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Tue, Dec 23, 2008 12:15 EST

What to Wear for an IT Job Interview?

Topic: Personal Management

Blog: Career Connection

Current Rating: 4 Comments: 4

IT professionals aren't known for their fashion sense, they of the uninspired polo shirt and khaki persuasion. But if there's one professional occasion when a tech worker should think fashion first, it's the job interview, especially in this employer's market for talent. 

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IT professionals aren't known for their fashion sense, they of the uninspired polo shirt and khaki persuasion. When they do dress up, they tend toward the brown suit à la Dwight Schrute.

Who can blame them for not wanting to bother with their wardrobes?  Fashion is fickle. Fashion is expensive. Fashion requires imagination and inspiration, and let's face it, after a long day spent debugging code or trouble-shooting computer problems, there's not a lot of creativity left for clothing.

But if there's one professional occasion when a tech worker should think fashion first, it's the job interview. CIOs says so.

According to research conducted by Robert Half Technology, more than one-third (35 percent) of CIOs surveyed say that IT professionals should sport a suit for a job interview. For a little more than a quarter of CIOs (26 percent), the khakis-and-a-collared-shirt kit counts as appropriate interview attire. For 24 percent of CIOs, "tailored separates" (e.g. a skirt and blouse or jacket and dress pants that weren't sold as a suit but that match) get the green light. The nine percent that said jeans and a polo shirt count as appropriate interview attire at their company must work for startups.  

The results of the Robert Half Technology survey corroborate what CIOs interviewed for CIO.com's Hiring Manager Q&A series have to say about dress codes for job interviews.  Of the 14 IT executives who gave definitive answers to the question, What should candidates wear to a job interview, 9 said to wear a suit (or otherwise overdress for the interview), while five said business casual was appropriate for their organizations so long as the candidate looked crisp and professional.

Several of the CIOs interviewed for the Hiring Manager Q&A series noted how difficult it is to figure out what to wear to a job interview in the age of business casual attire. That may be why so many of them recommend erring on the side of caution and overdressing for a job interview rather than showing up dressed too casually. They say overdressing makes a strong first impression, and in today's employer's market for talent, job applicants need every advantage they can get. Why let a job opportunity slip through your fingers all because you didn't feel like dressing up?

Almost all Hiring Manager CIOs advise candidates to ask the hiring manager, recruiter or HR contact about the dress code if they're unsure what to wear. Here are some of the more interesting responses CIOs interviewed for the Hiring Manager gave to the question, What should candidates wear to an interview?

Accellent CIO William Howell: "I think the individual organizing the interview owes the candidate the courtesy of telling them what dress code is expected—unless he is using that as part of his evaluation of the candidate. I've interviewed for jobs in informal companies and have felt very out of place when I arrived in a suit and tie. In today's world, proper business attire is so confusing that I don't think anyone should use it to evaluate candidates. They should instead give candidates a heads up of what is expected."


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Average (2 votes)
4
 
 
Wed, Dec 24, 2008 9:44 EST
Posted by: Esther Schindler
Rating: 20

I confess that I snorted at this report, because I can't think of the last time I wore a suit. And my husband doesn't own one.

Then again, I've been hired by phone for every job (or contract) I've had in the last ten years; I never met my boss in person until after I started work. Plus, I live in Arizona, which is far more casual than is the northeast, and there are maybe five restaurants where you'd be turned away for wearing flip-flops and shorts. (I once wore a suit to work at U-Haul International, just because, darnit, it was a pretty suit. Several people asked, "Do you have an interview?" That's how unusual suits are.)

I'm not surprised that CIOs would like to see candidates wear a suit, because they are comfortable in a suit. (Most of them, anyway.) But unless it's the CIO who makes the Hire decision, I'm not convinced that "wear a suit" is the correct advice; for developers, anyhow, the person whom you want to impress with your (ahem) suitability is the person who says, "Let's choose her." And the rule has always been to dress one or two steps better than the person who's interviewing you—or at least equal. (Which also explains why CIOs like to wear suits: we all search for people "just like us" even when what you really need is someone who doesn't think like you.)

