This interview is at a liberal arts college and will be 15 minutes. Is it necessary to wear a suit to this sort of interview or is it okay to wear a dress pants, dress shirt, and a tie?
Update: There seems to be some confusion about what I mean by 15 minutes. I meant that the interview is scheduled to be 15 minutes long. This is a math TT faculty interview at a SLAC.
I appreciate the good answers that I received below. Thank you.
I hope this doesn't come too late to help you, but, for the possible benefit of future readers....
Let me suggest that appropriate wear for such an interview, assuming it is with faculty and possibly students, would be something like what you would typically wear to a face-to-face teaching session or lecture in that place. I don't remember ever wearing a tie to teach in a forty year career, for example. And yes, this might be somewhat less formal than you would wear to a face-to-face interview, but not necessarily.
For an interview with a dean or provost (which might happen at a small school) step it up one notch. A jacket over an Izod, perhaps. (I've dated myself with the Izod ref, I realize).
You need to project professionalism appropriate to your field and the position you seek, not formality. They aren't the same.
But there is another issue I'll mention for the ZOOM generation. Pay attention to the background of what is seen in your session. It is much better if it has a scholarly look (bookcases, say) than a messy room. And try to arrange it so that there won't be interruptions (family, pets, phones, ...) during the session.
Finally, note that this is a US perspective. There are other places that are more formal and others less formal than here. But if you consider what is typical dress for teaching (and/or research) in that place you should be fine.
If you are interviewing at a place with a different academic culture than what you are familiar with, note that many colleges and universities have set of faculty pages with photographs. That can give you a guide as to what that particular faculty is comfortable with.
My supervisor gave advice to another PhD student in our group doing post-doc interviews. He mentioned that since the zoom setting is more relaxed it is good to just wear a dress shirt, but if the interview is on-site, it would be better to go for the suit and dress shirt.
My partner also did a couple of tenure-track interviews and he went for the dress shirt which seemed totally fine.
These interviews were in the field of CS though.
This depends on the college. What you want to wear for a Reed interview or a Washington and Lee interview will be different. Most likely it's okay to ask them.
