Dress code for a Friday interview...

[vkurup]

Conducted an interview on a Friday where the candidate turned up in 'smart casuals'. Now I am a bit old school and I expect candidates to turn up scrubbed up and in a suit. The job requires candidates to wear suit most of the days, though we can be dress down on Fridays. Checked with HR and they had mentioned to the candidate that 'as it is Friday, expect the team to be dressed down'. It made no reference to the candidate to dress down.

As interviewers we discussed the candidates' choice of attire and the feeling was split between us. In the end, the choice of attire made no impact on the outcome of the interview itself. In my eyes, it was for me to dress down (as an employee), but not in the candidates gift to dress down.

What would you do if you have to interview on a 'dress down' friday???

 

[chrisd]

I'm old and old school, so it would be a suit. I do think that you put them into a real dilemma though - tell them Its a dress down day and then expect them to dress up without telling them!

 

[Doon frae Troon]

I would give the job to the best candidate regardless of how they dressed.
The dress down bit may have been lost in translation with your PR team info.

 

[Pin-seeker]

 

[Deleted member 15344]

It's up to HR to ensure the candidate is aware of what dress code you require him to be wearing.

For us we aren't customer facing so no need for suits - smart casual is fine

Recently we held interviews for a number of positions and the ones that got the jobs and we're best for the jobs were the ones that gave the best first impression and they all wore a suit despite us not wearing a suit.

 

[ScienceBoy]

What would you do if you have to interview on a 'dress down' friday???

Turn up in my suit (standard interview stuff).

You can view the candidates decision a few ways:

Takes opportunities when presented
Wants to fit in with the team
Is comfortable being themselves.

You could also put a negative spin on it but doing so would be hard to "write down" on a forum without sounding negative.

 

[vkurup]

Turn up in my suit (standard interview stuff).

You can view the candidates decision a few ways:

Takes opportunities when presented
Wants to fit in with the team
Is comfortable being themselves.

You could also put a negative spin on it but doing so would be hard to "write down" on a forum without sounding negative.

I agree... we gave the candidate the benefit of doubt, but mentioned (at the end of the interview) that if we are going to meet the client for the first time on a Friday, we would keep our ties on - unless the client has a strict no-tie policy e.g. Advt agency, social media or tech companies etc. Even then we would mostly keep the suit on but leave the tie in the bag.

 

[Lump]

really!!??

If he was the best candidate for the job would you second guess an offer because he didn't suit up?
When I got my current job, I turned up in a suit. To be greeted by soon to be boss in t-shirt and shorts. That didn't mean I didn't respect him as my new potential boss, as he knew his job, department and trade better than anyone I knew.

 

[vkurup]

really!!??

If he was the best candidate for the job would you second guess an offer because he didn't suit up?
When I got my current job, I turned up in a suit. To be greeted by soon to be boss in t-shirt and shorts. That didn't mean I didn't respect him as my new potential boss, as he knew his job, department and trade better than anyone I knew.

As I mentioned we did not judge the issue based on attire.

To build to your point... YOU (as a candidate) were in a suit, the interviewer (your boss) is an employee and could turn up in slippers if he wanted. As the interviewee, you decided to wear a suit which is the point I was trying to make.

If I was being interviewed at Apple for a techie job, I would be in smart casuals. But if I was interviewing for Apple's legal team, I would wear a suit (I think)

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Turn up suited and booted. You can dress down once you have the job

 

[Duckster]

Interviews an interview. Could be on a Sunday afternoon at the interviewers local, still turn up suited and booted

 

[MegaSteve]

When my bro' got made up to head honcho, at his place, amongst the first actions he took was to do away with 'dress down Friday'... Caused much disgruntlement amongst the younger ones in the office but hey ho he was the new boss... A year or so down the line when he was reporting to the company directors it was noted that productivity had improved greatly... He replied along the lines of "that's what happens when the office operates fully for the whole week not just four and a bit days"... Those in the office, in the main, came around to his way of thinking when [mostly] their annual review saw a better than expected rise in salary...

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I haven't worn a tie at work for years. I haven't met a customer whilst wearing a tie for years either. I realised that they weren't wearing ties so I wasn't bound to them. Never been an issue. An interview is different however and a classic case of needing to make a good first impression. I would always wear the full kit for an interview just to make sure.

 

[Rooter]

I always wear a tie for meetings and interviews. Typically I am overdressed, but hey, thats my choice.

 

[Fyldewhite]

I work for a large multi national with no dress code. The line is.....we trust you, we know you will dress appropriately for the situation you are in. To me this is the crux of the whole dress code issue, i.e. horses for courses. I for one, if attending a job interview, would feel under-dressed in casual, even "business casual", Friday or not. End of the day you are unlikely to be marked down for wearing a suit etc but may be for not doing. Why take the risk?

 

[Ethan]

Conducted an interview on a Friday where the candidate turned up in 'smart casuals'. Now I am a bit old school and I expect candidates to turn up scrubbed up and in a suit. The job requires candidates to wear suit most of the days, though we can be dress down on Fridays. Checked with HR and they had mentioned to the candidate that 'as it is Friday, expect the team to be dressed down'. It made no reference to the candidate to dress down.

As interviewers we discussed the candidates' choice of attire and the feeling was split between us. In the end, the choice of attire made no impact on the outcome of the interview itself. In my eyes, it was for me to dress down (as an employee), but not in the candidates gift to dress down.

What would you do if you have to interview on a 'dress down' friday???

As a general rule, better to be over-dressed than under-dressed, but the candidate may have taken HR's comments to mean that they would look out of place in a suit at the interview, so I would give them a pass.

As an aside, I hate dress down Friday. If you need a standard of dress for clients, fine, dress accordingly for client meetings, but why have a fake level of dress up some days and dress down on others. Isn't this exactly what we moan about at golf clubs?

 

[Hobbit]

Smart casual doesn't make an impression, but a suit does. Turn up to a first round interview in smart casual, when others will turn up in a suit, and you're already losing points... and if you don't like it, go somewhere where it doesn't matter. I'm hiring, you're selling (you)...

 

[Alex1975]

Regardless of the HR rules/guidelines I would have been in a suit and expected him or her to be in business dress. More than that, I would expect the candidate to want to be in business dress for the occasion!

 

[Ethan]

When my bro' got made up to head honcho, at his place, amongst the first actions he took was to do away with 'dress down Friday'... Caused much disgruntlement amongst the younger ones in the office but hey ho he was the new boss... A year or so down the line when he was reporting to the company directors it was noted that productivity had improved greatly... He replied along the lines of "that's what happens when the office operates fully for the whole week not just four and a bit days"... Those in the office, in the main, came around to his way of thinking when [mostly] their annual review saw a better than expected rise in salary...

Come on. You are saying that not wearing chinos and a polo shirt one day a week improved productivity and bonuses. I call complete and utter garbage on that. Did your bro' do nothing else that could explain improvements? Think what would have happened if everyone wore morning dress and top hats?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Every day is dress down where I am, I still have separate work and non work clothes though, so I am in work mode the moment I put on my casual work clothes. Having one day of casual clothes after 4 days of suits and ties may give a subtle impression of the Friday being less intense, more like last day of school etc. I can understand how having one specific day of the week being different does not work well.

Either be casual all of the time or none of the time.