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Lookbook: The Office

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What I’m Wearing
*Top: Madewell – got mine last year, this one is similar.  I might actually like it more than mine, I love the dots!  And this one with the pleats is adorable.
*Pants: J Crew Minnie Pant – love these! The perfect work pant. Pricier but I also love the wool version.
*Shoes:  Christian Louboutin –   A great look for less for $80.  These L.A.M.B. pumps are also fab and on sale.  Louboutin doesn’t make this gray anymore so I can’t find anything similar from them so thought I’d just point out these fabulous crystal embellished ones!
*Belt: Nordstrom
*Laptop Bag: Knomo (similar)
*Necklace: Tiffany & Co. Bow Pendant

Not the most exciting outfit, but I hardly post “work” outfits anymore so thought I’d throw one in just to mix things up.  This is a pretty typical outfit for me when I meet with clients.  As a consultant and especially when I meet clients for the first time, I’d rather be a bit more boring and traditional than try to be “stylish”.  I also feel this way about interviews and I’ve had more than my fair share of interviewees that have come in to interview with me wearing questionable outfits.  I understand wanting to put a little bit of your personality into your outfit but don’t go overboard.  Stick to nice slacks, blouse (tuck it in!), a blazer if you feel it’s necessary and simple accessories.  Also, just because your pants are black doesn’t make them work appropriate.  If the fabric and fit are more on the leggings side, I’d say leave them at home.  Just saying 😉  I’m all for leggings and skinny jeans just not for an interview.  First impressions are important and of course it’s not just your appearance that will get you hired but it’s something that we do notice.  I can say that out of everyone that I’ve ever interviewed and hired, I’ve known within the first 10-15 minutes of meeting and talking to them if I would hire them or not.  Very few have been able to switch it around in the last few questions of the interview.

I don’t consider myself an expert but I’ve been in HR long enough and have interviewed enough people to notice the common mistakes that people make while being interviewed.  My quick advice is to do your homework beforehand – research the company, make a list of questions that you have about the company and the position, prepare yourself for the questions they might ask, make a list of your accomplishments in your previous jobs.  This way, you can walk in confident and prepared to answer questions right off the bat.  Also, don’t assume that we’ve read your resume so repeat everything on your resume but in much greater detail.  Remember that handy accomplishments list that you put together?  When you’re talking about your previous positions, bring up those accomplishments and how it contributed to your job, your team, your company.  Don’t be afraid to talk about how awesome you are! People only want to hire the best and the only way we can find out if you are the best is if you tell us.  Your resume can only say so much.

I could probably way more about this topic but I won’t bore those of you who aren’t interested.  If you have any other questions about interviewing leave a comment or email me and I’ll see if I can help! 🙂

One last thing… I’m loving Mary Jane pumps and sharing my Splurge and Save picks over on the smarter blog!

By tiffany

Tiffany is the founder and editor of I am Style-ish, a Fashion, Motherhood and Lifestyle Blog based in Seattle. Follow along my daily adventures on instagram @tiffanyish and where I share daily Amazon deals on www.amazon.com/shop/tiffanyish

46 replies on “Lookbook: The Office”

great look tiffany. i LOVE that pink laptop bag. SO CUTE!

actually, i do have an interviewing question for you. i was just let go from my employer last monday (and it was totally unfair). and the only reason they would give me for my dismissal was that i "was not a good fit". this after 5+ months with them, after being told i'm doing a great job, after receiving 2 bonuses…and now i'm not a "good fit". so, my question to you is: what do i tell people during interviews as to why i was dismissed? because, basically i have no idea and they will not tell me. any tips???

I like that top a lot. I wouldn't mind seeing work outifts, it's something that a lot of us can refer to. I once interviewed a woman for an admissions job (for a local college) and she came in wearing hot pink pants! Like, what are you thinking?! My boss got the final say and hired her and then a few months later she was fired. Those are some great tips about work attire.

I love this post. With fashion and style blogs, we often get caught up in the unique and "stand-out outfits." In the corporate world, there are certainly different rules. I will always remember the advice of a former client of mine who was a COO of a large, national bank, "It took me several years and several promotions to earn the right to wear red."