To a large degree, of course, it depends on the nature of the shop where you'd be working. Someone who's interviewing for a corporate job... yeah, sure. Even here. A startup? Anyone who wore a suit to an interview would be demonstrating his out-of-touchness. And, in a way, wearing something other than Dockers and a polo shirt shirt would communicate (to me) that a developer is relatively junior. Confident, senior developers might possibly own a suit, but they would look uncomfortable in one.

The fact that the report comes from Robert Half does, of course, demonstrate its... well, "bias" is a little strong for what I mean, but certainly it reflects the nature of the jobs the recruiting firm places. Most of them are the middle-of-the-road contract gigs, in my experience.

 
Thu, Dec 25, 2008 10:37 EST
Anonymous user
Posted by: Anonymous
Rating: 63.3333

Speaking as the manager of software development for a multimillion dollar nonprofit that is not in the technology sector, this article is detached from reality. The problem with interviewing for tech jobs is that you have at least three different expectations to meet. The HR department wants to see a suit because they don't understand the tech community and their corporate organization playbook comes from Sears circa 1950. Tech managers and directors in the 21st century are (or were) techies. The instant they see a suit, they are suspicious. The execs are a wildcard. They can be baby boomer traditionalists who side with HR or progressive hipsters. For me, appropriate attire ranges from jeans and a polo shirt to khakis and a tie. T-shirts are too casual... If you go with khakis and a button down HR will think you are slightly underdressed, techs will think you are slightly overdressed, and who knows what the CIO will think...but it is the safest way to go.

Frankly, if an interviewer spends that much time critiquing your wardrobe, they don't understand how badly they need your skills. I think that developers use their wardrobe as a corporate barometer. If you lose a job because of what you wore to the interview, it was not the right job for you anyway.

 
Tue, Jan 13, 2009 11:12 EST
Anonymous user
Posted by: Anonymous
Rating: 30

This sounds like someone who's never hired anybody. At least not in person.
Clothes are important. They send a message about who you are. If you show up looking like a slob, then you'll be seen as a sloppy person and who wants to hire someone who's careless in their habits? No one. Chances are, you'll also be careless in your work. In the tech world, you can get away without a tie at an interview, but you can't get away with jeans. Khakis work if they're pressed and worn with shoes (not sneakers; never sneakers), and a sport shirt (not a knit) works if it's also clean and pressed. A sport jacket is always a good idea. A suit is, in my opinion (and I've hired scores of people) neither required nor even a good idea (it sends the message that you may be trying a bit too hard) unless you're applying for a job in finance or sales. Then, a suit is de rigeur.
Denying the importance of clothes is just silly hippie nonsense.

 
Tue, Jun 9, 2009 12:56 EDT
Anonymous user
Posted by: HPUB
Rating:

Most of the time in the instant that I sit down in the interview my suit jacket is off anyway. The suit jacket at that point is little more than any coat. So what is wrong with a dress shirt, nice pants, and a tie? that is all the interviewer is going to see anyway.
I have interviewed many an IT person myself, I believe they all wore suits. I being the Director of IT, wore business casual. I am sure they felt uncomfortable and I was uncomfortable for them. I understood that they were trying to impress me by wearing a suit.. But again when the jacket came off they were just wearing what I was wearing but with a tie..
I would not like to see someone come into an interview with jeans, even though I've seen the owners of the company arrive in a client meeting wearing them.. ugh.
Anyway I am interviewing for new job, today actually. In my research of their IT department I discovered a photo of them online. They are all dressed business casual, no ties, not even in management where I am applying for. I am not a fan of wearing suits, they make me uncomfortable. Based on what I have seen them wear I am going to up my ante and wear a nice dress shirt, a vest,a tie, nice pants and nice shoes, but no suit. I guess we will see how well I do at the interview....

I think, with clothes anyway, fitting in is more important than standing out. Ironically.. dressing to fit in might make you stand out..

oh .. and one comment about the article.. its not that IT people have no fasion sense.. thats not fair. Have you tried working on a computer in a suit? or working in a tight server room closet in a suit? What IT wears is for less for fasion and more for function. Thats all we need is a button to pop off a cuff and dropping into a CPU fan, burning it up and shutting down the server. Or a tie getting sucked into a server case fan, a copier, or even a shredder while we IT people repair it.

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