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Original poster

To want my DP to wear a suit to his interview

66 replies

Scottishshopaholic · 10/12/2020 18:30

My DP had a job interview via teams last week. I convinced him to wear a shirt and tie for this, he said he felt like a bit of an idiot because the people interviewing him were just wearing polo shirts and fleeces etc.

Anyway he must have done something right as he’s been asked to go into tomorrow to get a feel for the place and they will be making him a job offer.

He wants to wear a pair of black jeans and a shirt, I think he should wear a suit. He thinks he’ll be over dressed, he usually wears jeans and a polo shirt to his work and this place will no doubt be the same. Surely it’s better to be overdressed and show you care?

This is a professional senior engineering position and the salary is around 50k.

OP posts:
TheTrashBagIsOursCmonTrashBag · 10/12/2020 19:15

It’s up to him what he wears. If he’s not asked for your opinion then let him get on with it.

CherrytreeView · 10/12/2020 19:19

Definitely better to dress too smart than too casual. Maybe a full suit with a jacket is a bit much, but certainly smart trousers with shirt and tie!

PlanDeRaccordement · 10/12/2020 19:20

I think given the cues of how his interviewers were dressed casually and the fact this is an engineering job, not a customer facing job, that a formal suit and tie would be a mistake. He should dress smart casual. I agree no jeans, but perhaps nice trousers, a button down shirt and nice jumper or blazer/tweed jacket.

ItsLoisSangersFault · 10/12/2020 19:21

@SausageRoll2020

I work in tech and have interviewed engineers. A suit and tie would look really out of place and could even cast doubts about how he understands and would fit in with the culture (not saying this is right, I'm just stating it as fact based on experience).

His plan to wear black jeans and a shirt sounds perfect. It's smarter than a t-shirt or hoody but not out of place.

This.

"Better overdressed than underdressed" just doesn't apply in most contexts. There are lots of people who can do most jobs. Ultimately recruitment is about whether someone will fit in a team. Your Dh knows the culture, he felt overdressed in interview. Plus it's his decision to make.

Dimpsey · 10/12/2020 19:21

I had to go into my office for the first time since March as our laptops were having an update. The IT support company had sent 2 people. There was an older man wearing a suit and tie and a younger man wearing well fitted jeans and trainers and I found myself thinking that the younger man looked more professional. I think views about what is appropriate in an office has really changed in recent years (and even more so since Covid).

I would trust your husband to make the right decision.

helpfulperson · 10/12/2020 19:23

You should dress like you already work for them so if it's a formal company dress formal, if business casual dress business casual.

alliejay81 · 10/12/2020 19:25

Sorry I totally misread the OP!Confused

ItsLoisSangersFault · 10/12/2020 19:26

The thing about smart trousers/shirt/tie as an alternative is that it can look really naff.
Honestly, there are much better ways to look smart.

DelphineWalsh · 10/12/2020 19:35

Shirt, suit trousers and a blazer maybe but a tie is a bit much.

mummmy2017 · 10/12/2020 19:44

For that kind of salary I would have thought a suit and tie
If he finds they are casual, he can always ask if they mind if he takes the jacket and tie off and laugh about how his wife wanted him to make a good impression, and got to just a shirt .
Which shows he can adapt to the company.

ohnothisagain · 10/12/2020 19:51

Depends on the industry. Suit and tie would be really odd for us (big multinational). A suit (no tie) is about as dressed up as people get.

Original poster
Scottishshopaholic · 10/12/2020 19:54

Thank you for the response!

He has actually been asking me and his dad for advice on what he should be wearing for the last few days. (I’ve not been forcing my opinions on him). Poor DP has been quite stressed out about it as there are redundancies happening at his current workplace in the New Year, so he’s really hoping to get this job as it’s local to us as well.

We’ve been chatting about it over dinner and he’s going to go for the smart shoes, trousers and shirt, with a coat that he’ll take off. But defo not a tie.

