Dressing for an Interview

Was 15 minutes early for the last one! 

Guess I'll shoot for a half-hour this time.

Good luck Nan!

'Nuther interview, part-time, next Friday. 

Good luck Nan!!   

I have an interview Friday, for a part time job too. *fingers crossed for both of us*

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I have an interview Friday, for a part time job too. *fingers crossed for both of us*

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Amazing! Well done Margo. Fingers crossed for you.

A guy showed up yesterday for an interview wearing suspenders and a bow tie.

Let's just say he's lucky I wasn't making the hiring decision.

A guy showed up yesterday for an interview wearing suspenders and a bow tie.

Let's just say he's lucky I wasn't making the hiring decision.

Clever. He was smartly dressed and made an impression.   

Clever. He was smartly dressed and made an impression.   

That's right, he haunted my dreams. I guess that's an impression

That's right, he haunted my dreams. I guess that's an impression

Ummm, so the applicant's skills are not the most important thing here? It's fitting into a pre-conceived notion of acceptable dress?
(Shades of "girls have to wear dresses and high heels because that's what girls wear". )

 

Ummm, so the applicant's skills are not the most important thing here? It's fitting into a pre-conceived notion of acceptable dress?
(Shades of "girls have to wear dresses and high heels because that's what girls wear". )

 

When I went for interviews after completing my graduate studies, my skills were secondary to looking the part.  Problem is, my obvious physical disability meant I didn't look the part.  (One interviewer even looked at me apologetically and said, "You look great on paper!")

So I won't even judge Jimbo for his view on a person who willfully chooses to look different to most people... that applicant either knows the risk they are taking by choosing that wardrobe, or if they don't know the risk, Jimbo is right to not hire them because they are a bit out of touch.

I didn't have a choice in how I am shaped, and I do think it is unfair that I was overlooked for non-wonky applicants.  But if a conscious choice was made by an applicant to look a little bit different, the applicant should be prepared for that to go either way.  If you judge an immutable characteristic, shame on you.  If you judge a fashion choice, carry on.

What if the person had no clue about dress due to an invisible disabilty?  So that's ok then, to discriminate against them in a hiring situation for something that has nothing whatsoever to do with the job to be done?

(Unless it's dealing with the public in a PR role, where public perception - and we all know that the general public are sheep - is critically important to the role ,it wouldn't have an impact on the final product.)

Yeah, I've got the "you looked so good on paper" thing, too. Although my issues are pretty much invisible.

Ummm, so the applicant's skills are not the most important thing here? It's fitting into a pre-conceived notion of acceptable dress?
(Shades of "girls have to wear dresses and high heels because that's what girls wear". )

 

I also think it's just a joke

But, in fairness, dressing for the job IS important. Definitely not anywhere near as important as the applicants skills, but certainly important that you try to make yourself look as professional as possible. Not everybody will necessarily have the same taste or like the look though hah Clearly, if Jimbo is your hiring manager, do NOT dress like a hipster! hahah


Also, just to add as I see posts were made after I hit send on this...Absolutely the dress should NOT take precedence over capability if a person is the best candidate. It should be more of a secondary point of consideration. Like you wouldn't go into an interview with jeans and a t-shirt on. I mean, you can do...and if you're the best candidate that's great but you will get marked down for that unless you walked in and had a very valid explanation (or outlined prior to the interview that this was part of the special accommodation you needed due to a disability). If they don't know and just see a person dressed in jeans and a t-shirt very casually, they are definitely going to mark you down as it will appear to be unprofessional.

Reminds me of the old days. Nobody would hire a computer "professional" who showed up looking like a Brooks Bros. advert. The guy either had to have a pocket protector and thick glasses, or be hairier than all three ZZ Top guys combined and be obsessed with some obscure branch of the science.

Except for that one company in Dallas, run by the guy who would dress down an applicant who took his jacket off and rolled up his sleeves to write on the blackboard during an interview. And who would sue ex-employees who had gone through career development with them and then left for greener pastures for the cost of the training they were given. And except for the IBM repair team. Those guys always had the same black suit, the same tie, the same everything.... Or the places that wouldn't hire women, regardless of how they were dressed. Except as secretaries. If they were not married or were too old to have kids. Or not hire minorities.

Ah, times change, don't they?

They do indeed

I, for one, am pleased that I don't have to wear dresses/skirts and heels into the office everyday!

One of the first jobs I had working with computers was in a financial management company, and there was a company-wide dress code. All employees had to wear suits, with white (no striped) oxdford shirts. And ties.

They did make women's suits in those days, but the tie was a problem. The guys on the dayshift all got together and bought me a tie. I still have it. It's the ugliest striped blotchy pink thing you've ever seen! 

There was another job where the women employees were required to wear high heels. No, seriously. I worked the night shift and I was required to wear high heels. Which would just fit inside the ventilation holes on the floor of the computer room.  I almost broke an ankle a few times and finally took to just having them under the desk and working in my panty-hose clad feet all night. Nobody else was in the building for most of my shift anyway. And I'd just slip them back on before "management" showed up every morning for shift turnover.