Here’s a slice of sartorial advice you’re unlikely to find in any “dress for success” guide or style bible. And it just might give you the much-needed edge in an increasingly competitive job market.

Common wisdom dictates that you should wear your best clothes to a job interview and that usually means a new or nearly new suit. But that’s a mistake. Here’s why.

While you might think that you’re putting your best foot forward, a new suit is by its very nature stiff and unyielding. This takes its toll on your body language. A new suit can make you look uptight, creating exactly the wrong impression. The vibe you want to give off is one of relaxed confidence. Your best ally, then, is a good suit that allows you to move in it with ease, comfort, and a certain amount of aplomb.

But what if you don’t have a suit that conforms to your body like a second skin?

Then look to Bond, James Bond for the answer. In 1962, when Sean Connery was selected for the role of the suave spy in the first flick in this never-ending film franchise, he was a brawny former lorry driver with manly appeal, a blue-collar bloke, not a suit-and-tie type.

So Terrence Young, the director of Dr. No, who was a natty dresser, had Anthony Sinclair, his Savile Row tailor, make Connery a custom suit. Connery looked great in his posh new duds, but he didn’t move with the graceful ease that would become a Bond trademark, so Young instructed Connery to wear the suit all day and all night and even sleep in it if he had to, so that by the time filming started Connery could move in it unselfconsciously.

And it worked. Connery became a style as well as a movie icon. But no need to go to that extreme to break in your own interview suit, but you should wear it out and about or around the house until you feel as relaxed and comfortable in it as you do in your jeans and T-shirt.

After that you should be ready for your interview. Just don’t forget your resume and talking points.