I don't mean to insult you or Improvolone, but where are you guys working? It's just that I have the complete opposite response.
Actually, just tell me what kind of workplace, industry, or country (if you want, and if it doesn't reveal too much personal info). I'm genuinely curious.
Museum
Improvolone on
Voice actor for hire. My time is free if your project is!
I worked for a web design firm with about 10-15 employees for a while, did some hiring there and didnt see any suits.
I now work as an internal systems developer for a midwest carpet and flooring company.
I really dont think most employers would care about the step up from dress clothes and tie to a full on suit. Like, perhaps in the crazy world where two employees were 100% equal in every other way, but thats impossible.
Disrupter on
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Sir CarcassI have been shown the end of my worldRound Rock, TXRegistered Userregular
I worked for a web design firm with about 10-15 employees for a while, did some hiring there and didnt see any suits.
I now work as an internal systems developer for a midwest carpet and flooring company.
I really dont think most employers would care about the step up from dress clothes and tie to a full on suit. Like, perhaps in the crazy world where two employees were 100% equal in every other way, but thats impossible.
I've been complimented several times for wearing a suit, with a mention that a lot of people don't and it shows that I'm serious about the job.
I guess what the OP can take away from all this is it depends on who hires you. But I still say I can't imagine a situation where it would hurt you to wear a suit (unless the manager specifically told you not to :P ), but it could only help.
A job in a the software field would probably warrant a suit. Not every job interview asks for one. It is not your job to second guess the attire if your interviewer TELLS YOU the attire they'd want. If he's telling you not to but he's testing you, I wouldn't want to work there. In the likelihood that he's NOT testing you, you'll have ignored a simple request, and you'll look incompetent.
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SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
Unless you're 100% sure it's ok not to wear a suit, wear one.
If your prospective boss tells you, "don't wear one," then fine. But otherwise, wear one, especially if it's a first interview. With my last job I was comfortable going in slacks and a blazer to my fourth interview, but that's because it was my fourth interview.
Unless you're 100% sure it's ok not to wear a suit, wear one.
If your prospective boss tells you, "don't wear one," then fine. But otherwise, wear one, especially if it's a first interview. With my last job I was comfortable going in slacks and a blazer to my fourth interview, but that's because it was my fourth interview.
Wear a suit. It can't hurt to overdress.
Yeah this.
I had to slap my friend who almost wore khakis to a first interview with an international engineering company HQ'ed in Japan. His g/f and her friend also slapped him.
We agreed that on his third interview he could go without a tie.
He got the job.
VeritasVR on
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
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admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
I don't mean to insult you or Improvolone, but where are you guys working? It's just that I have the complete opposite response.
Actually, just tell me what kind of workplace, industry, or country (if you want, and if it doesn't reveal too much personal info). I'm genuinely curious.
Small software (mostly web) development companies. Start-up atmosphere. Seattle and San Francisco areas.
So, it's a "niche" but at the same time it's a niche that most small software companies wish they were or pretend they are.
Obviously if you're applying for an internal software department of a large company or a web marketing startup founded by a couple of MBAs you should wear a damn suit.
You can totally ask them for more time to decide. I've done this, I even straight up told them I had another interview and wanted to wait until I had a feel for both companies. Interviewing goes both ways, if they are the kind of people who will freak out and not hire you if you won't agree to an offer on the spot, then they might not be the best coworkers. Also, it's pretty normal to get a week to decide if you get an offer. If you need more time, just ask the hiring manager or HR person.
Smurph on
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HachfaceNot the Minister Farrakhan you're thinking ofDammit, Shepard!Registered Userregular
edited June 2010
In most industries it can't hurt you to overdress. But there are exceptions. I interviewed at a nonprofit where the interviewer confided that she found people who showed up for the interview in a full suit off putting. She took it as a sign that they didn't get the office culture of that particular kind of job.
