Nursing Interview Attire

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I have my first interview for my first RN position at a hospital this week and am getting nervous. I know to prepare in advance - research the facility, practice answering interview questions, have my own questions prepared, and come with extra resumes in hand. What is concerning me most (today) is what to wear. I have always worn a suit or dress slacks/blouse to interviews in the past but this is my first one as an RN. The other issue is the weather - they are predicting temps over 100 deg. I am trying to be practical by dressing for an interview and while taking into account the weather. Another issue is I am on a big budget having just finished school. If I have to buy anything it will be a new pair of shoes. With that said, I am considering wearing a dress (short-sleeved, tan, shirt-dress) and appropriate shoes (flats or low heel). Is this an OK outfit to wear? I know appearances are everything and I don't want to make a bad 1st impression but like I said I want to be practical, too. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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IMO, there isn't too much else to wear besides a nice pants suit with blouse, jacket and low, nice heels to make a candidate look sharply dressed and professional. I know the heat is an issue as it is in my neck of the woods too. You could always wear the dress pants and a nice professional looking short sleeve blouse and not wear the jacket or a dress skirt and the blouse. What you choose to wear can help make you feel confident. A pants suit i described always does it for me. If the dress you describe makes you feel good and confident, then by all means, wear it with confidence :) Again, just my :twocents:

Good luck on your interview!! :)

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.

I have always thought of shirt-dresses as more of business casual than appropriate for interview attire.

It is not a choice I would make.

I also never account for the weather...at all. I also would never wear a dress without hose...100 degrees or not.

You can never go wrong with a suit. I used to wear suits every day and what I would do, is just keep my jacket in the car and put it on right before I walked into the building to keep from sweating to death..."cooling" down the car before you get in (like you would warm it up in the winter), helps on days like that.

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

Chances are it will not be 100 degrees inside the building, so unless you are interviewing outside, don't consider the weather. :-)

A suit is very appropriate, and, like others have said, the best option for any interview. (Please, do not wear scrubs!!) I'm not sure where you live, but I was recently at Wal-Mart and they were selling some very nice business suits (jacket and pants) for 15-20 dollars for each piece. It was very reasonable.

If you are concerned about the heat, wear a short-sleeved blouse under your jacket and leave your jacket off until you get out of your car to walk into the building. You can also wear a business skirt rather than pants. If you are really on a tight budget, you could probably skip the jacket and just wear the dress pants and a collared blouse, or the collared blouse with a business skirt. The attire is important, but whether or not you wear a jacket probably isn't going to make or break your job offer.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

To me, interview attire for an RN position should be a business suit, whether you wear dress pants or a skirt (just make sure the skirt is an appropriate length). I live in Texas so trust me, it's very hot here (>100 degrees!) I wore a short-sleeve collared blouse tucked into some black dress pants, and then when I got into the hospital I put on my blazer. Chances are it will be cold inside the building, and it was! if I wore a dress I would have been freezing.

My other advice is to wear comfortable shoes! I'm don't really like wearing heels, but I did that day to make a good impression...and they were comfortable, until I was given a tour of the three units - my feet hurt! :lol2: Just make sure you wear something that you will be comfortable walking in, just in case you are given a tour of the unit(s) or the hospital.

SMILE, even if you feel like you're dying on the inside lol!

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