Job applicant dress code

[baz962]

This is a post to all job applicants, regarding dress code. When I read through the post's on here, wether the job is for driver's, guard's, signaller's, manager's, or any job, there are a lot of people asking for advice on what to wear, on pretty much every job thread . The poster's ask if it is for an assessment day, for an interview, and for pretty much every stage, I keep seeing, should I wear a suit , or is it casual. Always, and I mean always dress up, suit , tie, shoes etc, unless the toc, or opc state otherwise. You are going for a dream job, and are up against hundreds, if not thousands of other applicant's. You could lose out if dressed down, but no one will lose out for being too smart. If you are up against just one other person, and you are identical in all area's , such as test scores, interview technique etc, but the other applicant has a suit on and you do not look as smart, chances are you lose out. DRESS SMART.

 

[Borocarl88]

This is a post to all job applicants, regarding dress code. When I read through the post's on here, wether the job is for driver's, guard's, signaller's, manager's, or any job, there are a lot of people asking for advice on what to wear, on pretty much every job thread . The poster's ask if it is for an assessment day, for an interview, and for pretty much every stage, I keep seeing, should I wear a suit , or is it casual. Always, and I mean always dress up, suit , tie, shoes etc, unless the toc, or opc state otherwise. You are going for a dream job, and are up against hundreds, if not thousands of other applicant's. You could lose out if dressed down, but no one will lose out for being too smart. If you are up against just one other person, and you are identical in all area's , such as test scores, interview technique etc, but the other applicant has a suit on and you do not look as smart, chances are you lose out. DRESS SMART.

Really good advice, I have learnt to always dress smart, I had a situation for a job last year (not rail related) and it was for an assessment day, and because in my current work (im a welder and dont do job interviews as I need to do practical weld test) I have had no experience on applying for a different industry. So when I got the phonecall to go to the assessment day, I asked about what the dress code was, and they said casual as its quite a practical day, so I turned up in jeans and a jumper, only to be greeted by everybody wearing suits, I was horrified and I was explaining everytime I had a one to one interview over the course of the day that I was told to come casual, luckily I got through to the next stage.
So last week I went to an assessment day and I dressed up in shirt, tie, trousers, shoes for a TOC and I couldnt believe it that when I arrived (I was quite early) everybody had jeans on! But as more people arrived it was a good mix of smart and casual but I will always be going in formal clothing for any future assessments and interviews.

 

[baz962]

Some will always be casual, and it may not harm, but in my mind I think, why take the chance. Personally I wore a suit for interview and not for assessment, however I still wore the suit trousers, and v smart shirt, same shoes, just no tie or jacket. But I was still v smart, and no one can guess that maybe what one toc's casual might be a different toc's unacceptable. I'm not saying casual will harm anyone, but a suit and tie certainly will not. So my advice is why take the chance. Either dress how you feel is good, or don't chance it, however why ask on here, as most will say wear a suit, and if the advice is be casual and turn's out wrong. I say dress up.

 

[Borocarl88]

Some will always be casual, and it may not harm, but in my mind I think, why take the chance. Personally I wore a suit for interview and not for assessment, however I still wore the suit trousers, and v smart shirt, same shoes, just no tie or jacket. But I was still v smart, and no one can guess that maybe what one toc's casual might be a different toc's unacceptable. I'm not saying casual will harm anyone, but a suit and tie certainly will not. So my advice is why take the chance. Either dress how you feel is good, or don't chance it, however why ask on here, as most will say wear a suit, and if the advice is be casual and turn's out wrong. I say dress up.

I totally agree Baz, its really good advice your giving

 

[baz962]

I totally agree Baz, its really good advice your giving

Not often people agree with me on here lol. Thanks .

 

[Shunter_69]

I’ve seen people turn up for assessment days in Football Shirts before. To me that is taking casual too far.

Having seen quite a few people come to assessment days for various roles, it always appears to be the large majority of those that make it through to the end are the ones who dress smartly.

Obviously what you wear doesn’t affect your performance directly, I always wondered if there is a correlation between dressing smartly and having the right attitude to get through assessment days.

