ROTC INTERVIEW APPAREL

andreb72

andreb72

Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2017
Messages
46
DS has his ROTC Interview coming up soon. We have been pondering which is more appropriate to wear, a civilian suit or his ASU.

I have seen a few posts regarding wearing JROTC, sports coats, etc. But since my DS will have have graduated Basic Training a few days prior to his interview, his ASU will have been Drill Sergeant Inspected, and he has a couple of ribbons/badges, and I thought it might be a nice touch to be in the same uniform as the interview panel, as well as spark commonality conversation of his very recent experience.

But then I may be biased, and way off base, as I wear my ASUs once or twice a week.

The email invite stated either business attire, or uniform is fine. I was just hoping to get some opinions from others regarding ASU vs Suit. Thanks.
 
My own opinion is suit. He can draw attention to the things he's completed, including Basic, during the interview. YMMV
 
kinnem said:
My own opinion is suit. He can draw attention to the things he's completed, including Basic, during the interview. YMMV
Click to expand...

I second the suit, if he has one. It would be surprising if his completion of Basic isn't brought up by the interviewer(s), and if it doesn't come up, he can work it in.
 
It also depends on where he is interviewing. If he's interviewing at an SMC (which I recommend against) a uniform might be a plus. If you are coming to my school to interview with my boss collared shirt and khakis is fine. I suspect if you got something from the school saying suit or uniform then they are a little more uptight about what you are wearing. Suit and tie should be fine.
 
Thanks for the opinions. I am still on the fence, as I can see the merits of both suit and ASU. The interview is at The Citadel which is DS first choice.

I am a bit confused by the statement recommending against interviewing at an SMC, as his top three choices are all SMCs (And even more so now after completing Basic). Why is it better to avoid interviewing at his first choice school?

As to apparel selection does anyone know what the majority wear to interviews conducted at the Citadel or VMI? Do applicants lean more toward ASUs (Uniforms) or traditional suits at these institutions? It appears that the interview panel will consist of O-5/O-6s, which is why I was leaning toward the ASU. But if the norm is a suit there, we can easily adjust fire. I am taking the suit to the cleaners in the morning so that both are ready to go.
 
I'm pretty confident that most of the folks are not already in the military in some way, shape, or form and would therefore wear a suit vs ASUs which they don't have and aren't authorized to wear.
 
Two years ago my son wore a jacket and tie to his interview, but didn't have the option to wear a uniform. I am sure though he would have dressed the same regardless. The uniform seems a bit over the top, and could potentially work as a negative, depending on the interviewer. I know one thing for sure; if Clarksonarmy says he should do it one way, then do it. He knows best.
 
Both my husband and I are former military. I can tell you that if either of our kids had been in JROTC (our school did not offer) or had enlisted in the Guard/Reserve and had already gone to basic training, that we would have advised them against wearing either uniform. We would not have wanted them to potentially be viewed by the panel as a great solider/sailor. Rather, we wanted them to be seen in the light of being a current great leader of their peers and as a future great leader of soldiers and sailors. This was our personal take on the situation, though, and should not be construed as the "right" way to look at this. We are also strong believers of interviewing in a full suit. I doubt that board members ever openly discuss what the candidates are wearing, but each individual board member will form his/her own first impression of the candidates and we felt a suit would paint the picture that we felt we wanted our kids to portray.
 
OP: you already have heard both sides of the argument. I won't pile on.

However, I will tell you that if your DS chooses to wear a uniform it had better be squared away. I would suspect any military person interviewing someone in a uniform would look over it head to toe. I know I would.
 
USMCGrunt said:
OP: you already have heard both sides of the argument. I won't pile on.

However, I will tell you that if your DS chooses to wear a uniform it had better be squared away. I would suspect any military person interviewing someone in a uniform would look over it head to toe. I know I would.
Click to expand...


LOL...thanks for that advice. I had already thought of that, and I was going to inspect the uniform as I do with most of my AIT student. However in this instance, my DS is basically marching off the parade field, and then heading on over to the interview. I am trusting that the Drill Sergeants have squared away every ones uniform before the graduation ceremony.
 
USMAROTCFamily said:
Both my husband and I are former military. I can tell you that if either of our kids had been in JROTC (our school did not offer) or had enlisted in the Guard/Reserve and had already gone to basic training, that we would have advised them against wearing either uniform. We would not have wanted them to potentially be viewed by the panel as a great solider/sailor. Rather, we wanted them to be seen in the light of being a current great leader of their peers and as a future great leader of soldiers and sailors. This was our personal take on the situation, though, and should not be construed as the "right" way to look at this. We are also strong believers of interviewing in a full suit. I doubt that board members ever openly discuss what the candidates are wearing, but each individual board member will form his/her own first impression of the candidates and we felt a suit would paint the picture that we felt we wanted our kids to portray.
Click to expand...