In most industries it can't hurt you to overdress. But there are exceptions. I interviewed at a nonprofit where the interviewer confided that she found people who showed up for the interview in a full suit off putting. She took it as a sign that they didn't get the office culture of that particular kind of job.
bosses this are bad and should feel bad. people who are unemployed and busting their asses to find work show up to your interview, obeying a 100% accepted and commonly understood dress code for business meetings, and she finds it "off putting"? because they were somehow supposed to magically intuit her amorphous, slack-ass "office culture"? disgraceful.
scrivenerjones on
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HachfaceNot the Minister Farrakhan you're thinking ofDammit, Shepard!Registered Userregular
In most industries it can't hurt you to overdress. But there are exceptions. I interviewed at a nonprofit where the interviewer confided that she found people who showed up for the interview in a full suit off putting. She took it as a sign that they didn't get the office culture of that particular kind of job.
bosses this are bad and should feel bad. people who are unemployed and busting their asses to find work show up to your interview, obeying a 100% accepted and commonly understood dress code for business meetings, and she finds it "off putting"? because they were somehow supposed to magically intuit her amorphous, slack-ass "office culture"? disgraceful.
This is why I always ask what the dress code is before I go to an interview.
And it probably is off-putting to interview someone in a full suit when you are wearing jeans and a t-shirt. (Anticipated response: "Then she should just dress professionally all the time." Yeah, whatever. I think if an organization wants to be casual then good for them.)
Hachface on
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SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
In most industries it can't hurt you to overdress. But there are exceptions. I interviewed at a nonprofit where the interviewer confided that she found people who showed up for the interview in a full suit off putting. She took it as a sign that they didn't get the office culture of that particular kind of job.
This is the exception, though, and I'd assume she would communicate that before the interview, otherwise she's a nincompoop.
If you are 100% sure it's ok to not wear a suit, fine. But unless you're 100% sure, it's never going to hurt you to wear one.
If you interviewed where I work in a suit, I think it would be a bad thing actually. Not "You won't get hired" but definitely "You don't understand the industry culture".
If you interviewed where I work in a suit, I think it would be a bad thing actually. Not "You won't get hired" but definitely "You don't understand the industry culture".
To be fair, I work at a video game company.
It's still a business, though. That's what I don't understand about all this.
The job hiring process is part of the business. Corporate culture whatever, it's still a business transaction. "I want compensation in the form of payment (and benefits) in exchange for my time, skills, and expertise." Negoiations like this, in the business sense, essentially require business professionalism, and professionalism is best conveyed by proper fashion for business.
If you interviewed where I work in a suit, I think it would be a bad thing actually. Not "You won't get hired" but definitely "You don't understand the industry culture".
To be fair, I work at a video game company.
It's still a business, though. That's what I don't understand about all this.
The job hiring process is part of the business. Corporate culture whatever, it's still a business transaction. "I want compensation in the form of payment (and benefits) in exchange for my time, skills, and expertise." Negoiations like this, in the business sense, essentially require business professionalism, and professionalism is best conveyed by proper fashion for business.
Its a goddamn video game company. I paint for a living. Theres beer in the fridge, a ping pong table, and a pool table in the lunch room. You are practically required to have too many action figures on your desk. If someone looks over and you are playing Nethack, they don't ask you to stop, they commiserate about dieing in their run.
Hell, last week my boss let me take an hour break to go pick up the new 360.
It may be a business transaction, but its still a video game developer.
If they tell you that wearing a suit is a little off putting because you don't "get their culture", tell them that you were unaware of their specific culture and that you'll dress appropriately on the next visit.
There are certainly places it's ok to interview in something other than a suit, especially still "nice" but not a full suit. I don't think anyone is arguing that.
The point that most of us are making is that unless you know 100% for sure that it's ok to walk in wearing jeans and a t-shirt or a polo shirt and khakis or a button down shirt and no jacket, etc. don't do it. The chances of losing out on a job because you were too professional for a meeting that is understood to be professional and formal nearly 100% of the time is far less likely than losing out on a job because you didn't dress professionally enough.
People who's job it is to hire people usually understand that people are going to assume professional dress unless told otherwise. If it's a test to see how you're gonna dress during the interview and if they're going to hold professional dress against you, that's a pretty shitty move on their part. Interviewing is already stressful and mind-gamey enough.
However, I also get irritated if I go on an interview and the people refuse to do anything after hours or during lunch and tell me to tell my boss I'm sick of have a doctor's appointment. Seriously? You're going to guarantee me a job if I lie to my current boss and get caught? Are you going to really wanna hire someone who takes that kind of ethical advice from a stranger over the phone?
