School Uniform to ROTC interview?

Can't go wrong with the old mgmt consultant habit of dressing one notch higher than the client's habitual dress. This conveys not just confidence but success and worldliness. It may sound like BS but for a formal interview, it's an important way of getting respect from the interviewer.

I'd suggest a plain but nice dress shirt (light starch; spread collar best) and a dark solid necktie, with nicely pressed dark slacks and black or dark brown dress shoes.

Re. colors, note that most of the world's alpha male politicians (even the present POTUS) go for dark suits, and solid colored dark neckties: this conveys seriousness, calm confidence, natural authority.

A master of this was the French President Sarkozy: he always wore the same very dark alpha male suit & tie combination, which managed to make him look much taller and more imposing than his natural height and physical frame would have done.

Good luck!
 
My daughter wore a black pencil skirt, stockings, a blouse and a longer cardigan sweater. She looked professional, but definitely did not do the suit. She picked it out of her closet and went with what was comfortable, and that she felt good in. I would say her outfit was similar to nicer khaki's and a polo shirt on the male side. Now with this said, she was in DECA and had worn blazers before, her thought process was that she wanted to wear something she felt confident in, so she did. I agree with all the advice above, both directions - but mostly agree with the advice that he needs to wear what he is comfortable with. Either way, make sure it is clean and in good wrinkle free condition and he should not second guess it for a second!
 
LOTS of older threads about what to wear to these types of interviews. If a male applicant has rarely worn a suit, there is the possibility of just making him uncomfortable for the interview, recall these are h.s. students going on probably one of their first interviews. There is also the cost of buying something for this purpose where perhaps the family doesn't have the financial means to do so. Expectations for how to dress can also have a regional element. Any type of neutral (i.e. conservative) colors will be fine and I wouldn't get overly wrapped up in all of those job interview suggestion sites who have their 'one size fits all' approach.
 
Regional influences are huge! For example being in the NE versus the Pacific NW is vastly different! Even if the PMS is from somewhere else, they would know the cultural difference for the region.
 
This thread dates from 2018 - zombie thread walking - but always a topic that never goes out of style.

And welcome to @MylesPolson new member of just over an hour!
 
MylesPolson said:
It is better to use a business type of clothing.
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I think you answer is above. But my two boys wore khakis, penny loafers, and a sweater over either a polo or a button down. But wear what you have and have it show that you thought about what you’re wearing for the interview. The interviewer isn't expecting you to go buy an outfit. And they take into account that applicants come from all income levels so not all have the same type of clothes.
 
unkown1961 said:
I think you answer is above. But my two boys wore khakis, penny loafers, and a sweater over either a polo or a button down. But wear what you have and have it show that you thought about what you’re wearing for the interview. The interviewer isn't expecting you to go buy an outfit. And they take into account that applicants come from all income levels so not all have the same type of clothes.
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MylesPolson said:
It is better to use a business type of clothing.
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Sorry, I read too fast - I thought you were asking.
 
Suit & Tie, Suit & Tie and Suit & Tie, you can never go wrong, my DS wore one for academy and ROTC interviews and scored big, even got complements on his attire, it speaks classic professionalism.
 
My daughter wore her school uniform. Awarded a 4-year Navy ROTC scholarship. Waiting on results from AF/Space Force. Agree with the former posters- they are coming/going from school.
 
MidCakePa said:
While that’s a neat and tidy outfit, suggest he go up a notch if he can. A blazer, button-down shirt and dress pants would be terrific. It indicates seriousness and respect without being stuffy.
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Personally, I would suggest for a male suit and tie. If they are JROTC or Civil Air Patrol Cadet wearing their uniform can be an option-shows military background. Definitely shine the shoes.

My DD did her NROTC interview in business (non-casual). Black pants, black pumps, white blouse, and black jacket, hair tied back in regulation bun. No jewelry. Minimum make up. Our approach was she was interviewing for a job. She just received 4-yr scholarship to the Va Tech Corps of Cadets.
 
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At this point, I hope all the original posters from 2018 decide to come back to the thread and tell us what they wore back then. 🤣

These discussion points come up every year. Never hurts to see repeats.
 
