Ties and Dress Shoes Banned in Civil Service Interviews; Shoe Covers to Be Provided on Site

[Financial News] Starting in October, ties and dress shoes will be prohibited in national civil service interview examinations.
On the 9th, the Ministry of Personnel Management announced the attire that will be discouraged or prohibited for national civil service recruitment interviews administered by the ministry through its “Notice on Attire for National Civil Service Interview Examinations.”
According to the notice, beginning next month, both male and female applicants will be prohibited from wearing ties and dress shoes in the designated interviews, while conventional suits will also be discouraged.
If applicants wear any of these prohibited items, they will be asked to remove their ties, and shoe covers will be placed over their dress shoes.
The ministry also listed hiking clothes, tracksuits, shorts, sleeveless tops, high heels and slippers as attire that is not recommended.
By contrast, it recommended “comfortable, casual clothing that does not hinder applicants from demonstrating their abilities,” including jackets, shirts, knitwear, slacks, jeans, loafers and sneakers. It also introduced clothing examples using AI-generated images.
The Ministry of Personnel Management explained the purpose of the policy, saying, “Most applicants currently attend interviews wearing suits, which creates an unnatural atmosphere, while noise from dress-shoe footsteps and other factors disrupts the administration of the examinations.” It added, “We want to reduce the burden on applicants and enable them to participate in interviews in a comfortable atmosphere.”

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