If you interviewed where I work in a suit, I think it would be a bad thing actually. Not "You won't get hired" but definitely "You don't understand the industry culture".
To be fair, I work at a video game company.
It's still a business, though. That's what I don't understand about all this.
The job hiring process is part of the business. Corporate culture whatever, it's still a business transaction. "I want compensation in the form of payment (and benefits) in exchange for my time, skills, and expertise." Negoiations like this, in the business sense, essentially require business professionalism, and professionalism is best conveyed by proper fashion for business.
Its a goddamn video game company. I paint for a living. Theres beer in the fridge, a ping pong table, and a pool table in the lunch room. You are practically required to have too many action figures on your desk. If someone looks over and you are playing Nethack, they don't ask you to stop, they commiserate about dieing in their run.
Hell, last week my boss let me take an hour break to go pick up the new 360.
It may be a business transaction, but its still a video game developer.
Video games are serious business. :P
But really, you guys are ultimately there to make money. Your medium of money-making may be video games, but that's still a business/enterprise. Same idea even goes for illegal organizations, regardless of their methods.
Edit: Money may not be the bottom line, especially in a non-profit, but it's always a looming factor that must be addressed.
But really, you guys are ultimately there to make money. Your medium of money-making may be video games, but that's still a business/enterprise. Same idea even goes for illegal organizations, regardless of their methods.
Edit: Money may not be the bottom line, especially in a non-profit, but it's always a looming factor that must be addressed.
Oh sure, money is definitely a goal. I just don't know why you think just because money is an eventual goal, wearing a suit to an interview for a job at a video game company would really be of any benefit.
You might as well wear lederhosen for all it would fit in here.
I love me a suit, and for sure at a lot of companies, if not most, it would be THE thing to wear. But there are places where its just not really applicable.
*edit
I just turned around to one of my coworkers and asked him if someone showed up in a suit to interview, what would he immediately think. His answer? "That he probably wasn't right for the job."
But really, you guys are ultimately there to make money. Your medium of money-making may be video games, but that's still a business/enterprise. Same idea even goes for illegal organizations, regardless of their methods.
Edit: Money may not be the bottom line, especially in a non-profit, but it's always a looming factor that must be addressed.
Oh sure, money is definitely a goal. I just don't know why you think just because money is an eventual goal, wearing a suit to an interview for a job at a video game company would really be of any benefit.
Money is obtained via the business aspect of company (regardless of what it does). Money, more or less, is what the interviewee is after here.
Business stuff typically involves suits, as suits are considered serious business.
If your work attire is not a suit, that's great. I understand that completely. It's that the INTERVIEW and hiring process is a whole different story.
But really, you guys are ultimately there to make money. Your medium of money-making may be video games, but that's still a business/enterprise. Same idea even goes for illegal organizations, regardless of their methods.
Edit: Money may not be the bottom line, especially in a non-profit, but it's always a looming factor that must be addressed.
Oh sure, money is definitely a goal. I just don't know why you think just because money is an eventual goal, wearing a suit to an interview for a job at a video game company would really be of any benefit.
Money is obtained via the business aspect of company (regardless of what it does). Money, more or less, is what the interviewee is after here.
Business stuff typically involves suits, as suits are considered serious business.
If your work attire is not a suit, that's great. I understand that completely. It's that the INTERVIEW and hiring process is a whole different story.
But just as a business suit shows that you conform to the company culture at an accounting firm, a more casual attire can show that you conform to the company culture of a video game studio.
Another example is that if a video game studio interviewed two clones, wearing the same clothes with the same resume etc, but one was completely serious and business like through the whole interview, while the other was friendly and maybe cracked a few jokes, they'd probably choose to hire the more laid back one. Why? Because he's someone they'd want to work with. Not everyone wants a serious bloke wearing a fancy suit who acts like everything has to be taken seriously.
My advice: Don't dress nicer than the person interviewing you. Dress the same if you can.
Okay, so let me get this straight, you guys would look down upon someone who dresses up for an interview? You guys are ridiculous. If this is a career/possible career, don't listen to these guys saying not to wear a suit. These guys work in the 0.000000000000000001% of industry that thinks it's "bad" to wear a suit for an interview. By that logic, why the fuck would you wear a suit to a graduate school interview? You're going to be wearing t-shirts and jeans all day, too. Oh, wait, because you're not an idiot.
