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> - And yeah, you guys, it's time to buy a suit. Others have already commented on this, but do you work in tech? IME getting interviewed by directors and even
by jaredklewis 2y ago
> - And yeah, you guys, it's time to buy a suit.
Others have already commented on this, but do you work in tech? IME getting interviewed by directors and even VPs in t-shirts is the norm. I’ve worn jeans to work my whole career. If anything, I think people in tech have a strong prejudice against people in suits (ie “obviously this person isn’t a real software engineer, they’re wearing a suit.”)
Anyway, probably not good career advice to wear a suit unless dress codes at tech companies are suddenly subject to drastic changes.
- drivingmenuts 2y agoThe general rule seems to be if you’re not customer-facing, then no suit is needed. Just wear clean, neat clothes and that’s usually enough. If a suit or uniform is needed, that would be noted up front.
- sethammons 2y agoThe general rule is to dress one step up from those in the role. Everyone in hoodie and shorts? Wear pants. Everyone in collared polos? Go business casual with maybe a blazer. Showing up a level lower makes you look unprepared. Showing up some levels higher, like in a suit to a hoodie shop, shows lack of research and reading a room. In start ups, I have seen candidates nearly rejected just on a suit alone. Def started them on the wrong foot impression wise.
- j1elo 2y agoThat's the point. One of my first interviews in tech was with a CEO who dressed with an Iron Maiden t-shirt. That settled to me the question about whether I would need to worry too much about looks at the office! :)
- dagw 2y agowhether I would need to worry too much about looks at the office 'Uniforms' can go both ways. Would a person who only owns white Oxford shirts and monochrome dress pants have to go out and buy a new wardrobe he would feel very uncomfortable in if he wanted to work there? People who wear 20 year old band t-shirts can be every bit as judgemental about looks as people who wear tailored Italian suits.
- alabastervlog 2y agoTech uniforms: instead of spending $2500 on four Brooks Brothers suits (seasonal sales), spend $2500 on fancy Nordic hiking clothes that you'll mostly wear sitting at a desk, as if an Arctic expedition might suddenly break out at the office and you'll need to at least have your base and mid layers ready. Hipster/lumberjack can also work. Make sure the jeans are $400 Japanese raw selvedge to really get it right.
- crabbone 2y agoErm... no? The highest ranking person I ever shook hands with was the GP Morgan head of futures department. He came to talk to the whole company to prep for acquisition. So, it wasn't a super official "ceremony", but it was in front of some fifty men, including senior management of the said company. He was wearing a polo shirt, jeans and a pair of sneakers. I don't know if this is how he'd show up to his office in the bank. Likely not (but who knows?) Also, nobody in that room was wearing a suit. Maybe your advise works for other places. For vast majority of programming jobs showing up overdressed will raise more questions about your sanity than score any points on preparedness.
- sethammons 2y agoWhat is wrong with the advice? You are saying nobody was wearing a suit. I said dress a step up (for the interview). Sr. Management in graphic tees? Wear a polo shirt. Or sport your best conversation-starter graphic tee. And if the CEO wears a tee-shirt and all the rest are in some other category of dress, base your interview attire based on everyone else.
- crabbone 2y agoMmm... because I'd prefer the approach of Donald Knuth: wear dashiki to special events (like interviews)? I don't mean I endorse West-African style literally. Just either wear something that says something about you, if you are into that, or be neutral and approachable. No need to plus one anyone.
- ljm 2y ago> Or sport your best conversation-starter graphic tee. I recommend a t-shirt with a tuxedo design printed on the front. The very definition of smart casual.
- sethammons 2y agoI hired a guy who did that :) If you're on, hi Minh :wave:
- 2y ago
- baketnk 2y agois it bad form to just like, ask your HR screener what the general dress code/vibe is like?
- yencabulator 2y agoThese days, the screener is often external to the company and has never visited the office.
- siva7 2y agoI wouldn't take that advice seriously. Suit in tech would be awkward (even for most mgmt roles). Tech pioneered the concept that you don't need a suit to get the pay of a suit. You can be yourself.
- _blk 2y agoAs I learned, you can also be yourself, never wear a suit on the job and still wear one for the interview. First impressions count. Once people know I can wear a suit they just don't seem to mind me in shorts anymore.. So I might have a social skill after all :D
- tuvang 2y agoFirst impressions do count but I think the above poster has a point, a suit can actually harm your chances in an environment where no one wears suits.
