To Dress Or Not-Is Professional Attire Outdated?

A few months ago, a recruiter from a very reputable national employer came to our campus to conduct interviews for both full-time employees and summer interns.

We asked for candid feedback on all of our students so that we may help them improve and also determine where we are coming up short in terms of how we are preparing them.

Most of the recruiter’s comments were positive, but one student did show up wearing a polo shirt and was fairly "wrinkled" in appearance (i.e., no coat, no tie, etc.). While the recruiter assured us that the lack of professional attire was not the reason for passing over this student for employment, my colleagues and I were absolutely baffled by the incident.

Our Professional Leadership Program (PLP) teaches students about the importance of professional attire, right? (Right.) We were absolutely perplexed as to why the student didn’t dress appropriately for the interview.