4 ms·

> I wore a suit to my very first interview for a dev position and very nearly didn't get the job because they were worried I wouldn't fit in Yeah - I hate this

> I wore a suit to my very first interview for a dev position and very nearly didn't get the job because they were worried I wouldn't fit in Yeah - I hate this. I had people at my last position give candidates negative points because they wore a suit and I went $%&#ing ape. In positions that I've held in the past it's been the appropriate action to wear a suit due to heavily corporate environments, and I see it as 110% normal that someone puts on a nice suit for an interview. The action of wearing a suit (or tie for that matter) to an interview should never be seen as a "cultural fit" problem - I'm looking at you SV... Sorry that almost happened to you. That's some bullshit. --- Overall a nice well-fitting button down + a pair of well-fitting dress slacks is what I would recommend. Personally, I wear a slim fit brand new white button-down (ironed), nice dark blue chinos (ironed, not pleated), and not-scuffed brown wing-tips. Often I also wear a tie, but am considering not thanks to a derelict SF "big-wig" grilling me in an interview as to "why are you wearing a tie?" All I wanted to say is "does it matter?" (offender: you're reading this don't do that again.) Also get a solid hair cut, ensure you're shaved if male, and yeah - sit up and be confident while you're in the chair. Body language does matter, and your interviewer will subconsciously notice regardless if they're giving you a "pass" or not.

nicoburns 6y ago
> The action of wearing a suit (or tie for that matter) to an interview should never be seen as a "cultural fit" problem I would agree and would go as far to say that dress in general should never be a hiring criteria for a non-customer facing position. Unless there are hygiene issues or they are wearing something actively offensive.
- folkhack 6y ago
  I'm slightly more conservative - I've had people show up in t-shirt and jeans and have turned them away because I feel like they're breaking the social contract of what an interview is. Like - totally clean/non-offensive t-shirt and jeans. In a lot of my engineering roles I have had to be internal/external facing and do things like budget presentations, work with partners, etc. Before that, I was a general web/app dev and we would get pulled along to client meetings all the time to collect spec, ensure that it was a good sales fit, etc. I'm not saying I had to be fully decked-out but being able to throw on a button down and tuck it in means that you "fit-in" to these situations. For me, if someone is showing up in a t-shirt and jeans it's a red flag that you can't be bothered to dress semi-professionally which has been an occasional (but hard) requirement of me since day-1 of my career. 100% this all is anecdotal, and specific to my own needs/experiences.
  - bcrosby95 6y ago
    I would expect it to depend upon the company. Dress code doesn't really factor for me, but I've worked for the same place for a while now and we've always been 95% remote. Half of us just wear whatever we slept in the night before. Most people don't get dressed until lunch time. Even in the office it doesn't get much fancier than a t-shirt and jeans. I guess our tech lead wears a button down shirt, but his jeans usually have giant holes in them, so I would call that a wash. Expecting an interview candidate to wear something nice would feel a bit hypocritical.
  - bbbobbb 6y ago
    I think this is fair to both sides. I dress casually for interviews not only because that is what I prefer to wear but also in hopes of getting rejected by anybody who would consider that a red flag.
    - folkhack 6y ago
      Yep. And that's better for both parties involved. Just don't be offended when I turn you away at the door to not waste either of our time.
  - samatman 6y ago
    This is in fact the advantage of having a widely-understood dress code for things such as interviews: that way no one has to play guessing games, you just show up as expected and it's one less thing to think about. Unfortunately, our industry has no such thing, so I always ask before an interview. So far the answer is always "uh, we just wear normal clothes", "casual is fine" or once "just wear clothes, please, this isn't quite Burning Man" (ended up working at the last place), but: this was in the Bay Area, so YMMV.
  - nicoburns 6y ago
    > you can't be bothered to dress semi-professionally It seems to me that you're making an assumption about what is considered professional dress. I feel like it's fine to have such expectations, but you should express them clearly in the invitation to interview. It's not a case of "not bothering" if you have never expressed that preference in the first place.
mcguire 6y ago
As an aside, the haircut and shave are optional. But be careful, you may end up with a nickname like "Q-Tip" or "Voltan". -- "Sasquatch"
8note 6y ago
Wearing dressy attire from any culture shouldn't get you. Singling out suits is a bit white sulremacist-y

nicoburns 6y ago

> The action of wearing a suit (or tie for that matter) to an interview should never be seen as a "cultural fit" problem I would agree and would go as far to say that dress in general should never be a hiring criteria for a non-customer facing position. Unless there are hygiene issues or they are wearing something actively offensive.

folkhack 6y ago
I'm slightly more conservative - I've had people show up in t-shirt and jeans and have turned them away because I feel like they're breaking the social contract of what an interview is. Like - totally clean/non-offensive t-shirt and jeans. In a lot of my engineering roles I have had to be internal/external facing and do things like budget presentations, work with partners, etc. Before that, I was a general web/app dev and we would get pulled along to client meetings all the time to collect spec, ensure that it was a good sales fit, etc. I'm not saying I had to be fully decked-out but being able to throw on a button down and tuck it in means that you "fit-in" to these situations. For me, if someone is showing up in a t-shirt and jeans it's a red flag that you can't be bothered to dress semi-professionally which has been an occasional (but hard) requirement of me since day-1 of my career. 100% this all is anecdotal, and specific to my own needs/experiences.
- bcrosby95 6y ago
  I would expect it to depend upon the company. Dress code doesn't really factor for me, but I've worked for the same place for a while now and we've always been 95% remote. Half of us just wear whatever we slept in the night before. Most people don't get dressed until lunch time. Even in the office it doesn't get much fancier than a t-shirt and jeans. I guess our tech lead wears a button down shirt, but his jeans usually have giant holes in them, so I would call that a wash. Expecting an interview candidate to wear something nice would feel a bit hypocritical.
- bbbobbb 6y ago
  I think this is fair to both sides. I dress casually for interviews not only because that is what I prefer to wear but also in hopes of getting rejected by anybody who would consider that a red flag.
  - folkhack 6y ago
    Yep. And that's better for both parties involved. Just don't be offended when I turn you away at the door to not waste either of our time.
- samatman 6y ago
  This is in fact the advantage of having a widely-understood dress code for things such as interviews: that way no one has to play guessing games, you just show up as expected and it's one less thing to think about. Unfortunately, our industry has no such thing, so I always ask before an interview. So far the answer is always "uh, we just wear normal clothes", "casual is fine" or once "just wear clothes, please, this isn't quite Burning Man" (ended up working at the last place), but: this was in the Bay Area, so YMMV.
- nicoburns 6y ago
  > you can't be bothered to dress semi-professionally It seems to me that you're making an assumption about what is considered professional dress. I feel like it's fine to have such expectations, but you should express them clearly in the invitation to interview. It's not a case of "not bothering" if you have never expressed that preference in the first place.

mcguire 6y ago

As an aside, the haircut and shave are optional. But be careful, you may end up with a nickname like "Q-Tip" or "Voltan". -- "Sasquatch"

8note 6y ago

Wearing dressy attire from any culture shouldn't get you. Singling out suits is a bit white sulremacist-y