Appropriate dress for an interview, not for an office job

[Nikia]

This next week I am interviewing for a hands on technical position in a food processing plant. It is a position requiring a college degree but on the floor of a plant. I haven't ever been in that plant but I assume that they do not wear "professional" of "business casual" dress while performing their jobs. I have always debated what to wear to such interviews and have worn differnt things.
Books and websites about interviews always assume that you are interviewing for office positions. When I have worn my $300 dress suit that I bought on sale for $80, I always get questions like "Are you sure that you would like to work in a place such as this?" Wearing a regular dress seems to portray that image too. I wore khakis and a blue dress shirt to the job interview for the position I have now. I have worn sweaters and dress pants too, but it seems a little out of season. I'd have to buy new dress pants too since I shrunk, but I have an older pair of khakis that fit me from my freshman year of college.
Suggestions.

[Bunny]

1. Dress pants with a tailored blouse. Low heels.

You want to look very professional, but a dress or suit for this type of interview seems inappropriate. Keep jewelry to a minimum, too. Small earrings, your wedding rings, and maybe a watch.

On edit: I forgot to ask: are you feeling any better? Good luck!

[flamingyouth]

3. This is perfect advice

And, Nikia, I am glad to hear that you are doing better. :hi:

[Nay]

7. Pantsuit with blouse would also work well, as long as the

pantsuit wasn't overly expensive. Minimal jewelry, just enough makeup to look "well groomed."

[Liberal Veteran]

2. Unless you are applying for a job in construction, dress up.

You normally won't be dinged for dressing nicely and businesslike when it's not the normal work attire, but you can rest assured you will be dinged for UNDERDRESSING.

[cmkramer]

4. Interview dress

I've always heard that you should dress like you're going for a job one level higher than the one you're actually interviewing for during an interview.

I remember I once took a job seminar where one of the topics was about what to wear to an interview. The woman who ran the seminar was very big on "dress for success" and she insisted that the only proper job interview clothing was coat and tie for men and suits for women. I remember one guy pointed out that if you're going for construction or other manual labor type jobs they often want you to begin right away so that probably clean pressed jeans and shirt with work boots would be more appropriate in that case. But she still insisted on coat and tie.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. Clean pressed jeans?

On a work site?

That woman needs to get out into the world more often, and get that damned glue bag off her nose. Did she discuss accessorizing those work clothes as well? ;-)

[cmkramer]

9. Not the woman

Actually it was the guy in the class who said he usually wore clean pressed jeans and shirt and work boots to an interview. And he said he definitely didn't mean fancy designer jeans just old Levis that he fully expected to get dirty.

But the woman definitely was clueless. She excoriated that guy for actually wanting to do manual labor instead of getting a white collar desk type job. "You're going to be eating chicken dogs the rest of your life" was one insightful comment.

[Nikia]

10. Wearing a suit just hasn't seemed to work

I think that it seems to portray a couple of things when I interview for such jobs based off of comments and questions that I have gotten from interviewers: That I am not practical. That I am better suited to working in an office or a more "professional" lab. That I am an elitist and would not get along with the plant workers. That I would be afraid to get dirty. That I am not a "hands on" person. That I am physically weak. That I am too much of a girl (various other sexist stereotypes).
I don't know if any job interview materials discuss these issues, but I think that the woman leading the seminar and other sources should.

[Misunderestimator]

6. I would go for business casual... even though you won't be wearing it

on the job. Too dressy will make you look like you might not be able to perform the job... too dressed-down will make you look like you're not serious about wanting the job. I would go with khakis and a nice shirt, with flat shoes (definitely not heels).

[Nikia]

8. I know heels are bad for those type of job interviews

Sometimes, but not always, I have gotten a tour of the plant. I know from experience that it is always important to wear comfortable shoes and not to be uncomfortable about walking through anything in them.