IT Interviews

Not sure how many IT people are on this forum. IT is a special beast imo. Often times, you'll show up in a suit and your interviewers will be wearing something extremely casual. When I went to my first IT interview ever, I was wearing a suit from moore's and a monochrome shirt&tie combo, and I was overdressed. I could tell that the interviewers weren't treating me like they probably treated other students that arrived dressed more like them (although nobody indicated that we should arrive dressed casually). On several IT forums, I've read of interviewers actually admitting that they gave negatives to candidates for dressing too well. I think a lot of people in IT take pride in looking like ****, thinking that it garners them extra cred as a big nerd with mad skillz or something. Either that or there's some kind of Revenge of the Nerds thing going on.

Since I will be starting interviews soon (hopefully), i need a plain navy suit, which I sadly do not have. I was originally gonna go with samuelsohn, but a few of thoughts have changed my mind and I've since decided that I'm going to go cheap. The main thing is that upon reflection, I really want my navy suit to be bespoke, so there's no point spending 1500 on a mid-end suit that I'll never wear after that. Plus there's a few other items I really want right now, and I'd rather spend the money there.

In another thread, Emmanuel gave me the idea of getting a suit from zara. Apparently the fit is quite good although construction is crap (As expected for a $300 suit). Since this is a throwaway suit for me, I don't really care. I just want something that looks presentable, but not too good, and that definitely doesn't look expensive.

I'm thinking that even when I do get a new job, I'm going to build back up to my current dressing standards slowly, so as not to prejudice my boss/co-workers opinions of me before they see my skillz. I did that for my last job and it worked pretty well. They tend not to notice as much when you start dressing better and better over a period of 3-4 months than if you're the super dressy guy right from the start.

I'm wondering what experiences IT peeps have had on interviews/jobs in relation to their wardrobe. Any horror stories, or funny stories?

You're fucked either way.

I work in IT, like you I fronted up to the first job interview in a suit and tie. Over dressed. I think the boss appreciated the effort though, and I got the job.

The next time I go for interviews though I will probably just go in trousers, shirt w/ tie and nice shoes. Leaving the jacket behind. It's still dressed up, which shows respect to your potential employer, and you'll stand out from the slobs, but you won't be over doing it so much as to be considered pretentious by the nerd-herd.

Isn't this how people in IT dress???

Originally Posted by Pengranger

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Isn't this how people in IT dress???

Yes, except that she's not in IT.

I've been in IT for 20 years. My rule is to dress well without overdoing it. A bespoke suit runs the real possibility of "overdoing", unless it's done in a sufficiently conservative style to slip under the "pretentious snot" RADAR that some IT directors turn on during interviews. An inexpensive, slightly poor fitting suit may actually suit you better in this circumstance - dressy enough to show you made the effort, while drab enough not to offend.

My last interview I wore a white shirt, no tie, navy blazer, charcoal slacks, brown shoes. The VP of sales with whom I met wore a similar outfit with the exception of his black KCs. I felt like I nailed the first impression phase of the meeting (although I think a suit with no tie would also have worked)

Consider the level of personnel you'll be meeting with, and try to dress one notch above their standard dress, while remaining casual - if they're sysadmins in khakis and polos, wear well-fitted khakis and a dress shirt. If you're meeting with the IT manager, add a blazer. IT Director, change the khakis to dress slacks. CTO or CE, suit with no tie. Board member, add the tie.

I use a rule of thub in meeting with prospective customers (also in IT).

If you get the job, wear a similar outfit to your cohort, but wear it better (better fitted, better fabrics, etc)

And by all means, have a wallet with a sticker from Vice magazine on it saying:

To be honest I would have thought it's better off dressing well from the start. As long as it's well and not flashy, they either won't notice or they will notice and just simply think "o he's just that guy who dresses well" after a while.

For example, in the past 6 months i've started dressing better, and my family and close friends mocked the hell out of me cos to them it looks really pretentious. But new people don't notice at all. Actually i'd love to be able to meet a whole new bunch of people and have them think that i dress well from the start. That way I wouldn't have to think twice about wearing nice clothes for fear of being ostracised.

I think the main thing is that you can dress well, but not overdress. Depending on the setting, a suit is probably too formal, but you could still wear a nice sport-coat, and you can always take it off and hang it on your chair. Cufflinks, waistcoats, tie bars, contrast collars, double-breasted blazers etc are probably all too flashy.

I wore trousers and a collar to work today (no tie) and got the usual... "Job interview today" classic line

I listened to a guest speaker who had his own IT security business and he told everyone first thing to go out and buy a suit.

How you dress will, to some extent, depend upon the hiring firm. Is it a pure technology firm, an outsourcer perhaps? Or is it with the technology department of a professional firm?

I'm lucky as I work in IT for an investment bank, where business dress has greater acceptance. In many ways it's the best of both worlds; wearing a suit is fine due to the setting, however the relaxed dress of most colleagues means it's perfectly OK to wear sportcoats and dress pants. But really if you're putting that much thought into how you dress everyday, that's more effort than most will expend during a whole year.

It depends on the type of company, as mentioned above, and also what role you'll applying for. Non customer facing coding/DBA roles tend to have a different dress sense to Business Analysts who spend the majority of their time with clients.

I'd never mark anybody down for being overdressed in an interview, especially in the current market.

As peeps have said - its dependant upon the environment.

If you're in the programming branch, "dress" pants and a clean oxford shirt is the right mix of professional without standing out. Most of your peers would consider that being a suit.

If you're in infrastructure it's entirely dependant upon if you're relegated to the computer room. If you'll have to plug stuff in, dockers and a polo are the best bet.

If you're in management, sales support, or architecture you can wear a modest suit.

whats wrong with the old IT standby's of Teva sandals, dark socks, ratty pants and a tee shirt with an imprint of either an internet meme or a video game that was popular before you were born.

Originally Posted by edmorel

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whats wrong with the old IT standby's of Teva sandals, dark socks, ratty pants and a tee shirt with an imprint of either an internet meme or a video game that was popular before you were born.

That might work in Cali.