The M&S Style Challenge - What To Wear For A Job Interview - Outfit 2!

Thanks for all your amazing comments on last weeks M&S Style Challenge post, it made my week to see that you all loved my styling of the Contrast Collar & Cuff Shift Dress for a fashion role interview!

This week's brief, using the same dress, is 'Stepping up the career ladder - interview attire for a more senior role at a corporate firm (e.g. a bank, law firm).'

Time to get my serious litigating face on . . .

 

Capability is the key word here. To make the next step up the career ladder in such a serious industry, you need to obviously be, and look, capable and high achieving, but that doesn't mean you can't still be a fashion conscious young woman! Once again, this dress is a perfect starting point for my interview outfit - chic and feminine but modest and sensible at the same time!

 

I added the beige trenchcoat because it's timelessly smart and a bit different to the sea of black and grey suit jackets I imagine would be at this sort of interview schedule, plus the flow of the material nips me in at the waist and gives me a nice shape without showing off my curves. Another addition is the two tone skinny belt. Assuming I take the coat off once in the interview room, the belt will break up the black dress and is a memorable but discreet touch.

My make up is very natural, no fashion colours here, and I've pulled my hair back off my face with a plain band so I'm not tempted to play with it should nerves get the better of me. Serious career types do not curl tendrils of pink dip dyed locks around their fingers ;)

 

I've accessorised with a fairly plain boxy shaped black bag, which is large enough to fit a notepad and files in. I'm not a fan of interviewees who enter the room with an armful of notes and papers, it looks so unprofessional, so stash them in your bag before they call you in!

I have nice legs but I don't want to be flashing my way to the top, so I'm wearing black opaques!
My lace up shoes are heeled but smart, and the pattern matches my bag which I think is a classic power dressing tip, dating all the way back to Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith in Working Girl ;) I may be looking to climb the ladder to success but I'm still a young woman with style and I know how to use it to increase my own confidence. Always dress for yourself.



Outfit Details : Dress - c/o Marks & Spencer. Coat - La Redoute. Belt - Dorothy Perkins. Bag - Lipsy. Tights - Marks & Spencer. Shoes - Bronx.

What do you think? Is this a look that could boost a girl's confidence and help her further her career? 

Come back next week for my third look using this super flexible M&S dress!

J - SRS BSNSS.