Can You Wear Sneakers to a Job Interview?

 Is it ok to show up to a job interview wearing sneakers? Will this sabotage your interview? Are sneakers going to make the person conducing the interview think that you’re no a professional?

Well, in most cases the answer is yes sneakers are not appropriate for an interview. You should not wear them to a professional meeting.

Most of my audience is interested in discussing executive level roles and learning how to best interview for corporate roles.

The reason I like the photo of a basketball for this article is that sneakers were oriingally designed for sports and activities. Traidioanll people wore shoes for work, and sneakers for leisure. You don't want your interviewer thinking that you are comming in to a job with the expectation of leisure.

In those instances, it’s completely inappropriate to wear sneakers to a job interview. If you actually show up to an interview for a high level job, you will basically be asking to have your resume discarded.

There are some issues that can slightly change the circumstances of the situation, and we’ll cover them in more details below.

What If It’s a Casual Interview?

The main question I get a lot is if it’s ok to wear sneakers to casual interviews. For instance, some of the tech companies allow their staff to walk around in sneakers and designer jeans.

And if you ever went to a WeWork before they collapsed, you would see staff dressed like college students: sneakers, ripped jeans, graphic t shirts.

But that’s staff, that is not the dress code for people who are interviewing to be staff. There’s a difference.

With that in mind, there are times when dressing in “dress shoes” can actually be a bit overkill. It might be appropriate to wear designer dress sneakers such as the type of dress sneakers made popular by Cole Hann.

Some super hip companies might actually prefer this, but again it’s important to consider the company culture.

And in no case should you show up in Nike’s or regular sneakers.

Even if the company has a very casual attitude toward employees it normally does not translate to interviewing potential employees. In this case it’s normally the procedure to make sure that you dress professionally, which doesn’t include sneakers.

Casual interviews are often conducted by firms that have casual work environments, but it’s important to remember that you should not treat a casual interview as something too casual.

Can You Wear Nike Shoes to an Interview?

You certainly should not wear Nike shoes to an interview. That’s completely unprofessional so if you are interviewing for a professional role in a corporate setting, please make sure to not wear Nike sneakers.

While Nike is a billion dollar organization, rest assured that professionals in corporate America do not take kindly to people who show up to office interviews wearing sneakers. Even if those sneakers happen to be a brand like Nike.

Is It Ok to Wear Vans to a Job Interview

This is the same sort of question as the Nike one. Basically what you’re asking is if a certain brand makes it more or less fashionable and aproraite for an interview.

The answer is that, vans and Nike, and any non designer sneaker that looks like it was made for the office is not appropriate.

So, no, just because Vans or Nike or some other brand is fashionable, it doesn’t mean that you can wear them to the office.

Can You Wear Sneakers to a Retail Job Interview?

This is where there is a bit of leeway in the dress code. You can certainly wear sneakers to a retail job interview.

Retail work environments are not like professional work places. The staff in a retail environments are not working in the same manner as someone who works in a corporate environment. Many people who work in retail environments are not college graduates and have never worked in a corporate setting.

The clientele for retail establishments do not expect to that the staff dress like advertising executives or financial professionals. So, when you go to the interview, wearing sneakers is not going to cause a big issue.

That said if you do want to impress the person who is conducting the interview, you might want to dress with more professional outfit.

It can never hurt to wear slacks and shoes or a business type attire to a job interview, even if sneakers wouldn’t be totally inappropriate for the occasion.

Is it Unprofessional To Wear Sneakers to Meeting

This has already sort of been answered, but the simple answer is that no, it’s not professional. If you’re interviewing for a job that is professional in nature, then you should seriously consider your wardrobe for the meeting.

You do not want to do anything that would endanger your efforts to land a job. One of the most important things to do when interviewing is to make sure you choose the correct outfit.

Little things can cause big issues during the interview. Would you hire someone who showed up to an interview wearing a hat? What about someone who showed up in sneakers and jeans?

Well, if the answer is no, then you know what you should do. If you do want make a good impression on the person, then you need to dress professionally. You should dress up for an interview with a recruiter, it helps make a good impressionn and can be the difference between winning you the job and losing the job.