- roenxi 2y agoI'd want to see some actual hard evidence before I believed that. The usual way social cues work is they are devastatingly effective even if people claim they are not. Much like how most interviewers are honestly convinced that their approach is unbiased but in practice they tend to hire people who are like themselves. My expectation is that turning up in a suit would get better results. The effect is probably smaller in hard-skill roles but I'd assume still present.
- khazhoux 2y agoWearing a suit to a tech interview in silicon valley would without a doubt send the signal that either (a) they have absolutely no clue about SV work culture, or (b) they’re a “look at me” guy who dresses odd on purpose
- lores 2y agoIf they're young it can also be because that's what they've been told to do, if they're from a different culture (even an American one) it may be shockingly weird not to wear a suit to an interview, and there are even people who wear suits all the time because a well-made suit is very comfortable, with no more showing off involved than dressing up any other way. An interview is not a regular work day, best not to summarily judge people like that.
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y agoI was once turned down by Microsoft (in the 1990s), because I wore a suit to the interview. They made a point of mentioning it.
- michaelt 2y agoSo tech got rid of the suits, but kept the desire to judge people at interviews based on their clothes? Great. Fantastic job everyone /S
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y agoI remember reading, when IBM turned "business casual," that everyone adopted the same outfit: Khaki slacks, and blue polo shirts.
- hylaride 2y agoAs a 25 year hoodie-wearing tech person, I'd pick suits over Khakis and polo shirts any day.
- lo_zamoyski 2y agoReverse snobbery is like slave morality. It transmutes a high standard into a perverse mirror image consisting of intolerant, intentional, celebrated mediocrity. At least requiring a suit requires something aesthetically better and more worthy of human dignity. Reverse snobbery demands you dress worse and beneath it.
- yks 2y agoPlease explain from the first principles, why a suit is "aesthetically better" and more dignified than a t-shirt/jeans combo.
- borroka 2y agoIn human dynamics, very little is based on “first principles”. Some words are considered vulgar and others are not. Why? Aren't they just a sequence of letters? They certainly are, but those sequences have been assigned a meaning that does not derive from any “first principle”. In the Western world, for a long time, at least 100 years, a suit was considered the proper attire for men. Then expectations changed and now some, many even, consider jeans and a t-shirt as aesthetically pleasing as a suit. Maybe in a few years, you'll go and talk to your lawyer, who will turn up to an hour-long meeting that you'll pay 500 dollars for in a tracksuit and it'll be perfectly fine, you'll even find the attire aesthetically pleasing.
- crabbone 2y agoThe only programmers I've ever seen wearing a suit to work were the ones working in a bank. Not sure if that was a requirement or just a local tradition. Just saying that it happens, but seems very rare.
- lores 2y agoIt's not unusual in Europe - but then Europeans tend to dress smarter than Americans in general too.
- barbs 2y agoI wore a suit to my very first tech interview on the advice of my well-meaning but ill-informed mother. I got the job, but was then told "don't listen to your mother"!
- cruffle_duffle 2y agoVery close story here as well. lol. “You can always underdress but never overdress!” Thanks mom!
- hnbad 2y agoTake it to the limit and show up to an interview in full white tie attire.
- phaedryx 2y agoI've made it a point to always ask beforehand: "what is the dress code expectation? I've seen everything from t-shirts to suits in the tech industry and I'd like show up dressed appropriately." I always get a positive response.
- kevin_thibedeau 2y agoI was told by a recruiter to "suit up" for an engineering position 15 years ago. I was met by the VP of engineering wearing cutoff jeans. I never listen recruiter sartorial advice.
- 9rx 2y agoTo be fair, "suit up" usually means to put on a uniform rather than to wear a suit. The phrase seems to have originated in sports. T-shirts and hoodies are the uniform of tech.
- schnable 2y agoI don't think it's fair to the candidate to expect them to think that when a recruiter says "suit up" they mean in t-shirt and jeans or cutoffs.
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- 9rx 2y agoIt is a common phrase that, as commonly used, has no connotations with the suit as a style of dress: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suit%20up https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suit%20up But you do highlight the flaw of natural language, where it only works where there already is a shared understanding. When quite often there isn't. Heck, 90% of the comments on HN are from actors having different understandings for technical jargon and talking past each other because they aren't even talking about the same thing. Such is the tragedy of the human existence.
- xaoz 2y agoThis must be localised; where I live "suit up" means "wear a suit".
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