Brown suit for job interview -- too weird/dated?

[westinghouse]

Originally Posted by SkinnyGoomba

There are still people out there who think that if they dress better than their boss (read: more expensively) they'll be fired.

You won't get fired; you'll just never get promoted.

 

[bowtielover]

I like the suit but brown is not the best color for an interview. I would go with a simple navy or med grey.

 

[rain_dog]

I think it depends on what sort of company you are interviewing for. I know some of the high-powered consulting firms that deal with big clients (think Accenture or whatever became of Arthur Andersen) put a premium on appearences, and a brown suit might not fly.

On the other hand, all of the software companies I've worked for wouldn't give a damn. The fact that you wore a suit at all would show you cared enough to put your best foot forward, but far more importance is placed on whether you can do the job or not. Your smarts and skillset are what counts, not the color of your suit.

If it's the typical tech company or software shop, you should wear your brown suit. If they don't hire you because of it, then it's not a place you wanted to work at anyways.

 

[epa]

I love brown but I would really refrain from using it for job interviews.
But I got my first two post-university jobs (plus one job offer in between) wearing a basically brown, badly fitted, Massimo Dutti sport coat with brown trousers and, I believe, black shoes. And a button down shirt with a horrible tie.

 

[taxgenius]

I own two brown suits, one if which is MTM. I would not wear them for interviews.

 

[Michael Ay329]

Are there brown suits out on the market with stripes? Where?

 

[taxgenius]

Originally Posted by Michael Ay329

Are there brown suits out on the market with stripes? Where?

It is very difficult to find such a suit, though I did get one made by Hickey Freeman and bought it on B&S.

 

[fwiffo]

Originally Posted by amplifiedheat

I don't know. If the brown is as dark as he says, it's not immediately noticeable. And yes, interviewers who see a young clientele see some pretty awful suits.

To the OP:
Any little thing you can do in the interview to get ahead, you should. The simple coloured suit is flattering to 99.9999% of men out there so it's a time honoured thing that will make you stand out.

50% (or more) of the people I see come in with the most dastardly of suits but I do notice the one bloke who decided to tie a decent knot and come in with a crisp white shirt. He just got +1 out of 100 score in my interview books, which might help when it comes to choosing the final few candidates.

I think I read another interview suit thread here and someone said something that I will always remember - get the offer and get the job first before you show them how dandy and rakish you are.

 

[suited]

If it wasn't for IT you could get away with just about any charcoal/navy suit that wasn't super stylish. I wore a nice MTM suit to a few interviews and when complimented I said "thanks, it was my graduation gift" (which it was) - a nice way of replying to the compliment if you happen to be interviewing for something early on in your career.