Wearing a suit to work... - Page 3

Ahaha this is great

My 2 cents on dress in my profession...

Being a teacher, if I wear a suit to work I am definitely the only one. If I wear a sport coat and tie, I am also definitely the only one, with the occasional exception of the VP. If I were to wear just a tie (which I never do) I would be 1 of 3 at the most, and we have a fair number of male teachers (but this would be true in any school I can think of). The only exception is when I'm at the Adminitrative offices, where a couple of the most senior administrators will wear suits.

I will wear suits to work on occasion because I enjoy them. I've done interviews in a wide range of clothing, but a suit definitely feels somewhat overdressed in the company of most school administrators, because it tends to be better than what they are wearing. The women are typically the better dressed.

I also wore a suit to an interview for a university teaching position over the summer and I got the job, but I was told bluntly at the interview, "Don't wear a suit around here. We're casual and the students will be afraid of you". Then the interviewer added, "I like it, but don't do it when you come to teach."

As a general rule, I find that peers might look at you funny or think you're snooty, but higher-ups almost always appreciate it when you're well dressed.

A local tailor actually told me he used to do bespoke work for a Superintendent who thought the extremely casual way a lot of teachers dressed was disgusting. Having seen some pretty extreme things, and considering what insulated and neurotic people teachers can be and how it can affect their 'dress', I have to agree.

It was actually the young male teachers at the local high school in my small Montana town that made me look at the way I dressed and realized I had gone off my game.  Sport coats and ties, good shoes.  A little jarring at first, but then very nice.  These guys take teaching seriously.  It's refreshing.

That sounds like a good reason to wear a suit to me.

Sports jacket and tie are standard wear for teachers in primary and secondary schools in the UK.
Colleges tend to be more casual - but noone would carp or criticise the teacher in a suit. This I find amazing. I don't believe that today's students would be afraid of a teacher in a suit (and it might not be a bad thing if they were afraid). Any barrier between teacher and student will be caused by personality and manner, not by dress.

Yes, I guess some context is needed - I was actually hired to teach a summer university course in an 'alternative' stream, basically meaning it was program specifically for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals who were unable for life reasons to participate in the 'normal' course of study, so it would have been a distict statement to stand in front of them as a white male in a suit. Under regular circumstances I would agree with both your comments - although this is a university I went to, and it was equally casual in the regular program when I was a student there. I think I recall one professor who wore a jacket, but he was a french guy, not a local.

Somewhat different at my middle school, the only ties I see are worn by the uniformed school police. Dress trousers, smart shirts and formal shoes are usually worn by male teachers, no suits or ties, sport jackets very occasionally.

I work in tech on the East coast and normally wear a dress shirt and wool pants.  I'm generally more well dressed than my peers, although most people wear at least Khaki's.  The execs and some other higher-ups wear suits or blazers.  On the other hand, in the summer people wear shorts, sandals, and t-shirts.  If I wore a suit, or even a tie, people would ask me why I'm so dressed up. All the more reason to get promoted quickly to a level where I can wear a suit with no questions asked. 

Wearing a suit to work is ideal for those in the corporate world, but most companies nowadays are flexible when it comes to work wear.

My sartorial contribution to my department at work was to start a tradition know now as "Tie Thursdays". We are a small department, but most participate, wearing sports coats, blazers, or suits as well. Some outside my department participate at times as well. Doing my part to slowly change the established business casual norm.

+1. It would be a huge mistake not to wear a suit for interviews at these companies. (Maybe it's different if you're on the tech side; I don't know anything about that.)

I just did a straw poll of my friends who either have worked or do work at these firms. All of them wore suits to their interviews.

I did the same at my last company, except that it was "Fit to be Tied Tuesday". By the time the company imploded about a quarter of the male employees were wearing a tie every Tuesday, at a Silicon Valley software start-up. Of course, that meant that I had to wear the nicest ties

BTW there was no connection between the company imploding and my sartorial innovations, to the best of my knowledge.