Dressing for Career Fairs and Interviews

As many of you know, my daughter Ella is a second-year construction management student at Boise State. Given that I taught construction management for over 20 years, I am used to getting late-night calls about homework. Once Ella’s friends found out my prior profession, I get even more questions. Increasingly, the questions are not about homework (I think they are tired of my 30-minute soliloquies on glorious nature of estimating), but careers. With contractors starting the recruiting process for project engineers and interns earlier in the year (seriously…September?), I should not have been shocked when I was asked: what should we wear to job fairs and interviews?
 
This question caught me off guard. I am not sure why, as I have been to many career fairs and have interviewed for jobs several times in my life. However, for better or worse, our styles and formalities are changing. As I waxed philosophically about this question, Ella snapped me out of my dialog and said “we need to know now! The job fair is tomorrow!” So I gave some snap advice that I was able to summarize in the matrix below (which, I might add, I’m kind of proud of):

In spite of giving the best answer I could under the pressure of time, I could not stop thinking about this question. Specifically, are ties preferred for an interview…do they look professional or desperate? Do CM students get a pass because the wardrobe necessary to work in the field is a lot different than working in an office? Does the advice change for interns versus PEs? What about women? And on and on and on…
 
So rather than leave this to my speculation or chance, I reached out to some professionals who hire interns and PEs for a living. I have known each of these people for years and they are really good at hiring. They represent general and specialty contractors and work around the country. In other words, trust what you read below.  The experts are:
 

• Kathy Abbott, Senior HR Business Partner, Cupertino Electric Inc.
  
• Heman Chand, Vice President, S+B James Construction
  
• Adam Holguin, Business Development Director, McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
  
• Emily Kocher, Director of Recruiting, Walsh Group
  
• Henry Meier, Project Executive, Swinerton Builders
  
• Michelle Weakley, Manager or Recruitment, Performance Contracting, Inc.
  

 
I am going to start with the advice that best supports my diagram. One of the experts agrees that the chinos and long-sleeved collar shirt are appropriate for both career fairs and job interviews. In fact, they take appearance seriously enough that they will score candidates down if they are not dressed professionally with chinos and long-sleeved collar shirt being table stakes. Not wearing something as nice as chinos and a button-up shirt will not eliminate people from consideration, but it does not help. And before I go further, everyone assumes college students do not have unlimited budgets for clothing, but chinos and a button-up shirt should not break your bank and you will (should?) have opportunities to wear them outside of job interviews. These are pretty common elements of an adult wardrobe. If you buy from Banana Republic, J. Crew, etc. and avoid overly “stylish” forms of clothing (super tight skinny pants, drawstrings, etc.), you will be fine. And nice pants and shirt work just as well for women as it does men.
 
Having started there, the overwhelming majority of the experts stated that HOW your present yourself matters more than what you are wearing. There are many shades of gray to their advice, but it can be summarized by this statement: “I let their personality and resume do the talking”. Many of the experts said they are looking for builders so that should come through in your interview/conversations. That said, let’s dig into those shades of gray:

• Career fairs are more casual than in-office interviews. Recruiters understand you could be in between classes, on your way to a job, etc. But you should still look clean and professional. As one expert put it for career fairs: “I think a smart option would be to dress in clean, pressed clothing such as a polo and nice jeans with boots, or slacks with a nice shirt for a woman.” That is the floor. As another expert put it: “I appreciate when a young person takes the time to look presentable at a job fair because it tells me they are intentional and serious.”
• For interviews, particularly in-office, dial it up. Business casual (i.e. the green chino/long-sleeved button-up square above) is expected. I like this advice from one of the experts: “In an interview, dressing-to-impress is more influential, because it shows that you care and are putting your best foot forward to show your professionalism and business demeanor.” Preach!
• Beyond business casual, the advice was mixed. Two experts stated “If a candidate is wearing a suit, I worry they won’t fit in and it sort of counts against them” and “The days of the full suit are out, especially in hot climates.” But before you praise the heavens that you should never consider a coat and/or tie, contemplate that one expert said “Suit and tie, for example are not required but if a student feels like dressing up to that extent then I encourage it and appreciate it.  The student should feel confident in what they are wearing and how they look.”

 
So it is not totally cut and dried. To be on the safe side, err on the side of more dressed up than not. However, if you do not have access to chinos and a nice button up shirt, then wear your best jeans, a clean polo shirt, and dazzle them with your capabilities!
 
Here are some more timely and accurate pieces of wisdom from the experts:

• “Kids from rural areas (author’s note: Boise, I’m looking at you!) may think that Wrangler jeans, a fancy belt buckle and cowboy boots with a button-down shirt is acceptable and I agree because that is what they know and feel comfortable in. Feeling good about how you are dressed can only bolster confidence.”
• “I would recommend dressing more conservatively than you are probably used to.”
• “Things that don’t matter anymore that people used to care about: piercings, colored hair, tattoos… no one cares anymore, it’s so common to see a nose ring and a full sleeve, I would not ask anyone to feel like they need to hide that.” (author’s note: I would be curious to get a variety of feedback on this. I’m guessing this includes mullets. And once again, Boise, I’m looking at you! OK I'll stop picking on Boise now...).
  

Here are a few things to AVOID:

• No ripped jeans or articles of clothing
• No t-shirts, especially with logos/writing on them
• Sunglasses
• Slide-on or slip-on shoes
• Beanies or hats (a nice ballcap could be forgivable but many people think it’s disrespectful)
• Overly wrinkly shirts or pants (buy or borrow an iron!)
• Hoodies
• Bellies showing (very in fashion for the Gen Z, not very professional), yoga pants, workout clothes. I repeat “I would recommend dressing more conservatively than you are probably used to.”

 
If you are comfortable knowing what to wear, here are a few more nuggets of wisdom about how to interact with people who may be recruiting you:

• Do your homework! Know who we are and what we do (visit company websites!). That said…
• What if you don’t have time to research the companies at a career fair? Then do your research in real time. Ask the recruiters smart questions like “what do you like about your company?”, “what does a typical day for an intern or PE at your company look like?” or “what is your favorite project you have worked on for your company?” Be curious but not lazy. Don’t ask “what does your company do?”
• Have resumes prepared or be ready to complete an online application (along those lines, have a professionally manicured LinkedIn profile. And clean all the garbage from your other social media. Ya, recruiters check it! You have been warned…).
• Show a passion for building! You should be ready to explain why you want to work in CM. This gets easier when you have already had an internship, but even if you are looking for your first job in the industry, you should be able to describe, with enthusiasm, why you want to work in construction.
• Be comfortable. I know this sounds super obvious since many of you will likely be very nervous, but all the recruiters you will be dealing with are humans and they want the best for you. They don’t bite! Relax and have and conversation.
• Firm handshakes and ample eye contact.

 
There you have it, valuable advice from the experts. Good luck!