6 ms·
Some people feel uncomfortable or awkward wearing formal clothes, especially if they don't wear them all that often. This would put one at a disadvantage negoti
by cynicalkane 14y ago
Some people feel uncomfortable or awkward wearing formal clothes, especially if they don't wear them all that often. This would put one at a disadvantage negotiating, and it's not like he'll be kicked out of negotiations for wearing a hoodie.
This is just one possible explanation, but you shouldn't assume he's being a jerk for jerkiness's sake. Also, I'm sure whoever is negotiating with him is commanding a fat paycheck and used to negotiating through situations far more difficult than a dude wearing a hoodie. Bankers tend to just like to complain.
Finally, I'd be mildly surprised if you used underdressing to interviews as a successful tactic. (EDIT: underdressing means dressing lower than expected, not dressing down in general.)
- xenophanes 14y agoI underdressed to my programming interviews in the bay area (I generally wear what I like). I can't really say if it helped or hurt but I did fine and doubt it mattered much.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- sukuriant 14y agoThat's the Bay Area. I doubt you could have gotten away with such an activity had you applied for a job on the East Coast, or for a large defense contractor, like Lockheed or Boeing.
- ori_b 14y agoI did get away with it.
- sukuriant 14y agoPerforming the interview? Or getting the job?
- misiti3780 14y agoI got a job offer at Lockheed martin wearing a wrinkled suit, no tie, and was visibly hung over
- ghshephard 14y agoIt's kind of hard to "underdress" to a programming interview in the Bay Area - indeed, I'm not even sure what the lower bar would be for style of dress for a programmer interview. It's got to be pretty close to what would get you arrested for indecent exposure. :-)
- MBlume 14y agoundershirt and gym shorts, maybe? Pajamas?
- ghshephard 14y agoThe thing is, if we're interviewing, and the person who shows up in Pajamas rocks out on the whiteboard, and just blows us away with their humility, ability to communicate, domain knowledge, and mental agility - I don't think we'd hold the Pajamas against them. Also - Pajamas are kind of a hipster startup wear on occasion. I recall our VP of HR showing up in pajamas at Loudcloud. And, I saw people wearing Pajamas at Lily's Crepery in San Mateo this weekend. Maybe they would lose marks on the Gym Short/undershirt thing - but they wouldn't automatically flunk out the interview.
- triggit 14y agoYou could show up straight from the gym, and, if you could code, we would hire you. You might not make an optimal first impression, but good developers are hard to come by.
- MBlume 14y agoThank you for reminding me of one of the reasons I love being a developer =)
- whatusername 14y agoIn The bay Area? Show up for a Programming Role in a nice Suit with a tie. Not quite underdressing -- but you'll likely be judged as less capable solely on the way your are dressed.
- wololo 14y agoI'm surprised no one has mentioned his Sequoia pajamas pitch for comparison. http://www.quora.com/The-Social-Network-2010-movie/What-did-Mark-Zuckerberg-do-at-the-actual-Sequoia-Capital-meeting http://www.quora.com/The-Social-Network-2010-movie/What-did-...