenting, so I thought it best to take the Bull by the horns so to speak), that covers ground I’ve not already covered in my CV and covering letter etc, and my suitability for the role hopefully. Taking my laptop too in case they don’t have presentation facilities there, and will print it off first too.

Wish me luck!

Good luck!! Drive safe on the way there and try and relax. You _will_ be fine!

Good luck mboy.

Good luck.

Good luck! You’ve got to the interview – unless you start calling them names or insulting them you’ve done all you can do.

& remember – they might look good on paper, but – you might get there & the organisation might be run by massive Boris’s

Good luck!

Good luck!

The bit in bold sound a bit …. smartarse ?

Was gonna say the same thing.

I’ve been doing a lot of recruiting lately and I’ve been trying to think of what it is that makes me favour certain candidates. Nothing about how they dress, for sure (except if they wore a polo shirt 🙁 )