An internship is an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a specific field or industry. The intern’s job is to learn from the people they work with and absorb as much knowledge as possible. Internships can last anywhere from six months to one year.
When you go for an internship interview, it is important to dress up in a professional manner. This means that you should wear a shirt and pants or jeans with a tie and proper shoes. You can also choose to wear formal business attire if you want.
After all this, I would suggest dressing up the way you feel comfortable wearing because it depends on your personality as well as your work environment.
I can give excellent advice on what not to wear. Storytime.
I have a friend, a Mech E, who is a little.. different. He’s just not familiar with social norms and sometimes has difficultly judging proper ordinary actions. Just little things, that most people instinctively know.
One day our Sophomore year, he came running into our room really excited.
Guys! I have an interview with xyz!
Of course, we all congratulated him and gave him what advice we could for interviewing.
The next day he came over to our room. We said, “What the hell are you doing here! You have your interview today!” And he said, “Oh, yeah. I just got back from it. I think it went pretty well!”
One of my roommates looked him over – he was wearing a plain white t-shirt and black gym shorts. My roommate jokingly said, “You didn’t go to your interview wearing that, did you?”
The look on his face stalled our laughter as we each slowly realized he was serious.
It simply had never occurred to him to dress up. At all.
He didn’t get the internship.
what to wear to an internship interview
Always wear professional clothing in an interview.
As a fashion retailer, my company isn’t the most demanding in terms of style – at best the style is casual, and I don’t really have a dress code. In my restaurant, everyone wears a uniform. However, regardless of where the application goes, in interviews, I do expect people to wear formal attire or at least professional clothing.
Professional clothing shows that you possess a professional mindset – and the mindset is that you respect the importance and formality of an interview. Other pro-tips include making sure you are clean (no dandruff, nobody odors) and that your clothes are clean as well. A man’s choice of attire should be easy -either a muted gray/black suit or dress trousers and dress shirts, with or without a tie. For women, I expect classy clothes, colours are fine as long as they are not overly gaudy or showy. Choice of colors are slightly more important in my book since I am a fashion retailer, but usually clean and professional works.
Jeans and a t-shirt is far too informal in my view. You would have lost half of my interest the moment you walk in.
Think of it as meeting the parents of your significant other for the first time. Would you wear jeans and a t-shirt – you could, but you probably won’t want to be on the safe side. I could hire an intern like that if he has special things about him – but life has taught me that most people are like snowflakes, which means we are unique but not exceptional. Nothing bad with showing a bit of professionalism, and treating your internship like you would a real job.
Source: I manage a fashion retailer, 2 clothing lines, a few franchises, and a small restaurant chain.
Often that translates into business casual for men (nice slacks; button shirt; leather shoes) and something comparable for women (nice slacks or skirt, blouse). If you’re interviewing with a bank or law firm, you’ll want to muster up a jacket and make other adjustments to be dressier than that.
My sense is that people who wear jeans and T-shirts can get jobs in logistics all right, but usually, they’re driving forklifts or doing other manual work. If you’re serious about presenting yourself as management material, look the part. Don’t overdo it with silk ties (m) or silk scarves (f), which would look silly on the job. There’s plenty of room in the middle to look like someone who’s at ease but professional.
Depends on the company you are interviewing. The same type of job in different companies can require completely different attire. This question should be directed to your recruiter, who should do their job and set the expectations about everything, including what to wear.
A button-up shirt with jeans is considered acceptable under most circumstances.
what to wear to an engineering internship interview
OMSCS -EE/CS
I dressed up in a suit for my first two interviews and felt dramatically overdressed the entire time. At most engineering companies, the most dressed-up person you see is going to be wearing slacks and a button-up, and there are people wandering around in jeans and a T-shirt.
Business casual at most.
You also might want to ask r/malefashionadvice – show them pictures of your proposed outfit, they’ll help you out.
Yeah, I’ve always worn either a polo or button-down shirt (no tie) and khakis and never felt under-dressed. It’s a generational thing. To me, a suit says desperately.
