Job Interview Question

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M

mynewpool

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Mar 17, 2010
1,088
Spring, TX
I wanted to get some feedback. I have scored me a second interview this Wednesday. The first interview I went on I wore suit and tie to look professional as I always do on a first interview. So the interview went pretty well, lasted a little over an hour, which is a long time compared to other ones around 30 minutes. So at the end of the interview we went back to his office and he told me the dress code was business casual. So I am thinking that for my second interview it would be ok to dress up business casual. Slacks, button down shirt, etc. Does this sound ok or should I do suit and tie again. It would be the same suit so I am not sure how that would look.

Thanks.
 
WestSidePool said:
Any time I interviewed, I always wore a suit and tie.
I think he was just referencing the work environment. Meaning if you got hired on, you would be allowed to dress business casual.

In my opinion, It can't hurt to look nice for 1 more interview.
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Oh I know what he was talking about, not if you come for an interview dress business casual. I dont mind doing it, but then I have to wear my suit all day long.
 
IMO, yes, you can dress down a little more in the second interview, unless you will be interviewing with higher ups than last time.

But still try to keep it nicer than the work dress code.
 
I have to disagree. All interviews should be in full dress. It never hurts to dress up, definitely can hurt to dress down. If someone says something, you can always say that you want to make as good an impression as possible.

I think that dressing down for an interview assumes way too much. What if they bring you in to see a senior VP as a "surprise" last interview - would you rather be in a suit or dressed down....

Just my opinion (I've hired lots of people and interviewed for lots of jobs).
 
With a fair amount of experience as an interviewer and on interview panels, I would have to go with tphaggerty on this one. If you are concerned about wearing the exact same thing again, do you have a different shirt/tie combination you can wear to "mix up" the look a bit?
 
Can I proffer another suggestion? They already know you have a suit, so wear a sports coat and a nice pair of trousers and penny loafers, button down shirt and tie. In my thinking, you don't want them to recognize that you only have 1 suit, they have told you that normal dress is business casual, and you're going a step beyond business casual by donning the tie and coat.


I'm hoping you nail this job! :cheers:
 
waste said:
Can I proffer another suggestion? They already know you have a suit, so wear a sports coat and a nice pair of trousers and penny loafers, button down shirt and tie. In my thinking, you don't want them to recognize that you only have 1 suit, they have told you that normal dress is business casual, and you're going a step beyond business casual by donning the tie and coat.

I'm hoping you nail this job! :cheers:
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My thoughts exactly !! I've gone with the suit on the first, then Kaki's, light blue shirt with yellow (not too bright) tie and a navy sport coat ... and either penney loafers or hush puppy's.

As soon as we get you hooked up ... we can work on me!

Good Luck !!! :party: :whoot:
 
Best wishes on the job! Figure it out tonight, whichever dress mode you go. No nervous decisions like that in the morning-- that is for relaxing and getting calm for the interview, not worrying about what to put on.
 

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I'm with Richard's post. It depends on the job the applicant is applying for. I've interviewed all sorts of IT folks, from help desk people, to systems and network engineers, all the way up to CIOs and IT directors. Anything lower than C level or director level, I'd rather see the applicant show up relaxed and something near the applicable dress code for the position. C level or director level positions should dress in a NICE suit or equivalent (no $99 suits please!), because like Richard said they should be dressing for the position they want, even if the dress code is business casual once the job is landed.

Now that I've said that, YMMV, and I take no responsibility for your outcome. IT jobs, and jobs in general around Dallas/Fort Worth, tend to be more relaxed than some other parts of the country. We are going on almost 30 days straight of 100+ weather this year, and as such full suits aren't very common around here. When I was in banking (10 years), the bankers would wear suits during cooler weather, but business casual from late spring to early fall.
 
Knock 'em dead! :-D

Don't wear the sports coat while driving, it'll wrinkle, hang it in the back or 1/2 fold it and drape it over the passenger seat. Keep eye contact and give a firm handshake (not 'posthumous' nor bone crushing :p )

If there's still time before the interview and you see this, check out the second page ofthis thread for some interviewing tips :cool:

{edit- it looks like the link goes to the second page - I'll never figure out how I did that :lol: }
 
waste said:
Knock 'em dead! :-D

Don't wear the sports coat while driving, it'll wrinkle, hang it in the back or 1/2 fold it and drape it over the passenger seat. Keep eye contact and give a firm handshake (not 'posthumous' nor bone crushing :p )

If there's still time before the interview and you see this, check out the second page ofthis thread for some interviewing tips :cool:

{edit- it looks like the link goes to the second page - I'll never figure out how I did that :lol: }
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My jacket is the last thing to go on before I go in. This is Texas, I dont want to burn up on the way there haha.

I tried to click on the link and got You are not authorised to read this forum. Must be somewhere that I cant see since I have not donated.

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
 
Ok, this is just my $.02, but when I am interviewing people, I will tend to give a bit of an edge to the ones that are dressed towards the upper end of the type of clothing they would be expected to wear while performing their job function:

When interviewing for a delivery driver or warehouse worker I would look for decent sports shirt, and jeans or other casual pants, not a suit.

When interviewing for an outside sales associate job (business casual in our operation), I look for something along the lines of a nice shirt and tie combination (for a sales person, probably something on the bold, but not outlandish side), decent business slacks, and good shoes.

This may just be a personal thing, but I much prefer to interview someone that is not overdressed for the job, as I mentioned we are a business casual operation, and when I see someone come into my office wearing a fancy suit, particularly if it is someone I have met with previously the majority of the time is it someone trying to convince me to spend many thousands of dollars on whatever it is they are pushing, and personally I feel if the product is worth the money, they don't need to add all the extra flash, in the case of an interview the person is the product they are wanting me to invest money in.
 

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