people showing up for job interviews in unprofessional attire

I cannot STAND this.

I have seen a few people show up in nice looking jeans and a nice shirt. I don't like it but I'll overlook it if the person is decent.

I have seen people show up in baggy jeans from circa 1999 and an ill-fitting, faded business-casual shirt. This I cannot overlook. *note* Just because a shirt has a collar does not mean it's business attire!!

A guy came in for an interview today dressed like a total emo. Messed up hair, skintight music t-shirt, skintight girls' jeans, and crazy colored Converse all stars decorated with puff paint. I am not even joking.

WTF is wrong with people that they think this is appropriate? I cannot even begin to express my anger.

Yeah! How dare people dress in clothes of their own choosing! What rebels!

Seriously, I cant stand the current level of employer power abuse. I have been denied jobs for the clothing I wear, the length of my hair, and even my skin appearance (wtf?). If I am nice enough to offer you my time at the ridiculous wages deemed adequate these days you had better swallow your shallow prejudices long enough to actually review my credentials and attitude.

What I cannot understand is the logic these people use to critique my appearance:

1) I need a money, or I would not be at a boring interview for a boring job trying to appease the nonexistent idea of perfection some soulless #ing middle manager thought up while wanking over his/her next pay bump.
2) Nice, mainstream, boring clothes, and fancy haircuts, and nice food to keep my skin from looking dead cost lots of this money.
3) I need to buy these cookie-cutter clothes and cut my hair to look like yours and I-better-not-have-dark-rings-under-my-eyes to even get your attentionjob working for you. Fine, but please see points 1 and 2. If I had money for these things I would be out enjoying it, not wasting my life answering the same 20 questions about how submissive I can be.

The most abhorrent things I've encountered are prospective employers. None are as quick to judge using the previous generations forcefed image ideal, and none are more powerful in enforcing the same perceptual virus to shape the next generations.
Be ashamed if you fit this description. If you ever have to defend your actions based on "keeping the corporate image" or other such garbage, chances are you DO.

My problem with interview attire has cut both ways. I've been rejected (IMO) for overdressing in a great, expensive suit (the interviewer is intimidated that you're dressed better than he/her) or they feel that if you can dress that way, you dont need their job offering. I've tried dressing down (still neat and professional) and wonder if If I was not "professional "enough. Either way, I usually look better than the interviewer. Of course, it all depends on the position applied for.
After saying that, I have no hard clue how to dress anymore as you can screw yourself either way. Its a coin toss. As i am job hunting, any advice appreciated, althoughi thik I use common sense already, depending upon the position.

Thoughts?

reply to post by scooterstrats


Haha, that's an interesting point of view. You definitely don't want to go to a middle class job interview in a $3000 suit IMO. But if you dressed in a great looking suit that is well tailored and you look better than the interviewer who doesn't care as much about their appearance, it's not your fault. How could you have known they dress like a schlub?

Obviously, like you said, it depends on the job when you're deciding what to wear. I am a huge bargain shopper myself. I love to look great but I HATE to feel like I'm overspending, so I wouldn't spend tons of money on an interview outfit. But I don't think that means you can't look nice.

For men I think a great option is suit pants (keep the jacket with you in case the interviewer is wearing his. If he's not then maybe you can just hang on to it rather than wearing it), a starched and ironed dress shirt, and clean, polished dress shoes. It doesn't matter if your shoes are old as long as they aren't scuffed up and dirty. If you think the interview is more casual then forego the tie. For a more formal one, wear the tie.

If a man came in with clean and polished shoes, dress pants, and a starched dress shirt (no jacket or tie required) I personally would be impressed. It's the small details like that which show that you care about your appearance, not the cost or labels on your outfit.

All of this IMO of course. Good luck on the jobhunt!

I guess that you should wear to a job interview what you might wear at that particular job. I think it sucks though, that people are judged on what they are wearing. It's silly that people who work in an office and don't even interact with the public have to wear business attire. It's silly that people who do interact with the public have to hide who they really are, by covering up piercings, tattoos & funky hair color. It's silly that we can't just accept people, no matter what they look like or what they are wearing. Some of the worlds most notorious killers were very well dressed.

Einstein was a scruff too! Depends on the job doesn't it?

Also, some people don't actually want the job but just an interview to show they are trying so they can carry on drawing benefits.

There is of course the old phrase "don't judge a book by it's cover" but like I said...depends on the job. Yeah, interviews should give a good impression but I'd rather employ a scruff who knows his stuff than a smarty who knows zip!

Not everyone spends their money on appearance items do they. I'm a self confessed scruff but I clean up a treat for special occasions.

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
Yeah! How dare people dress in clothes of their own choosing! What rebels!

Seriously, I cant stand the current level of employer power abuse. I have been denied jobs for the clothing I wear, the length of my hair, and even my skin appearance (wtf?). If I am nice enough to offer you my time at the ridiculous wages deemed adequate these days you had better swallow your shallow prejudices long enough to actually review my credentials and attitude.

I have to ask, were you dressed in a sloppy manner and did your hair look bad? Even if someone wasn't on trend with their appearance I wouldn't care if they seemed like a good candidate for a job. But when you show up to an interview without even attempting to look decent, it shows exactly how much effort you are going to put into your job. You're not even hired yet and you're already slacking!

