Wardrobe Check

How to complete Wardrobe Check

This is about showing up to an interview looking like you respect the room, before you've said a word. A crisp shirt and clean trousers signal you can handle details, which is half of what an interviewer is reading in the first thirty seconds.

1. Lay the shirt flat and iron the collar, cuffs, and front placket first while the iron is hottest, then the body and sleeves.
2. Use steam on cotton and a lower dry setting on synthetics so you don't scorch or shine the fabric.
3. Pick trousers that actually fit at the waist and break cleanly at the shoe, not jeans or wrinkled chinos.
4. Check the small stuff: matched socks, a belt the same tone as your shoes, no loose threads or visible tags.
5. Hang the outfit the night before so you're not ironing in a panic an hour before the call.

Tips

• Iron damp or use a spray bottle; bone-dry cotton fights back.
• A wrinkle-release spray and a hot shower's steam can rescue a shirt when you have no iron.
• Tuck the shirt fully and do a sit-down test in a mirror so nothing bunches when you're seated.

What counts as done

You walk out the door in a pressed shirt and proper trousers, head-to-toe interview-ready without a single visible wrinkle.