Interview Attire Reinforcement!
July 15th, 2006I recently “promoted” to the main blog a question about interviewing attire. I made the point that even in a business casual environment, a suit was really the only smart and acceptable way to go to an interview (ladies too).
Because sometimes our approach tends to be a little more formal - or at least, we tend to deliver it with a tone that brooks less discussion - I try to provide reinforcement from other sources.
Recently, CareerJournal, the excellent careers site run by the Wall Street Journal, ran an article on What Not To Wear in Interviews.
In case you don’t want to go read it (it’s short and quite good, and there’s more than what’s here), I will excerpt one quote from Patrick Dailey, a Nokia HR manager, with whom I am familiar. His advice is routinely quite good.
The dress-code rule of thumb for men interviewing at most U.S. companies remains a dark suit, a light or white shirt and a bright-colored but sophisticated tie, says Patrick Dailey, a Dallas-based director of business human resources for Nokia Corp., a Finnish telecommunications company. He notes that since there are so many uncontrollable things that can work against you during job interviews, it’s wise to control what you can.
“Go by your mom’s rule,” says Mr. Dailey. “You can never be overdressed. Even if they say to wear business casual, it’s appropriate for you to be in a suit and tie.”
Stumble it!Trackback URL for this post: http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/07/interview-attire-reinforcement/trackback/
July 18th, 2006 at 2:10 am
Without a doubt very sound advice. I interviewed on Friday - casual Friday - and was told that normal attire is business casual but I went in just as described above and am certain that even though the people talking to me were dressed in company logo t-shirts and jeans, the suit made a difference. They knew I was serious and it was apparent in the tone of the interview.
Brad
July 21st, 2006 at 7:15 pm
This could work against you, for example at certain creative or technology companies where appearing too stiff or corporate-ish is counter to their culture. Bottom line is know the company, and dress one step above what their normal dress is.
July 22nd, 2006 at 1:22 am
Dten-
I’m sorry to disagree, but the bottom line is not to know the company and dress one step up. I’ve talked to thousands of managers and recruiters, and prepared thousands of managers for interviews, and over and over again they say, “wear a suit.” I’ve placed thousands of managers, and would say this is one of the inviolable rules of the game.
Yes, there are situations where a suit would be too much, but it is much harder than most people realize to know who those companies are, an they happen less than 5% of the time. There are all kinds of small companies with relaxed dress codes where more senior people wear suits when they see clients. If you interview with them on that day, they notice, and the CANDIDATE notices.
Further, often the way people find out about the company’s standard is to ask the person who is arranging the interview. Today, more and more of the time that’s a manager. The manager says, “casual” without even thinking… and then another candidate wears a suit and two-thirds of the people who are interviewing multiple candidates notice the suit, and contrary to most folks’ thinking, they see it as a positive.
As well, a suit helps the candidate be ready, mentally. I’ve seen it happen many times.
As I said in a post on the forums:
The fact is, you CAN’T fit in. The whole point of the interview is that you’re NOT part of them yet. Believe me, they want you to feel that you have to EARN getting in. If you dress the way they are, they MIGHT think you’re not putting your best foot forward.
Flattering the interviewer by showing them that this interview and their opportunity justify you sending a message with professional attire far outweigh the dangers of being overdressed.
There is ALWAYS the chance in ANY interview of either possible negative outcome, over- or under-dressed. Under-dressed is FAR more likely (most folks never think about the above rationale) and FAR more deadly. That doesn’t eliminate the possibility of over-dressing, but it makes the choice easy.
Finally, the definition of casual and “one step up” are, in my experience, not that readily agreed upon. If one thinks they are on the money, only to realize they are a step below, it can ruin their whole day.
On the other hand, someone in a suit can be relaxed and creative and friendly and energetic and never once be thought of as stiff… while there are plenty of stiffs in casual clothes. Someone who is normally stiff won’t get hired..but it won’t be because of their suit, and casual attire won’t save them.
Wearing casual clothes to an interview is the equivalent of handing a resume that is rough, ‘because that’s the way everyone keeps their resume here, right?”
Mark
July 24th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
I’ll always err on the side of “over-dressed”. I work for a video game company. There probably aren’t any more casual-corporate environments than a video game company; I showed up for the interview in a suit and tie.
During the interview, the director (wearing a day’s growth and a baseball cap) ribbed me for my attire, asked if that’s the sort of thing I planned on wearing to the office, and even dragged in two of the staff to show me how the rest of the office dressed (ready to play basketball). I was interviewing for a management position that I didn’t have any direct technical experience for, so I had to use every technique I could to show I was capable, professional and serious manager.
Now I’m 2 years into the job, he’s my boss and it’s a fun story that still gets brought up now and again. The suit didn’t get me the job, but it probably helped my boss justify to himself that he’d take a chance on me.
July 24th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
Mike-
Niiiiiice. Now I can finally say, “Hey, don’t mess with me. I know a guy who wore a suit to an interview AT A VIDEOGAME COMPANY… AND HE GOT THE JOB!”
THAT is the ultimate trump card.
)
Mark
November 29th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Let me tell you about a funny/awkward situation related to appropriate dress at work. We have a fairly loose business casual dress policy.
I have a direct report that is doing a great job…but she just started the practice of removing her shoes and walking around the office in her socks. I gave her a hard time about this and so this week (probably as a result of my comments and apparently to appease me) she started wearing slippers around the office. I gave her a hard time about this, but she continues to wear them. My feeling is that my directs are a reflection of my team and dress has an significant impact on internal perception. Wearing socks / slippers at work would never even occur to me.
Again, she’s doing a fantastic job, so I don’t want to make this a big issue. Not sure how to seriously approach this without sounding harsh.
Has anyone experienced anything similar and what’s an effective way to deal with this issue.
-Tom
December 1st, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Tom -
Just give her some feedback. Step 3 is, “you look unprofessional, and senior folks are less likely to take you seriously.”
Why are you giving her a hard time?
Mark