The thing is, every single company in business is selling an image as well as a product or service. A tattoo parlor doesn't want someone working who looks like they just got out of finishing school. Likewise, an upscale boutique doesn't want someone working who looks like they just walked home from a metal concert. You have to have a cohesive image as a business or else no one will buy from you. It's nothing personal, it's just business.

I think alot of it is that employers want to see you make the effort.Most could give a damn how you normally dress, but it shows you made an effort and care about the position your applying for.
Case in point we had a young guy in for an interview on monday.He was dressed cassually skater chain, jeans, ugly goatee what not.So straight away not a good impression we all commented on it later but it was over looked, what lost him his chance was he was a arrogant-cocky prick.
Today we had a young sheila in nicely dressed and well presented(quite attractive too )Again we all commented on her appearance and what burnt her chance was she was as dumb as a doorknob and as interesting as tepid water.
I got a job years ago with dreads and nice, but not flash clothes against some strong competition.I guess the boss saw the diamond in the rough there lol.

Anyway the moral of my story is yes in most cases appearances count.It says alot about a person in how they present themselves and unfortunately for us scrubby dressers employers really look at that.

Yes one should try to put on their best appearance,I was in sales for a while,I always say better to be overdressed then under dressed,especially with a female interviewer,I remember hiring someone because he looked more presentable,1st appearances are very important

reply to post by sc2099


SC2099, you are absolutely right. If a person doesn't respect himself or the potential employer enough to dress appropriately, then they don't deserve an interview.

You don't have to wear a $2,000 suit unless you're going for a sales manager job at IBM. But a pair of pressed slacks, clean shoes (not sneakers) and a shirt and tie along with a jacket are certainly appropriate. And, please, remove your piercings before you come in.

Dressing for job interviews can be tricky. I have been on both sides of the table. I think it really comes down to job you are going for. You can probably get away with slacks and a button down shirt for anything under 10 dollars an hour. But above that you need to have a suit and tie. I say this because people, when they interview you, first want to see how much self respect you have with the way you dress. It is the first and usually the most important part of the interview. When in doubt, look good. Because looking good is the first step to doing good. I rather hire someone who has an awareness of how they look and how people see them over someone who wants to wear torn clothing and look like a he is either unqualified or not willing to take the time to send the right message across.

Clothing is just coverings for our good parts, and protection from the elements. This is off of the job interview topic a bit, but I was recently misjudged based on my appearance. The car salesman lost out on selling me a new car. I was profiled, and I guess he felt that time spent with me would be a waste. I bought the car elsewhere. ~ If you pass on someone because of appearance, you might miss out.

reply to post by jsobecky


self worth is not determined by clothes. i have the utmost respect for myself and other's. i always wear regular arizona jeans, and usually a white t-shirt.

i am simple, clean, and i never judge anyone else on their appearance, obviously there are exceptions to the rule.

i saw someone go for a job interview in sweat pants one time. thats a little too simple.

i understand the point you are making though. if you want to get an office job or something similiar youre going to want to show them youre willing to put on nice clothes.

as already pointed out, clothes are nothing more than to cover up things you dont want people to see......how about women that go to interviews with cleavage hanging out all over the place? what kind of message you think that sends?

I once had a job interview whilst wearing a bath towel around my waste

The contract I was working on was coming to an end, this guy I'd never met had dropped my house mate back home, they shouted up stairs where I was in the shower... The dude couldn't hang around so we had a 2 min interview with me dripping on the stairs, shook hands and viola! I had to start calling him boss!

So I could literally turn up to an interview in anything I want and it will be an improvement... But it may be difficult to explain to the interviewers

reply to post by Now_Then


so what you are saying is....you are using youre sexy good looks and buttocks hanging out of a towel to get a job.....

you stud muffin you.

If I'm the interviewer and someone shows up dirty, disheveled, or overly casual, they might as well not have bothered to come in. You have to show some initiative, and some desire to put in a little effort. If you can't be bothered to do what it takes to make a good first impression, I've go no place for you.

It's a competition, and if you don't make the effort, you lose.

[edit on 11/20/2008 by yeahright]

reply to post by yeahright


i think you are right, depending on what the job interview is for, it is not a universal dress code.

if you have a job interview at a mill, as example.....why dress " nice "?
if it makes no difference?

right?

reply to post by pureevil81


I wouldn't expect a 3 piece suit, but even for a job at a mill, you should look like you made an effort. Nice clean slacks and shirt, nice shoes. Shaved. Combed hair.

Why leave it to chance? Someone's going to get the job, and it's the person demonstrating capability and willingness. I care as much about what you WILL do as what you CAN do. Someone might have all the capability I need, but if they can't comb their hair for an interview, I have little faith in their ability and willingness to do what I need done.

Demonstrate competence, desire, ability. Or not. Someone will.

reply to post by yeahright


well, i have experience here, i dress the same all the time. i refuse to " sell out " maybe its just the rebel in me.

for certain fields of work dress code should matter i believe, but i think there are exceptions....i got a job dressed " simple " over people in nice slacks and what not. maybe i am the exception. but i show that i put forth effort in attitude, the way i walk he way i talk, and all that good stuff...

c'mon yeahright you know you would hire me.

reply to post by pureevil81


Well, it depends. I see people all the time with the "I refuse to sell out" attitude. And that's all fine. But then it becomes incumbent upon me to determine if "selling out" constitutes an unwillingness to do the job the way it needs to be done. If what I call "cooperation and compliance" is their definition of "sellout", we've got a problem. Which I resolve fairly quickly.

People can be rebels on their own time. Or at least, not on mine.