[Sigia-l] Dress Code

[Laurie Gray]

I would never "ding" a candidate to an interview for being dressed too
formally. There is too much variability in employer dress styles these
days to expect a candidate to effectively guess which one we are.

That said, I generally phone screen before inviting them in - and
during that phone screen I do mention that we are an "<insert dress
code here>" office. My acceptability range varies between trousers & a
nice shirt to a suit in these instances. To me, though, the shoes
should *never* be athletic shoes for a job interview.

And, as a consultant, I always try to dress at least equal to and
preferably better than my client's employees by about 1/2 to 1 degree.
This means no more casual Fridays for me - I am in slacks/skirts
nearly 100% of the time these days. Since the client is
hospitality-related and not financial services, I have been able to
retire my black suits to the back of the closet for a bit.

Laurie Gray

On 3/25/07, Dave Chiu <dave at d4v3.net> wrote:
> > I do think that showing up to client meetings with smart ideas and
> > good work makes the issue of what you're wearing rather moot. I
> > think there's great tolerance for unconventional modes of dress, as
> > long as you offer something of value.
>
> I'm just curious, but does anyone see these "rules" applying to job
> interviews these days?
>
> I'm relatively new to the "creative" field, and I can understand that
> you might have more wardrobe leeway once you've "proven" yourself
> through your work. But for those of us starting out, does that
> flexibility also extend to first impressions?
>
> I view the whole situation as a catch-22: a suit may be too formal
> and unwelcome in, for example, an ad agency, but at the same time it
> does universally signify your awareness of the interview's formality
> and importance.
>
> My instinct is to be more formal, since you can always dress-down
> formal, but I'm curious to hear what others think.
>
> Dave
>
>
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