HR email says business casual for interview. Bad to show up in suit?

I am asking this question for a friend who has an interview at 10 AM EST tomorrow (Feb 7th).





When HR sent him an email, they mentioned that the attire for the interview is business casual.


This surprised both of us because as per most (if not all) interview help websites, it says to wear a suit.





Please help! Would it be bad to show up in a suit?





I figured dressing down is bad... [as in they expect suit you show up business casual] so dressing up... in this case wearing suit when they mentioned business casual attire is better, right?





Or should he just wear a shirt, pant, no tie [business casual]
HR email says business casual for interview. Bad to show up in suit?
I would not show up in a suit. That would demonstrate that your friend can't follow instructions. In addition, think how sheepish someone might feel if they are in a suit and the interviewer is in a polo shirt?





If your friend wants he can throw on a blazer, but I wouldn't wear a suit or a tie.
Reply:How about wearing a suit, but if he feels uncomfortably overdressed, he can slip the suit jacket off... Over-dressed is acceptable though in this situation!
Reply:Normally I'd agree and say that it's better to over dress than under dress, especially given that the financial industry is on the conservative side. But, since they did specify that the interview is business casual, I'd consider this a bit of a "test" on their part, to see if you pay attention to detail and follow instuctions. Most companies like team players. Business casual can be a jacket, nice shirt, nice slacks, but certainly no jeans- even khakis would be too casual.
Reply:Sports coat, dockers, collared shirt, and no tie would be suitible.. no sneakers..
Reply:I would definitely wear a sport coat of some sort, nice slacks, and a tie. Obviously, dress casual is not translated as sloppy, but it is possible you could be perceived as not following instructions if you go in way too over-dressed. I agree with the other post that being over-dressed is better than under-dressed, but there is a fine line there.
Reply:I would rather show up for anything overdressed rather than under.
Reply:no tie
Reply:I'd wear a suit or at least a jacket and tie.
Reply:Wear the suit and take off the jacket when you arrive. My company had such a hard time defining what business casual meant- your friend doesn't want to take any chances. Some employees at my company thought business casual was flip flops with a skirt and other employees thought it meant their entire wardrobe from the eighties.





Your friend could always call corporate recruiting or check out the company website to get a feel for the "culture". I guarantee you that Google Corporate has a different definition and code of conduct than Citi Financial.
Reply:I would suggest dress slacks, a nice colored collared shirt and tie at a minimum. I would also highly recommend a coordinating sports jacket that goes with this outfit.





Goto men's warehouse. Beg and borrow to come up with approx $500 to get a couple of basics. They had (at least last year) a very nice Calvin Klein light tan sports jacket with very, very light plaiding on the fabric (it cost about $295). My husband can pair with many different shirts (a tangerine or orange sherbet type of dress shirt was my fav. -- conservative but more "casual" than white or blue) with darker pants. Put a coordinating tie with it. Can always show up with the jacket and then remove it. Classy, classy look yet versatile.





Good luck.





I'd interpret business casual as NOT a matchy matchy navy suit. But definitely dressed for business.
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