You look gorgeous as usual!
XO – Marion

thanks for sharing some great tips, it's always fun to read about what the interviewer point of view. I work in a corporate world so I feel like there are times I don't really get to be "stylish" blah but do try my best to mix it up once in awhile.

I love the bright pink purse.

These are great tips and I think everyone would find them useful! Very professional outfit but you're still showing a lot of your style 🙂

@Diane ugh, that sucks Diane! Sorry to hear. I would give the same reason that they gave you and tell your interviewer that both you and your previous employer didn't feel like it was a good fit and then outline what you are looking for in your next position and relate it to the job/company that you are interviewing for. So use it as a turning point as to "this is what I'm looking for and why I'm fit for this position" kind of thing.

Hope that helps. feel free to email me if you want a more detailed explanation! 🙂 Good luck on your interviews!

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@Marionberry Style that is great advice! I totally agree. I think within the blogging community, especially style bloggers, everyone wants to be "different" and look a certain way but realistically, it just doesn't work in my corporate world where very few people know (or care) about style bloggers.

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@simplyvonne it definitely does get hard to follow a typical corporate world dress code. On some days, I do try to get a bit more stylish and add more of my personality into my outfit, but that's also why I have a bright pink laptop bag! 🙂

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Very good advice. The sad thing is I think some younger people just do not have a clue on what to wear for interviewing and sometimes even for work. It's almost like students in high school need to be taught it. Think about it: If you were raised in home where your parents dressed professional for work, you likely will have no issues with dress. BUT if you weren't raised with that kind of example, maybe your parents were more blue collar and casual, but you're the generation trying to change, how do you know what looks right for an office environment?

Ditto on the style blogger look at work. I think only a few individuals who work in creative work environments can get away with that look. I still think they offer great fashion inspiration though. So yes, sometimes you do have to wear a less outstanding outfit to work, that's ok too.

Tiffany, so awesome that you did a post with fashion and interviewing tips together! I know that many people are terrified of interviews, but the way I look at it, it's a chance for you to talk about how great you are (okay, to a certain extent). It's all about positive attitude and the energy that you project. And yes, the outfit doesn't hurt either. Your outfit here is the perfect balance of stylish and business- what a great inspiration 🙂

i Loved this post! I am in school for business management and i really wanted to take my degree into the fashion industry when I finish school. I have been thinking about human resourcing in a company or management consultant. Are they the same thing? I would love your advice or input. Please answer!

Really great interview tips, T. I 100% agree with you. When I used to do a lot of hiring I saw some of the craziest outfits roll in – and we were in a VERY WELL known conservative office. It really makes me wonder about ppl sometimes.

I no longer work in such a conservative or traditional office but I think some rules are universal. You look fantastic – stylish and appropriate.

@Fashion4Latoya Human Resources and Management Consulting are two different things but both great fields to go into! I actually combined both of them and do HR consulting. Most of the time HR is done for a company and you can go into many different departments within HR. I would recommend going into HR before you do consulting but that's just because of my own experience. I think doing HR at the company level really helped me when I started consulting for other companies. This is going to turn into a really long answer so feel free to email me if you have any other questions! 🙂

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You're right about wearing the black pants vs. leggings to work – thankfully there are great pairs made by J Crew, Banana Republic – I have a pair of J Brand black skinnies I could wear to work (but I'm not keen wearing them in a hospital environment!!)

Love that Madewell top!

P.S. I hope you have another blog reader meet up – I'd love you join you all!

I like this post and how you post an outfit post whilst including some helpful advice. Gosh, reading all that you wrote reminds me of job searching again,lol

Btw, love your top and those polka dots are cute! You got a cute bow necklace to go with it too:)I want that niecklace…NOW! haha

Cinz
http://cinzee.wordpress.com

@Fashion4Latoya my position is very specific to my company and I'm now the Director of Operations so probably would not be applicable to what you will be looking for but basically in HR you can do anything from HR Generalist (where you are the liason between employees and HR) or compensation, benefits, recruiting, Learning and Development. There's a lot of departments that you can go into, it's just what you are interested in which I think you'll find out once you start in a HR job. A lot of people start out in an entry level HR job (like HR analyst or HR assistant) and then from there move onto a more specific area that they get interested in. hope that helps!

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