What do you wear to a volunteer interview?

[integralx2]

Just curious what do people were in these cases? Should I treat it like a job interview ? Or can i just wear nice jeans and a shirt, and i should be fine ?

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[ksmi117]

Not as dressy as a job interview. But I wouldn't go in jeans either. Just like dress pants and a nice shirt, I'd say. Better to be overdressed, but def. don't pull out the suit and tie (if you're a guy).

 

[rockyDoctora]

All i wore was a button-up shirt and khakis/slacks. The volunteer coordinator loved it as it was the dress-code requirement for the volunteer position itself. I would not wear jeans 😀

I wouldn't really worry about dress shoes. I wore white sneakers, and wear the same ones because I know I'll be walking around a lot.

Hope this helps.

 

[red10]

better to be over dressed than under dressed.
At least wear khakis.

 

[locus000]

Business casual, Khaki and a polo shirt or dress shirt

 

[UBCvan]

i wore jeans. and I got the job.

 

[bannie22]

my ripped jeans

 

[URHere]

What you are expected to wear will vary with the job....however, it's harder to make a bad impression by dressing in nice, business casual attire than by dressing in jeans.

Go the safe route - wear nice slacks and a button down if you are male, and nice slacks/shirt and a professional blouse if you are female.

 

[bravofleet4]

i remember coming in to a volunteer interview for a non-profit medical clinic. my friend who already volunteered there gave me the heads up on the questions they would ask and that it would be a group interview. however, i ended up showing up like 5-10 minutes late and sweating a bit because i was anxious. the first thing I noticed was that everybody was dressed nicely - black khaki's and dress shirt with tie -while I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. When it was my turn to talk and introduce myself I found myself speaking too fast and too quietly leading to the interviewer even pointing it out. afterwards, i kicked myself so much b/c I thought I was definitely not going to get in and not get another chance to apply for 6 months.

the outcome? I got in. after volunteering there a while i even got to help out interview the next group of volunteers. What I discovered was that being late and dressed casually counted against me but what hours I was available to volunteer and my general attitude were way more important. I felt bad for one guy b/c he didn't say much and my supervisor said he just looked mean, so he was immediately crossed off. One girl asked some of the tour guides questions and she got bonus points for it. Then there was another girl who was bilinginual in Spanish and English and pretty much got accepted immediately for that reason.

the point is that it can be pretty much arbitrary. i think medical school interviews are like that. you hear stories about how people get rejected b/c they were too busy talking to other interviewees during the tour rather than listening to the tour guide. the fact is that if your interviewer likes you they wouldn't do that but if they don't like you, they're just looking for any concrete reason to say no. don't give them one. LOL PROBABLY TOO MUCH INFORMATION BUT THOUGHT I'D SHARE.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

I wore a blue-grayish dress shirt with some dark gray slacks and dress shoes. Two girls wore business casual attire. The guy who came in late wore flip flops, wife beater, skinny jeans, uncombed i-just-got-out-of-bed faux hair-do. He got hosed by the person giving the interview. I saw him volunteering two weeks ago.

 

[Naijaba]

I interview applicants for a volunteer program and we explicitly state in our email that it is a professional interview. We mark off when interviewees are underdressed. We love the program and we want everyone to respect it as job commitment than a volunteer program (although it is the latter).

 

[kami333]

Depends on the position, how competitive it is (most places I've been at take everyone and just interview to make sure you aren't socially incompetent/serial killer), and how desperately they need/unique your skill set is (language, computer, clinical, etc)

Quick rule of thumb is one step up from what the dress-code will likely be.

(Office with business professional -> suit and tie, business casual -> slacks and tie, homeless shelter (jeans) -> slacks and button down, lab -> they'll be happy that you do laundry😛)

 

[FloatOn]

I would never wear jeans to anything remotely interview-like. It doesn't matter if you're wearing $200+ True Religions. Save the nice jeans for a party or something, and wear slacks to the interview.

 

[Siggy]

Definately wear at least business casual. I volunteered for a local group and spent some time on the programs leadership team which included interviews. 5 points for the interview score was based on how the applicant was dressed with the full 5 requiring a coat and tie for guys. Personally, I throught it was stupid to require anything more than business casual, however that program took itself way to seriously.