But really, you guys are ultimately there to make money. Your medium of money-making may be video games, but that's still a business/enterprise. Same idea even goes for illegal organizations, regardless of their methods.
Edit: Money may not be the bottom line, especially in a non-profit, but it's always a looming factor that must be addressed.
Oh sure, money is definitely a goal. I just don't know why you think just because money is an eventual goal, wearing a suit to an interview for a job at a video game company would really be of any benefit.
Money is obtained via the business aspect of company (regardless of what it does). Money, more or less, is what the interviewee is after here.
Business stuff typically involves suits, as suits are considered serious business.
If your work attire is not a suit, that's great. I understand that completely. It's that the INTERVIEW and hiring process is a whole different story.
But just as a business suit shows that you conform to the company culture at an accounting firm, a more casual attire can show that you conform to the company culture of a video game studio.
Another example is that if a video game studio interviewed two clones, wearing the same clothes with the same resume etc, but one was completely serious and business like through the whole interview, while the other was friendly and maybe cracked a few jokes, they'd probably choose to hire the more laid back one. Why? Because he's someone they'd want to work with. Not everyone wants a serious bloke wearing a fancy suit who acts like everything has to be taken seriously.
My advice: Don't dress nicer than the person interviewing you. Dress the same if you can.
Bold - A suit is not an attempt to look better than the other person, it's trying to look professional, that's it. You're not trying to be arrogant, or anything, you're showing yourself at your best. Clean cut and professional.
Lime - But that has nothing to do with the attire but the person themselves.
Red - I'm implying not knowing what the person says/asks. Are you really going to risk your career/job by dressing like shit?
Video-game companies have lots and lots of qualified applicants. They want to hire someone not just qualified, but a person who fits in, can become "family." The kind of person who, when crunch time comes, won't drive them crazy with culture clash. The first indication of that is your dress. Wear a suit, and you're saying "at exactly 5:00, I will clock out, turn off my cell phone, and see you tomorrow."
You cannot say that just because it's a job that makes money that you need a suit for the interview.
Again, the OP should probably consider the prestige and atmosphere of the software company before deciding on suit or no suit.
Can we get an update on this, OP? Did you get an offer?
Video-game companies have lots and lots of qualified applicants. They want to hire someone not just qualified, but a person who fits in, can become "family." The kind of person who, when crunch time comes, won't drive them crazy with culture clash. The first indication of that is your dress. Wear a suit, and you're saying "at exactly 5:00, I will clock out, turn off my cell phone, and see you tomorrow."
You cannot say that just because it's a job that makes money that you need a suit for the interview.
Again, the OP should probably consider the prestige and atmosphere of the software company before deciding on suit or no suit.
Can we get an update on this, OP? Did you get an offer?
Again, companies/interviewers who view wearing a suit that way are few and far between. Most companies, even if they aren't bothered by a lack of suit, realize that 99% of interviews expect a suit or at least slacks and sport coat, and so will not be surprised when an interviewer shows up in them.
Putting on a suit or slacks/sport coat doesn't say that you don't fit in with the t-shirt and jeans culture. It says that you can take the time and effort to look professional if and when the need arises. The rest of your interview shows whether you've got the right personality to fit in or not.
I wouldn't base this risk around whether it's a small software company or not. I work for a small mobile media and software company. At our largest we had 5 devs, a support guy, a couple marketing people, and an accountant in our local office and we may have hit 150 employees worldwide (we do have a couple of offices in other regions to work with mobile markets in those regions). Today I am wearing jean and a Lamb of God t-shirt, yesterday I wore the PA "Jesus is f'in metal" shirt. If I had shown up for my interview in anything less than slacks, a button down shirt and tie, and a sport coat I would not have gotten the job.
I'm sure most small companies want "family" people too, not just VG companies. If you wear a suit every day and it's not required, you might be that soulless guy who leaves every day at 5.
Suit != Personality.
I can wear professional clothing and still make jokes when appropriate at the interview.
