Preparing for an upcoming job interview

Later this week, I have a job interview. This is a pretty big deal, it is an internal interview for an incredibly significant promotion at work. The position itself is kind of a long shot, they are looking for someone with considerably more job experience than I have, however I got the interview. Landing this promotion would be a significant advancement, I had assumed it would take another decade before it was even a possibility. This is also my first job interview since coming out, which makes me nervous. I have never had a job interview as a woman and I feel a little unprepared.

This will be my first job interview as a woman and frankly I am lost. I was never taught or learned the social and cultural “rules” for women growing up. I have struggled with this at different times during my transition, but this upcoming interview has really put the spotlight on it. What is the appropriate attire for an interview at this level? I wore a suit to job interviews pre-transition but now that seems too masculine. I don’t have any friends that I can ask and the internet has been less than helpful. My current plan is just to throw a blazer over a typical workday outfit but even that is kind of a last resort. I am still trying to fill out my post-transition wardrobe and I don’t have many “professional” outfits. A blazer is honestly all I got and I am out of time to buy anything new.

More than anything, I am incredibly excited that I just got the interview. When I first transitioned, I did so suspecting that it would be the end of my career. I spent nearly 3 years contemplating if I should transition and in that time I read every stat on trans people that I could find. I knew what transitioning was likely to do to my career, especially because of my field. I work in an extremely conservative and overwhelmingly male profession, over 90% of people in my field are men. Just being a woman in my career is unusual, being trans is infinitely more so. Even though I believed that transitioning would likely stifle my career, I still transitioned. It was better to live authentically and not advance than continue to pretend to be something I was not. Even if I don’t get the promotion, getting this interview gives me some hope that my career won’t be too heavily impacted by my transition.