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I'm reposting a comment from `suckystartup` below that got tor-killed because I think it illustrates your point well. From the 42Floors blog posts that pop up s
by lmartel 12y ago
I'm reposting a comment from `suckystartup` below that got tor-killed because I think it illustrates your point well. From the 42Floors blog posts that pop up so often on HN, they sometimes give the impression that they care more about "startup culture" than about their industry or product.
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From http://web.archive.org/web/20140618142018/http://blog.42floors.com/interviewing-at-a-startup/ http://web.archive.org/web/20140618142018/http://blog.42floo...
> Another quick story before I really dive into this blog post. We had a gentleman over to interview for one of our account executive positions at 42Floors. He had strong experience leasing SF office space: great resume, great cover letter, did well in our initial phone screen.
> When he walked in the door, we could hear the clacking of his shoes on our hardwood floor. He was dressed impeccably in a suit that probably cost more than my first car and was carrying one of those leathery-thingys that seemed to exist only for the purpose of being carried during interviews.
> I stole a glance to a few of the people from my team who had looked up when he walked in. I could sense the disappointment.
> We’re all happily wearing blue jeans and sneakers. It’s not that we’re so petty or strict about the dress code that we are going to disqualify him for not following an unwritten rule, but we know empirically that people who come in dressed in suits rarely work out well for our team.
> He was failing the go-out-for-a-beer test and he didn’t even know it.
I don't know where the $17 mil has gone but anyone working at a startup that displays this kind of head-up-your-arse arrogance should expect layoffs. Maybe if this company hired for skill and not for beer buddies it would have been able to close deals.
- smcl 12y agoI suspect the guy in the sharp suit realised he dodged a bullet as soon as he read the blog post giving him a public dressing down. I've heard a lot of stuff about the startup scene in SV, but honest question: would anyone ever consider showing up for a job interview in anything more informal than shirt-trousers-shoes? And if the interviewee in that showed up to that interview in jeans/tshirt would the blog post have been different, or was the interviewer just looking to pad it out with an interview\culture-clash horror story and would we instead have been reading: > Another quick story before I really dive into this blog post. We had a gentleman over to interview for one of our account executive positions at 42Floors. He had strong experience leasing SF office space: great resume, great cover letter, did well in our initial phone screen. > When he walked in the door, we could hear the squeaking of his sneakers on our hardwood floor. He was dressed shabbily in a tshirt and jeans that he probably picked up off his floor five minutes before heading for the interview...
- lmartel 12y agoYou absolutely can get away with jeans and a tshirt at an interview in SV; it's what I usually wear, and (anecdotally) what seems to be the norm. "SV culture" weirdness aside, dressed-down interviews for non-client-facing work makes perfect sense to me. That being said, if someone either isn't aware of the custom or prefers to interview in a suit, it's idiotic to count that against them.
- lazyjones 12y agoIn my only ever job interview in the US, I was told beforehand to dress casually for my visit to their office. I'd expect that kind of preparation to be routine for professional HR people. The attitude displayed by startups seems indicative of their arrogance and overconfidence after being given money for their "great" ideas...
- vacri 12y agoA company that explicitly services the commercial world looking down on people for dressing in suits? They must hold a lot of contempt for their clients.