Attire for all-day job interview

Thanks for a good laugh this afternoon. Not that I think you need to be punched, but that was great.

 

I expect professionalism, but I don't think that comes from wearing a coat and a tie. It comes from an overall appearance. I've seen guys in who look like Tommy Boy in a suit. I prefer those interviewing to wear nice slacks and a nice shirt. Professional, presentable, yet comfortable.
I don't get it. Why a suit? I'm not wearing one, and if the person gets the job, he'll likely never wear one in the office again.

As for normal office attire, some guys (not me) will wear shorts, and that's fine as long as they aren't cut-off jeans and aren't nutters.

 

Just don't dress like this guy...animal from Lou Grant

 

I once worked with a man who insisted on wearing nutters and muscle shirts to work all summer. It was gross.

 

I think a suit eliminates the chance of guessing wrong on dress. Navy or gray suit, white shirt, conservative tie, black polished shoes, there's really no way to look bad until you open your mouth. It's just the basic job-interview uniform, generic, inoffensive and often expected. The only message it conveys is that you cared enough to dress better than you normally would. It's one less thing I need to think about. I have lots of ties, but I've worn the same one for almost every job interview I've had over the past 20 years. It'll never go out of style, and attracts no attention other than saying the man is wearing a tie, he's here to try to get a job. I'll express my individuality when I speak -- my goal with the suit is basic template that won't detract from the message.

 

Definitely wear the suit unless the SE or whoever is conducting the interview says otherwise. I had one interview that included a tryout where I had to actually go out and cover a game. But at that point I had already been through a couple of phone coversations with the SE and was comfortable enough to ask. He told me not to wear a suit since most of what I'd be doing that day was going out of the office to work on that story.

My first interview for a full-time job was on a Saturday afternoon at a small, 6-days-a-week paper. I dressed nicely, but no suit. The ME had just been working on his lawn and he looked like it, but he still had a problem with me not wearing a suit and told me so.

The jackass also gave me a spelling test. I thought about politely reminding him that in any real situation, I would have spellcheck or a dictionary or somebody to ask. If you don't know how to spell a word in a story ...YOU LOOK THE DAMN THING UP!

Obviously, I didn't get the job. Got a better one making more money at a bigger paper with an ME who actually knew his ass from a hole in the wall....so that kinda worked out.

 

Wore a suit for my interview.

Wear shorts every fucking day to work in the summer. I cover golf. It's hot. I'm wearing shorts. Same in the office. Shorts and flip-flops, and I'm not the only one. Several newsies, along with newsside copy editors, wear flip-flops just about every day. I do at least wear shoes when I'm out on assignment. But wear long pants? When I'm outside all day and it's 90 degrees with humidity? C'mon.

 

More power to you, really, but you make me feel like a stud. I sat outside of a murder scene in 100-degree heat for four hours this week wearing long pants and a short-sleeved button-up, no tie. Every day, all day.

 

suit.

 

I must have worked with his brother. We had (stress had) a guy who wore nutters, crop top shirts and knee-high socks. The huge sunglasses and porn mustache completed the look.

 

Hey, if I covered news, my thinking would be different. And if I'm going in for meetings/interviews with administrators at the school I cover, I dress differently. But for sitting in the office and/or sitting outside for six hours covering golf, I'm going to dress accordingly and comfortably.

 

Thanks for reminding me about him.