For DS' Marine option interview in 2020 (same day as PRT), he arrived in khaki slacks, collared shirt with tie, suit jacket borrowed from Dad, and dress shoes. After an admin screen for paperwork, he changed into PT gear for the PRT, then after changed back to dress clothes. Waited for 2 1/2 hours for his turn to interview (20+ kids). As this was COVID masking times and they had just finished PT (all but run was done masked), it must have felt warm in the waiting room. One of the kids took off his jacket and left on his shirt/tie - all the rest did the same. Interview was sans jacket. ALL the kids showed up in at least a collared shirt, most in a suit jacket.
 
Alchemist said:
If they are JROTC or Civil Air Patrol Cadet wearing their uniform can be an option-shows military background. Definitely shine the shoes.
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This has been discussed in prior years/threads. I (a multi-decade interviewer of 100's of applicants) advise STRONGLY against JROTC and other junior type programs wearing their uniform to a Service Academy or ROTC interview. The Interviewer should know that you're a cadet and you can make sure to bring it up. The problem that I've seen HUNDREDS of times is that the vast majority of these are "hand-me-downs" which do not fit right and generally do not meet the standards that experienced military folks have learned to measure people by. I assure you that after years/decades of inspecting subordinates that I notice frayed cloth, trouser hems too short, and things of that nature along with frayed ribbons.
While I do recognize that these are Junior ROTC and the like, I and other experienced military do consider uniform appearance into our judgements. .
I don't need to see the uniform to know that you're a member and to give you appropriate credit for it but wearing a uniform that does not meet professional standards can hurt you.
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NOTE: This is NOT the case for NAPS, MAPS and other service prep programs where the applicants are actual enlisted people. Their uniform appearance should be impeccable for an officer programs interview.
 
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I wore jeans and and t-shirt. Don’t bet like me.

1. It was a last minute on campus scholarship, and I was interested because of the stipend my wing mate sold me on (they got a 200 dollar referral).
2. This was during the surge (2008ish), I guess they were desperate.

Sort of tongue in cheek, but I helped do interviews as a 2LT so here is my 2 cents. Obviously don’t do what I did, but don’t go overboard. Your app is really what matters as well as the interaction. I think business casual is fine.
 
OldRetSWO said:
This has been discussed in prior years/threads. I (a multi-decade interviewer of 100's of applicants) advise STRONGLY against JROTC and other junior type programs wearing their uniform to a Service Academy or ROTC interview. The Interviewer should know that you're a cadet and you can make sure to bring it up. The problem that I've seen HUNDREDS of times is that the vast majority of these are "hand-me-downs" which do not fit right and generally do not meet the standards that experienced military folks have learned to measure people by. I assure you that after years/decades of inspecting subordinates that I notice frayed cloth, trouser hems too short, and things of that nature along with frayed ribbons.
While I do recognize that these are Junior ROTC and the like, I and other experienced military do consider uniform appearance into our judgements. .
I don't need to see the uniform to know that you're a member and to give you appropriate credit for it but wearing a uniform that does not meet professional standards can hurt you.
.
NOTE: This is NOT the case for NAPS, MAPS and other service prep programs where the applicants are actual enlisted people. Their uniform appearance should be impeccable for an officer programs interview.
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My daughter wore her JROTC uniform. It was uniform day and they could only do the interview during one of her off hours during the school day. Her PMS appreciated how well maintained and professional she wore hers. Had it been any other day she probably would have wore a professional interview black suit skirt set that she wore to ALA Girls State.
 
Crazycrockpotmom said:
My daughter wore her JROTC uniform. It was uniform day and they could only do the interview during one of her off hours during the school day. Her PMS appreciated how well maintained and professional she wore hers. Had it been any other day she probably would have wore a professional interview black suit skirt set that she wore to ALA Girls State.
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I certainly won't say it is universal but after seeing many many interviewees across a couple of decades of doing Senatorial and Congressional Interviews as well as being a senior military officer, I can tell you that I've seen very few cases where it was to their advantage. The case where she had to wear it? That's another story as there really wasn't much of an alternative.
 
Yeah in her case she didn’t have a choice but definitely made sure it was in perfect condition including using a ruler to space her ribbons and pins. She did have a interview suit picked out till the time didn’t work for other clothing.
 
As a follow-up: DD wore school uniform to ROTC interviews. Was awarded NROTC, SFROTC and AFROTC scholarships. She came from school to interview and went straight back to school after. It might be interviewer dependent, but school uniform did not seem to have a negative impact.
 
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