It's that time of year again, when millions of young people and not-so-young people complete their education and try to enter the workforce. This has traditionally been a competitive past-time even back before national economies were straggling along after the 2008 crash. Getting "a good job" is now something of a job itself as landing a face-to-face Interview can take a few months of persistent application submission, psychometric testing, and phone follow-ups. Countless career advice articles stress the importance of dressing appropriately and making a good first impression, but if you aren't already working, where are you going to get $600 to drop on that timeless "interview suit"?
It's absolutely key to look your best and make a good first impression once you get the interview stage, after-all it's probably taken some serious effort to get there, so you wouldn't want to blow the chance you might have. However, the idea of dropping several hundred dollars on an interview outfit to ensure you're out-dressing the competition is sort of insane since it is possible to do it on a budget, especially if you aren't going for a job at a corporate law firm or investment banking company.
While I have no hard scientific evidence to support this claim, I would venture that it's harder for men to put together an interview outfit together less expensively than women, especially for those seeking positions in the legal and financial industries where the matched suit is a daily standard and absolute necessity. It is difficult to buy a suit on the cheap without it looking cheap, but there might be a few ways around dropping more than $500 on a suit for a single introductory interview. Ladies have it somewhat easier in that fewer employers are expecting them to show up in a matched suit; whether or not this suggests that employers expect less from female candidates or take them less seriously will be left to the reader's imagination. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that women in the US still earn on average $0.77 to each dollar of their male counterparts.
ANYWAY. Here are five strategies for putting an interview outfit together on the cheap without looking too cheap.
Beg, Borrow or...
Well, we wouldn't really recommend stealing your next office-ready button-down, but if you have a friend or a family member who's about your size we would definitely recommend asking if they can loan out one of their smarter pairs of trousers or dress shoes. If you're not sure who to ask, or are anxious about being rejected and alienating your friends and family by asking to borrow their stuff, send an open request by Tweeting, updating your Facebook status or sending a group email. You might be surprised by how many people will want to help you if they can when you're not directly asking for money and you might be surprised by what people have in their closets that they're not using. Last year I borrowed a vintage (i.e. before they started branding all their bags with that hideous fabric) Coach bag from my mom that she hasn't used in years. Borrowing it was free, and upgraded my plain black suit from "small town funeral director" to "single female lawyer". One advantage to this approach is you may be able to score a much nicer and more professional-looking ensemble than you could have afforded on your own. It goes without saying that people judge by appearances and HR people will sometimes rule out an employee candidate immediately if they judge their appearance as "not professional enough."
eBay is Great...
If you don't know your size but know you're measurements, you can probably still buy clothes on eBay with relative confidence that what you win will fit. However, if you don't know measurements or how to take them yourself, buying on eBay becomes a much riskier prospect, especially if the items you're buying are more than a few years old. The age of the product itself isn't necessarily problematic, but the fact that women's size tags have fluctuated over the past several years can mean that a size 4 dress from ten years ago only fits someone who wears a size 2 today. Learning to take your measurements isn't as complicated as some people have made it sound, though it is a lot easier if you can enlist someone else's help. Wikihow has a good tutorial on how to take measurements for women, which starts out with the basics of bust, waist and hips. Knowing these three measurements can help you more accurately determine your ready-to-wear size since these are the measurements on a size chart. Men's sizes are more consistent, but it seems that fewer dudes throw their old duds up on eBay so there's usually less choice, especially if you wear a smaller size. If you wear a medium, large or extra-large however, eBay can be a great place to pick up gently worn and dead stock Brooks Brothers dress shirts and other career staples. If you're unsure of your size check out this other Wikihow that photographically illustrates how to take clothing measurements for men.
Do Not Pass Go...
But head directly to the clearance rack. Experienced bargain hunters may have already noticed that department stores and clothing boutiques usually put their sale and clearance racks at the back of the shop, --unless they're using a sale-rail at the door to draw you in the first place; this is all in the hopes that you'll be tempted by other merchandise and impulsively buy a trendy cardigan or some wacky socks with little cartoon characters on them on your way to checking out their clearance section. Being aware of this strategy makes it harder to fall for, and it may also help to separate shopping trips for a specific item (in this case, pieces for an interview outfit), from browsing shopping trips. Keep your goal in mind and head directly, as directly as you can for the clearance rails. What's available at a discount will of course vary depending on what season has just passed, certain staples like black dress trousers or dark pencil skirts will almost always make an appearance. Retail seasons are at least one season ahead of whatever season it actually is, so clothes typically start being discounted while you can still get a good bit of wear out of them. Also, as long as what you've picked up on sale can be worked into your personal style or isn't overly trendy, you can get wear out of a discounted piece for years to come.
If You Are Petite...
Consider checking out a Juniors' Department. Though some of the clothes might be too revealing/trendy/"young" to wear to an office, thanks to the ubiquity of internships, most Young Miss departments have racks dedicated to "career-wear" and business casual pieces. As a woman who's 5'2", long-waisted and 98 lbs, I have never found a pair of black dress trousers that fit, that came from somewhere other than Mandee, H&M, or the Juniors' Department of Macy's or Kohl's. Bits from the Juniors section are usually less expensive, though they tend to be constructed from cheaper synthetic fabrics and can wear out more quickly. Caring properly for these garments can lengthen their life, as can a few sewing tricks like reinforcing seams yourself and tacking down hems with a few hand stitches. Proper cleaning keeps the fabrics looking newer and less worn-out but proper cleaning doesn't mean you have to start dry-cleaning everything. Check out this guide from lifehacker to see whether or not you absolutely have to take a piece to the dry cleaners to keep it looking nice and new.
Thrift Stores...
In or near nice neighborhoods can be a surprising source of quality career separates. Thrift store shopping is not what it was ten years ago in terms of quality selection and rock-bottom prices since the gentrification and re-branding of resale culture as "hip", but there are still scores to be made and treasure to be had in the right areas. There are too many variables that affect thrift store content quality to make sweeping generalizations, but here are a few things to consider looking for when scouting out a Good Will, Salvation Army, or Value Village. Resale and thrift shops in young, trendy neighbourhoods tend to price their goods higher than those in less "bohemian" areas, but may be worth checking out since there's a good chance the fashionable residents of the borough will be unloading their old clothes there. Thrift stores in unfashionable but well-to-do areas with older residents often have higher Quality Career Separates in addition to the standard offerings of '90s floral print maxi dresses and strange shapeless formal wear.
There you have it, five places to look for putting together an interview outfit on a part-time wage or the the very last remains of your Stafford Loan. While our next article will feature a few other ideas for putting together career-wear before you're earning "career pay", we'd love to hear any additional suggestions, anecdotes, comments or questions from our readers. Email us at: [email protected] or Tweet at us :@cheerfulcheap