A suit also might say "I can be relied upon to be here on time because I take pride my professionalism, and my choice in clothing reinforces this fact. I spent time and effort on this which someone less responsible might ignore. When shit hits the fan, I will do my part because it's serious business."
If this is a career/possible career, don't listen to these guys saying not to wear a suit..
I'm not telling the OP not to wear a suit. I'm responding to the people that are saying you must ALWAYS wear a suit for an interview.
The reason people are saying this is that unless you know 100% for sure they do not want to see you in a suit, the chances of wearing a suit hurting you are FAR less likely than not wearing a suit is.
The general rule is dress 1 step above the standard at the work place. If you have 0 idea what the standard is, wear a suit. You are less likely to offend someone by being overdessed than underdressed. At the same time, you should be researching the industry as much as possible in preparation for the interview anyway.
Darkewolfe on
What is this I don't even.
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SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
I'm sure most small companies want "family" people too, not just VG companies. If you wear a suit every day and it's not required, you might be that soulless guy who leaves every day at 5.
Suit != Personality.
I can wear professional clothing and still make jokes when appropriate at the interview.
A suit also might say "I can be relied upon to be here on time because I take pride my professionalism, and my choice in clothing reinforces this fact. I spent time and effort on this which someone less responsible might ignore. When shit hits the fan, I will do my part because it's serious business."
Wearing a suit every day is not in any way the same thing as wearing a suit to an interview.
That you can't understand the difference is a bit baffling.
I'm sure most small companies want "family" people too, not just VG companies. If you wear a suit every day and it's not required, you might be that soulless guy who leaves every day at 5.
Suit != Personality.
I can wear professional clothing and still make jokes when appropriate at the interview.
A suit also might say "I can be relied upon to be here on time because I take pride my professionalism, and my choice in clothing reinforces this fact. I spent time and effort on this which someone less responsible might ignore. When shit hits the fan, I will do my part because it's serious business."
Wearing a suit every day is not in any way the same thing as wearing a suit to an interview.
That you can't understand the difference is a bit baffling.
Yes...?
I'm not sure where I said what you are claiming I said, because I agree with your post.
Look. I admire a nice suit. They look great. All I was trying to say is that this whole MUST WEAR A SUIT to get a job is bullshit. Its great advice most of the time and I have acknowledged this. But the idea that this advice is applicable across the board like Veritas has said, is truly bizarre. I am not sure why you people don't understand that in some industries (like the game industry) EVEN IN AN INTERVIEW it is a not a great idea to wear a suit.
Look, this is what I was responding to:
I don't understand how some people can get jobs, especially with any sort of education, without a suit.
And heres me, I wore jeans, a collared shirt (untucked! sleeves rolled up!), and slip on chucks to my interview. Guess what? I got the job! GASP. There. YOUR WORLD IS BLOWN.
Look. I admire a nice suit. They look great. All I was trying to say is that this whole MUST WEAR A SUIT to get a job is bullshit. Its great advice most of the time and I have acknowledged this. But the idea that this advice is applicable across the board like Veritas has said, is truly bizarre. I am not sure why you people don't understand that in some industries (like the game industry) EVEN IN AN INTERVIEW it is a not a great idea to wear a suit.
Look, this is what I was responding to:
I don't understand how some people can get jobs, especially with any sort of education, without a suit.
And heres me, I wore jeans, a collared shirt, and slip on chucks to my interview. Guess what? I got the job! GASP. There. YOUR WORLD IS BLOWN.
Were you on an informal basis with the interviewer? Many people get jobs just for knowing head guy or whatever, and the interview is a pretty casual way of going through the motions (and thus a suit isn't really required). Also, people who can't realistically afford suits obviously are not expected to wear suits.
Also, your provided an anecdote. About yourself. Yay?
There are always exceptions. I am not the master of the interview.
Posts
Museum
I now work as an internal systems developer for a midwest carpet and flooring company.
I really dont think most employers would care about the step up from dress clothes and tie to a full on suit. Like, perhaps in the crazy world where two employees were 100% equal in every other way, but thats impossible.
I've been complimented several times for wearing a suit, with a mention that a lot of people don't and it shows that I'm serious about the job.
I guess what the OP can take away from all this is it depends on who hires you. But I still say I can't imagine a situation where it would hurt you to wear a suit (unless the manager specifically told you not to :P ), but it could only help.
