Job Interview Questions: What to wear to job interview in biology lab?

I have an interview as a research associate (therefore entry level) in a biology lab. People at this company and in my city/region tend to dress extremely casually. As a woman, I don't exactly have a suit laying around and I'm pretty sure I'd look overeager and overdressed in one. Do you think gray slacks + white shirt + blue sweater + black flats would be appropriate or should I go drop $300 on a suit which I will never wear again??

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Recommended Answer:
If it's microbiology lab you can wear microbiology T or polo: www.cafepress.com/GeoChemBio/7681…

I remember that I didn't wear a suit for interview for the lab. I had slick pants, casual top and a jacket on. It works.

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• I don't care how casually they all dress for work--they're already hired. The way people who are already employed normally dress every day at work is irrelevant to how YOU should dress in going in for a job interview. You need to dress as nicely as you can, as conservatively as possible. You may feel you're overdressed, but for an interview you're not. Once you're hired it's a different story--as casual as everyone else, but right now, you're NOT like everyone else there, 'cause they're on the inside and you're not. From your description, it sounds like what you propose to wear is probably ok, but if you don't feel that what you have is good enough, then yes, you should drop some dough on nice dress or semi-dress clothes--it's an investment--you'll probably make all that money back with your first paycheck, and you can't predict with any certainty that you'll never wear them again, but if you want to get hired in the first place, you want every advantage you can get.


• I've had many job interviews in the science field. Working in a lab you dress very casually because you are working with chemicals and samples that will just chew away and destroy your clothing. What you describe is exactly what I always wore to my interviews for jobs and graduate school, and I think it is definitely acceptable. No need to drop $300 on a suit. I've seen some people wearing dirty old converse and emo jeans, some people in full on suits and I've even seen someone wear a mini skirt with high heels, lol, but I think presenting yourself in slacks and a nice sweater with flats (no heels) will be a great first impression. You want to look sophisticated and smart, you don't want to look extremely laid back or like you are trying too hard to impresss.
  
  BTW what is a research associate? Do you have a PHD? I have always seen people at the PHD level wearing suits for interviews or seminars, but never for lab tech or graduate student positions.