 

[shredder1]

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/get-a-job/interview-advice

https://www.best-job-interview.com/job-interview-dress.html

 

[MostlyHarmless]

There's absolutely no harm in going to an assessment day in a suit, but personally I opted for a pair of black denim trousers and a smart shirt and shoes (not shiny ones!) because I wanted to be comfortable in what was going to be quite an intense and stressful few hours! I will of course be wearing a suit for the interview stages

 

[baz962]

I passed enhanced with gtr, but not the dmi. I then got through and am starting with arl later this month. On the first assessment day for arl, I still had to go but had no test's to do, and some lad turned up late, and after some debate the opc let him stay. He was in jean's and trainer's and sat down and started fiddling with his headphones. It was apparently his second life. I am convinced to this day that his attitude probably cost him first time, but no idea how he did on my day as I got sent home due to no test's to take.

 

[MostlyHarmless]

I passed enhanced with gtr, but not the dmi. I then got through and am starting with arl later this month. On the first assessment day for arl, I still had to go but had no test's to do, and some lad turned up late, and after some debate the opc let him stay. He was in jean's and trainer's and sat down and started fiddling with his headphones. It was apparently his second life. I am convinced to this day that his attitude probably cost him first time, but no idea how he did on my day as I got sent home due to no test's to take.

As someone who does job interviews from time to time, turning up late and dressed like that would probably mean he wouldn't get the job - no matter how good he was. It shows a lack of attention to detail and a poor attitude (IMHO)

 

[baz962]

As someone who does job interviews from time to time, turning up late and dressed like that would probably mean he wouldn't get the job - no matter how good he was. It shows a lack of attention to detail and a poor attitude (IMHO)

Agree 100%.

 

[GMT]

I passed enhanced with gtr, but not the dmi. I then got through and am starting with arl later this month. On the first assessment day for arl, I still had to go but had no test's to do, and some lad turned up late, and after some debate the opc let him stay. He was in jean's and trainer's and sat down and started fiddling with his headphones. It was apparently his second life. I am convinced to this day that his attitude probably cost him first time, but no idea how he did on my day as I got sent home due to no test's to take.

Well at least the guy must be good at writing application forms given that he went to the assessments twice. However, not mature enough for the job, of course.

When I did the assessment with GTR there was a guy that before starting the test began to scribble absent-mindedly with the pencil on the desk. The assessor obviously got cross and told him off. In the end he didn't pass.

By the way, what does arl stand for, which TOC is that?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The railway is quite traditional, and so, away from the likes of VT, railway uniforms are similarly traditional. I'd certainly wear a suit for a railway job interview just as for an office one.

I'd imagine if I was going for a job as a builder, a park ranger or some other similar more physical or outdoor type job that more casual would be expected.

 

[baz962]

Well at least the guy must be good at writing application forms given that he went to the assessments twice. However, not mature enough for the job, of course.

When I did the assessment with GTR there was a guy that before starting the test began to scribble absent-mindedly with the pencil on the desk. The assessor obviously got cross and told him off. In the end he didn't pass.

By the way, what does arl stand for, which TOC is that?

Arriva rail london.

 

[baz962]

The railway is quite traditional, and so, away from the likes of VT, railway uniforms are similarly traditional. I'd certainly wear a suit for a railway job interview just as for an office one.

I'd imagine if I was going for a job as a builder, a park ranger or some other similar more physical or outdoor type job that more casual would be expected.

Back in the day, when I was a tad younger, ahem 20 year's ago, we would just walk on a building site and ask if any jobs were going, and were often told be here 7 am monday, mind you no interview.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

It's quite simple really, I doubt you will find a job description in any job on the railway that doesn't expect you to be dressed smartly and representing the company at all times.

So if they expect that while working I am sure they will be looking with these sorts of high standards at assessments and interviews also.

 

[Shrimper]

Advice I was given by my dad for these situations:

It's easy to dress down, but very difficult to dress up.

IE - if you have a full suit on it's easy to make it more casual by removing a tie or jacket. Turn up in jeans and realise you need to be smarter and it's not going to be possible to do much.

For my assessments I went suit for both of them though some at the OPC were a little more casual.

 

[TheVicLine]

Suit is a must, it's a job interview ffs.
TOCs are big on appearances (or try to be) and a suit looks more professional, it's not about your comfort at this stage it's about first Impressions and looking the part. Most companies expect you to wear a shirt and tie when you are working a train so if you are serious about the job it's no big deal.

