What Does One Wear to a Zoo Interview?

The easy answer of course is "monkey suit" - ha ha ha. I crack myself up.

A while back I happened to mention that I applied for a part-time position at my local zoo. I'm already a volunteer there and deeply believe in the mission of the zoo as they are a leader with regards to conservation and being eco-friendly in addition to just being a really cool zoo. I was playing around on Craigslist one day and happened to stumble upon a posting for a part-time marketing assistant position at the zoo so I figured what the hell and went ahead and applied.

Heard nothing, heard nothing, heard nothing...so just this morning I figured that the position did indeed go to either the former CMO of a Fortune 500 or some kid who used daddy's connections to get him/her the job. Oh well, I figured, c'est la vie. And it's not like I'm sitting around twiddling my thumbs...I've got a lot going on.

Then this afternoon I got a call from the zoo wanting to know if I'd like to come in for an interview. They even admitted that initially they had been searching for someone right out of college but given the resumes they received they realized that they might be able to get someone like me - someone who has experience and an established work ethic and is looking to "supplement" their life with a part-time job rather than merely using this job as a stepping stone for bigger and better things. Yes, there's a small part of me that feels bad for edging out that 19yr old, but them's the breaks kid.

I now have an interview Friday morning and of course am immediately vexed by whether adding yet another thing to my plate - even it is only 20 hours/week - is going to make our lives crazy. As right or wrong as this sounds, even though my business isn't crazy busy right now, I find that my days are pretty full as it's my "job" to keep house and home running smoothly. While I know it's very anti-feminist for me to say so, I actually derive a lot of pleasure from trying to keep the house in some semblance of order, try my hand at mowing the lawn from time to time, and keep the dogs happy and walked. So will adding a 20/hr week position upset the delicate balance we have going right now?

I realize these are things I can worry about after being offered the position. Step 1 is that I need to do my best to get the offer. And that means running through some mock interviews with my better half as it's been far too long since I've done any real interviewing. I also need to figure out what to wear to the interview. What does one wear to a part-time job interview at the zoo? The black pants suit that used to be my "go to" interview outfit is just a tad too conservative and over the top for this type of position I fear.