A job in a the software field would probably warrant a suit. Not every job interview asks for one. It is not your job to second guess the attire if your interviewer TELLS YOU the attire they'd want. If he's telling you not to but he's testing you, I wouldn't want to work there. In the likelihood that he's NOT testing you, you'll have ignored a simple request, and you'll look incompetent.
If your prospective boss tells you, "don't wear one," then fine. But otherwise, wear one, especially if it's a first interview. With my last job I was comfortable going in slacks and a blazer to my fourth interview, but that's because it was my fourth interview.
Wear a suit. It can't hurt to overdress.
Yeah this.
I had to slap my friend who almost wore khakis to a first interview with an international engineering company HQ'ed in Japan. His g/f and her friend also slapped him.
We agreed that on his third interview he could go without a tie.
He got the job.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Small software (mostly web) development companies. Start-up atmosphere. Seattle and San Francisco areas.
So, it's a "niche" but at the same time it's a niche that most small software companies wish they were or pretend they are.
Obviously if you're applying for an internal software department of a large company or a web marketing startup founded by a couple of MBAs you should wear a damn suit.
bosses this are bad and should feel bad. people who are unemployed and busting their asses to find work show up to your interview, obeying a 100% accepted and commonly understood dress code for business meetings, and she finds it "off putting"? because they were somehow supposed to magically intuit her amorphous, slack-ass "office culture"? disgraceful.
This is why I always ask what the dress code is before I go to an interview.
And it probably is off-putting to interview someone in a full suit when you are wearing jeans and a t-shirt. (Anticipated response: "Then she should just dress professionally all the time." Yeah, whatever. I think if an organization wants to be casual then good for them.)
This is the exception, though, and I'd assume she would communicate that before the interview, otherwise she's a nincompoop.
If you are 100% sure it's ok to not wear a suit, fine. But unless you're 100% sure, it's never going to hurt you to wear one.
To be fair, I work at a video game company.
It's still a business, though. That's what I don't understand about all this.
The job hiring process is part of the business. Corporate culture whatever, it's still a business transaction. "I want compensation in the form of payment (and benefits) in exchange for my time, skills, and expertise." Negoiations like this, in the business sense, essentially require business professionalism, and professionalism is best conveyed by proper fashion for business.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Its a goddamn video game company. I paint for a living. Theres beer in the fridge, a ping pong table, and a pool table in the lunch room. You are practically required to have too many action figures on your desk. If someone looks over and you are playing Nethack, they don't ask you to stop, they commiserate about dieing in their run.
Hell, last week my boss let me take an hour break to go pick up the new 360.
It may be a business transaction, but its still a video game developer.
If they tell you that wearing a suit is a little off putting because you don't "get their culture", tell them that you were unaware of their specific culture and that you'll dress appropriately on the next visit.
The point that most of us are making is that unless you know 100% for sure that it's ok to walk in wearing jeans and a t-shirt or a polo shirt and khakis or a button down shirt and no jacket, etc. don't do it. The chances of losing out on a job because you were too professional for a meeting that is understood to be professional and formal nearly 100% of the time is far less likely than losing out on a job because you didn't dress professionally enough.
However, I also get irritated if I go on an interview and the people refuse to do anything after hours or during lunch and tell me to tell my boss I'm sick of have a doctor's appointment. Seriously? You're going to guarantee me a job if I lie to my current boss and get caught? Are you going to really wanna hire someone who takes that kind of ethical advice from a stranger over the phone?
Video games are serious business. :P
But really, you guys are ultimately there to make money. Your medium of money-making may be video games, but that's still a business/enterprise. Same idea even goes for illegal organizations, regardless of their methods.
Edit: Money may not be the bottom line, especially in a non-profit, but it's always a looming factor that must be addressed.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Oh sure, money is definitely a goal. I just don't know why you think just because money is an eventual goal, wearing a suit to an interview for a job at a video game company would really be of any benefit.
You might as well wear lederhosen for all it would fit in here.
I love me a suit, and for sure at a lot of companies, if not most, it would be THE thing to wear. But there are places where its just not really applicable.
*edit
I just turned around to one of my coworkers and asked him if someone showed up in a suit to interview, what would he immediately think. His answer? "That he probably wasn't right for the job."