 

[Mag_seven]

Suited and booted - you can't go wrong.

 

[Mike Tyson]

I passed enhanced with gtr, but not the dmi. I then got through and am starting with arl later this month. On the first assessment day for arl, I still had to go but had no test's to do, and some lad turned up late, and after some debate the opc let him stay. He was in jean's and trainer's and sat down and started fiddling with his headphones. It was apparently his second life. I am convinced to this day that his attitude probably cost him first time, but no idea how he did on my day as I got sent home due to no test's to take.

Dammmmnnnn!!!!

That attitude is bad, for any type of interview/ assessment in my opinion.

 

[choochoochoo]

Suit is a must, it's a job interview ffs.
TOCs are big on appearances (or try to be) and a suit looks more professional, it's not about your comfort at this stage it's about first Impressions and looking the part. Most companies expect you to wear a shirt and tie when you are working a train so if you are serious about the job it's no big deal.

I disagree, and have it on good authority from someone who works at OPC that they do not judge you at all on what you wear for the initial tests. Obviously don't turn up in a football shirt, shorts and flip flops. But full suit is overkill and you cannot be comfortable wearing that.

Performance is affected by comfort. There are plenty of TOCs out there where polo shirts are more than adequate for being smart when driving. And if you insist on wearing a tie, you can choose a clip on option (which is infinitely safer too).

MMI/DMI is a different story. That's the time for being suited and booted.

 

[Bromley boy]

I 100% agree with the OP - go with a suit. You want to put your best foot forward and personally I'd far rather wear a suit than spend the the day worrying I'd underdressed.

If you really want the job you should be doing your best to make the most favourable impression possible on your prospective employer. Wearing a suit shows them you're making an effort.

It's probably less critical at assessment than for the interview stage, but still it's better to err on the side of caution for the assessment. Plus some assessment days may dovetail into the MMI if you're successful in the morning (I realise this will vary by TOC).

 

[uww11x]

Trousers, Shirt and Jumper always does the trick for me.

 

[sw1ller]

I was specifically told to come casual for my test day. I still went in a suit. Imagine doing everything right but failing because someone looked a bit better than you??? I’d be devastated. If you need to be comfortable to do the tests then I would argue you’re not cut out for the role. And anyway, what’s not comfortable about a suit???

 

[matt_world2004]

I went to a internal job interview recently and almost everyone was in their uniform as they had a duty to do afterwards.

 

[whhistle]

I was specifically told to come casual for my test day. I still went in a suit.

So you were specifically told to dress in a certain way, and you didn't?
Imagine if that was part of the testing... to see if you'd follow what you've been told...

I have NEVER worn a jacket.
Nice/Suit trousers, shirt, jumper, sometimes a tie, sometimes not - has always done me well.
Never had any feedback saying I was over dressed / not dressed well.

But remember, there are some on here that suggested a while back, not wearing a suit jacket would get you marked down

 

[baz962]

So you were specifically told to dress in a certain way, and you didn't?
Imagine if that was part of the testing... to see if you'd follow what you've been told...

I have NEVER worn a jacket.
Nice/Suit trousers, shirt, jumper, sometimes a tie, sometimes not - has always done me well.
Never had any feedback saying I was over dressed / not dressed well.

But remember, there are some on here that suggested a while back, not wearing a suit jacket would get you marked down

As the Op, I would just say to that, I never said not wearing a suit would harm you and I did mention in before somewhere on here that I didn't wear a suit to assessment, although very smart. If memory serves I also said, if specifically told to wear something, then do so. My main point on my original post is, if unsure then dress up rather than down. I was giving the advice that unless specifically told, then a suit to err on Side of caution. Why dress down then worry, or runaround trying to get advice that may be wrong anyway.

 

[whhistle]

As the Op, I would just say to that, I never said not wearing a suit would harm you...

Thanks for clarifing.
But my post didn't say you said that :P

 

[baz962]

Nor did I say you said I did, just a general clarification, ha ha.

 

[Emmsie]

Personally I would take my lead from what the uniform is and certainly nothing more casual.