Should You Wear Glasses on an Interview?

 When it comes to preparing for a job interview, a lot of thought goes into what you should wear. An interview can be a nerve-wracking process for a lot of people. What should you wear to make a good impression?

Many recruiters will even advise you on what sort of outfit is best for the job interview. This should tell you that it’s an important factor in the hiring process. If a recruiter takes time out of their day to discuss something with you, then it’s a good sign that what you wear on an interview, including whether or not you wear glasses, is an important decision to make.

Why Wouldn’t You Want To Wear Glasses?

Are there any reasons why you wouldn’t wear glasses to an interview? Well, yes there are. If you are interviewing for a demanding physical role, or one that requires good vision, then you would not want to tip off an interviewer to the fact that you need to wear glasses.

Some of these jobs might be more outside of the scope of this blog, such as a Welder, Carpenter, Iron Worker, or other trade jobs. Those are not jobs where recruiting is as big a component of the job search.

However, when it comes to corporate interviewing, there’s not an issue with wearing glasses to a job interview. Some people prefer not to wear glasses because of their fear of an ageist bias. That can be an issue, so if you don’t need to wear glasses, I would suggest not wearing them if you are concerned that the firm might have an issue with an older person.

A company will never come out and say that they prefer to hire a younger person, but many companies unfortunately don’t want to hire senior people for many reasons—not the least is that younger people will work for significantly more money.

Do You Normally Wear Glasses or Is It a Style?

Are you someone who normally wears glasses? If so, then you should wear them to the job interview. If you are someone who prefers to wear contacts, then I’d not change it up just for the interview. Anything that can throw you off during your job interview isn’t advisable.

You want to be relaxed during your job interview and if you are wearing glasses when you normally don’t wear glasses that might make you feel uncomfortable.

The only reason why someone who doesn’t wear glasses might want to wear glasses to a job interview is because they think it will impress the interviewer and give the appearance of seriousness and intelligence.

Do Glasses Make You Look Professional?

They might, honestly. But I would caution about wearing glasses if you don’t normally wear them. While you might think it’s a not a big deal, believe me that people will notice if wearing glasses is not a normal thing for you to do.

People who don’t normally wear glasses will appear a bit less comfortable if they are wearing glasses for the interview. So, I would caution against wearing glasses just to look professional.

Remember, it’s not going to help you much if you are wearing glasses and you come off as nervous, act unnaturally, or otherwise give off the vibe of someone who is uncomfortable in their surroundings.

Will Wearing Glasses Make You Look Smarter?

That depends on who you ask. Some people have that connotation associated with people who wear glasses, in fact quite a lot of people do. But others have a bias against people who wear glasses. It’s a very individual process and one that is hard to gauge if you are going on an interview and know very little about your employer.

When getting ready for an interview, there are other wardrobe choices that are more important. I’ve covered them elsewhere, but to reiterate: should you wear normal clothes, can you wear open toed shoes, could you wear jeans, or the really inappropriate sneakers!

The standard would be to wear a suit, or business suit or dress, to any job interview. Wearing glasses is totally optional and is something that you should do if you feel comfortable with it.

These are more important wardrobe choices. Glasses, while they might make you look smarter, are not a big deal breaker for interviewers.

Is There a Bias Against People Who Wear Glasses?

Sure. Some people have a bias that makes them think all people who wear glasses are “bookish” or “nerdy” or “smart”—which is a good thing. But this isn’t everyone you encounter.

A lot of the bias is going to be situation dependent.

If you are interviewing for an analyst role, or a role in a back office support role where you’ll be pouring over spreadsheets and data, then the interviewer might like the fact that you’re wearing glasses.

However, as I have said, it’s a bit of a wildcard because you never know who is going to be interview you.

So, my suggestion would be to not deviate from your regular outfit. If you normally wear glasses, then wear glasses. But do not change your day to day outfit just for an interview.

If you're someone who needs to wear glasses, and you don't normally wear contacts, then definatly don't show up to an interview wearing contacts. Just wear your glasses like you normally would.

This is even more true if you're wearing glasses for a Zoom interview. There's no problem with wearing glasses during an online interview because even more people will be wearing glasses during these interviews. Why? Because many people wear computer glasses to protect their eyes, and if you are doing a Zoom interview with someone who is on their computer all day, they might even be wearing them themselves.