Money is obtained via the business aspect of company (regardless of what it does). Money, more or less, is what the interviewee is after here.
Business stuff typically involves suits, as suits are considered serious business.
If your work attire is not a suit, that's great. I understand that completely. It's that the INTERVIEW and hiring process is a whole different story.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Thats great advice most places. But I'm flat out telling you that wearing a suit to an interview at a game video game company would be a mistake.
But just as a business suit shows that you conform to the company culture at an accounting firm, a more casual attire can show that you conform to the company culture of a video game studio.
Another example is that if a video game studio interviewed two clones, wearing the same clothes with the same resume etc, but one was completely serious and business like through the whole interview, while the other was friendly and maybe cracked a few jokes, they'd probably choose to hire the more laid back one. Why? Because he's someone they'd want to work with. Not everyone wants a serious bloke wearing a fancy suit who acts like everything has to be taken seriously.
My advice: Don't dress nicer than the person interviewing you. Dress the same if you can.
Bold - A suit is not an attempt to look better than the other person, it's trying to look professional, that's it. You're not trying to be arrogant, or anything, you're showing yourself at your best. Clean cut and professional.
Lime - But that has nothing to do with the attire but the person themselves.
Red - I'm implying not knowing what the person says/asks. Are you really going to risk your career/job by dressing like shit?
I'm here for a 9:30 interview. Can you tell me what Mr. Johnson will be wearing? Okay, thank you. I will be right back.
You cannot say that just because it's a job that makes money that you need a suit for the interview.
Again, the OP should probably consider the prestige and atmosphere of the software company before deciding on suit or no suit.
Can we get an update on this, OP? Did you get an offer?
I'm not telling the OP not to wear a suit. I'm responding to the people that are saying you must ALWAYS wear a suit for an interview.
Putting on a suit or slacks/sport coat doesn't say that you don't fit in with the t-shirt and jeans culture. It says that you can take the time and effort to look professional if and when the need arises. The rest of your interview shows whether you've got the right personality to fit in or not.
I wouldn't base this risk around whether it's a small software company or not. I work for a small mobile media and software company. At our largest we had 5 devs, a support guy, a couple marketing people, and an accountant in our local office and we may have hit 150 employees worldwide (we do have a couple of offices in other regions to work with mobile markets in those regions). Today I am wearing jean and a Lamb of God t-shirt, yesterday I wore the PA "Jesus is f'in metal" shirt. If I had shown up for my interview in anything less than slacks, a button down shirt and tie, and a sport coat I would not have gotten the job.
Suit != Personality.
I can wear professional clothing and still make jokes when appropriate at the interview.
A suit also might say "I can be relied upon to be here on time because I take pride my professionalism, and my choice in clothing reinforces this fact. I spent time and effort on this which someone less responsible might ignore. When shit hits the fan, I will do my part because it's serious business."
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Wearing a suit every day is not in any way the same thing as wearing a suit to an interview.
That you can't understand the difference is a bit baffling.
Yes...?
I'm not sure where I said what you are claiming I said, because I agree with your post.
Also:
What if the interviewer is wearing a company uniform? Is there a niceness "level" assigned to that?
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
I'm going to go put on a suit and think about what I've done.
Look. I admire a nice suit. They look great. All I was trying to say is that this whole MUST WEAR A SUIT to get a job is bullshit. Its great advice most of the time and I have acknowledged this. But the idea that this advice is applicable across the board like Veritas has said, is truly bizarre. I am not sure why you people don't understand that in some industries (like the game industry) EVEN IN AN INTERVIEW it is a not a great idea to wear a suit.
Look, this is what I was responding to:
And heres me, I wore jeans, a collared shirt (untucked! sleeves rolled up!), and slip on chucks to my interview. Guess what? I got the job! GASP. There. YOUR WORLD IS BLOWN.
Were you on an informal basis with the interviewer? Many people get jobs just for knowing head guy or whatever, and the interview is a pretty casual way of going through the motions (and thus a suit isn't really required). Also, people who can't realistically afford suits obviously are not expected to wear suits.
Also, your provided an anecdote. About yourself. Yay?
There are always exceptions. I am not the master of the interview.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!