Excellent Points!!
 
I am with everyone else. Don't wear it. To me the question is what does he assume to gain if he wore it?
~ IE an edge over another candidate? Proof that he is all in, iows look at me!

Ask yourself that question and hopefully you would say that there is nothing to gain, and only a lot to lose because their expectations will change once they see him the uniform. Remember this is for becoming an officer in a few years, not an E5. Training they will give him.

JMPO.
 
My DS just forwarded this from the ROO:

"I'll leave that up to you (Suit or ASU). Either one works for you. ASUs would Definitely work if you'd like to arrive in that "

Just as I dropped off his suit at the post cleaners. I'm taking the suit as well.

Also wondering why he capitalized Definitely????
 
Given all that has been said, I would have your DS decide on what makes HIM feel the best. He will interview better if he feels comfortable and confident. If it were not an SMC, I would lean toward a suit, but given the communication your son has received, I would leave it to him.
 
AROTC-dad,

Thank you for the advice, I completely agree that he will feel more confident and most likely interview better if he is confident in what he is wearing. I'm flying out to BCT graduation later this week and bringing his suit right from the cleaners. So he will have both handy and can make a selection.

Now that I think about it, he has actually worn his ASUs far more than his suit...lol....and while I think it looks nice and is conservative, I kind of remember him looking somewhat awkward in it.

Tonight I got a text from him saying "the Drill Sergeants being completely anal inspecting ribbons, badges, cords, etc saying that this, that, or the other were a millimeter off".....haha. So I am assuming that if he wears it will be inspection ready.

I also agree with you regarding SMC v. Non-SMC. If it were not an SMC I would whole heartedly agree with wearing a suit. I just have been on the fence since it is. But have also heard (non-forum source) that "quite a few" individuals who are already in the military wear their ASUs to SMC interviews, but not so much so to non-SMC interviews. Again I don't know what "quite a few mean" as I did not think that at this institution there were more than a handful that would fall into that category in any given year.
 
gonna throw in my belated 2 dollars here; as a longtime Guard/Reserve member I was quite proud of my service and had no problem showing up at any event in uniform whether flight suit, fatigues or otherwise. Call me crazy but as a military member interviewing for a MILITARY scholarship it seems more than appropriate to be in uniform and help 'stack the deck'; I would personally be much more inclined to favor a serving military member over someone with no military experience.
 
conrack said:
gonna throw in my belated 2 dollars here; as a longtime Guard/Reserve member I was quite proud of my service and had no problem showing up at any event in uniform whether flight suit, fatigues or otherwise. Call me crazy but as a military member interviewing for a MILITARY scholarship it seems more than appropriate to be in uniform and help 'stack the deck'; I would personally be much more inclined to favor a serving military member over someone with no military experience.
Click to expand...

Thank you. We returned from the interview and it went EXTREMELY well.

We had both the civilian suit and ASUs ready, and DS, without hesitation selected the ASUs. It was evident, in his demeanor, personality, and the extra "pep in his step" that he was proud to have just graduated basic training, 72 hours prior to the interview, and now had the ability to proudly wear the uniform.

I do not know about all instances, but in this interview it definitely, provided some "extra brownie points" that may not have come out in a "standard" interview. One of the interviews, served in the same unit, when they were enlisted; the other interviewer wore the same unit citation. This naturally sparked "unit" conversation, and commonality between my DS and the panel.

In fact all of them, as it turned out, had been enlisted SMs, before becoming officers.

My DS was well versed with all of his ribbons, citations, and accompaniments, which I am not certain that would have come out otherwise. It led to a rather long (1hr 40min) but enjoyable and fun experience for my DS. In fact they asked me how come I did not wear my Uniform. Lol.

Afterwards we were buying some things from they bookstore, just killing time, when another kid approached my DS and asked if he was there for an interview, and if he should have worn his JROTC dress uniform. He was obviously nervously, but I was proud of the advice that my DS gave him. He said just be you in the interview, your suit looks great and wear it proudly just as any soldier would wear their uniform. If my DS had to chose only between a suit and JROTC uniform, I think we would have gone with the Civilian suit. As it stands he is a proud member of the U.S. Army already and aspires to have greater responsibilities in the future. So for him, the choice of appeal was an easy decision.

They also let it slip that he has been accepted. Needless to say we were are smiles on the flight. Just keeping fingers crossed for a scholarship now. For all of those that are going on their interviews soon, good luck and God speed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top