We’ve been stalking the company LinkedIn, it’s slim pickings to see what people usually wear the workplace. However, there was one from Christmas last year where they were all wearing Christmas jumpers, but noticed they wearing smart trousers.

As previously mentioned in teams interview he had the interviewers were much more casually dressed, but that might be because they were WFH? Whereas he’s actually going into the office tomorrow.

OP posts:
Conkergame · 10/12/2020 19:57

I agree with suit. We don’t wear suits in our office anymore (law) but someone turning up for an interview not in a suit would make a bad impression.

PerpendicularVincent · 10/12/2020 20:02

I've interviewed a number of people over Zoom over lockdown.

Lots dressed casually in t shirts, jeans etc, but the people who were offered the roles were those who came well prepared, knew about the company and wore a shirt and tie.

We're a casual work place, but I also dressed smartly for the interviews, as did my boss - even though in one interview he proudly showed me that he was wearing a shirt, tie and football shorts Grin

User0ne · 10/12/2020 20:19

He should be smarter than the people interviewing him. At ~£50k I'd expect someone to be able to have discussions with board members, external companies etc and to be able to dress appropriately for being taken seriously. In most workplaces that means a suit (ties are normally ott). It's one of the competencies that is often not on a person spec but is essential

IliveonCoffee · 10/12/2020 20:33

Depends I think if they were in the office when they had the teams interview.

On our calls you can always tell who's in the office (not just due to the background) or going in later for a meeting. Hoodies, plain tshirts etc are clearly replaced by shirts, nice blouses etc.

Some interviewers will dress for the interview. Possibly, though if he's the only one they saw that day, or they're just not one of those people, they'd have dressed in their normal wfh casuals.

The office meeting might be quite a different environment, so I'd try and dress up rather than down. He can always watch a couple of people go in and remove his jacket, tie or undo his top button to 'match' if that makes sense.

CoronaIsWatching · 10/12/2020 20:34

You can nag all you want at the end of the day it's up to him. I doubt you'd appreciate your DH trying to make you wear a particular outfit for an interview

Jamie8671 · 10/12/2020 20:36

I’d say suit jacket and shirt and trousers. If upon meeting the team they’re all dressed down then can take the jacket off. I work in a semi professional environment but all of my zoom calls consist of me in a hoodie and no make up 😂 If ‘in the office’ I’d always have a smart top on.

BojoKilledMyMojo · 10/12/2020 20:37

I'm a senior engineer, and interview engineers for professional roles.

I absolutely hate seeing people turn up suited and booted. It always gives me the impression they don't fully understand the environment. Dressed one step up from what you'd normally wear in the role is ideal to me.

Mummadeeze · 10/12/2020 20:41

The outfit you have decided on sounds great. No one wears suits in my office, but I would expect someone to look a bit smarter than the norm for an interview. Suit definitely not needed though. Best of luck to him.

Mattttttt · 10/12/2020 20:43

I’ve worked in hundreds of client offices over the years (roving IT consultant) in all sorts of industries. No one wears ties any more, anywhere. Seeing one is actually quite jarring.

winterbabythistime · 10/12/2020 20:44

It really depends on the environment. My dh is a systems engineer and any interviews he has are usually in jeans, trainers, T-shirt and jumper. I don't think he's ever been turned down for a role.
When we first met and he worked on a help desk he'd wear a suit for an interview and a shirt to work.

Atrixie · 10/12/2020 20:46

He should be smarter than the people interviewing him. At ~£50k I'd expect someone to be able to have discussions with board members, external companies etc and to be able to dress appropriately for being taken seriously. In most workplaces that means a suit (ties are normally ott).

Not in my industry, we did CEO interviews last year and the candidates wore smart trouser, shirts and a jumper, on no occasion whatsoever would any of us or our Board wear a suit or tie. In fact ties in general in the majority industries are a real no go now. At most it would be a suit with an open necked shirt. Even in the City the tie count is absolutely tiny and virtually redundant. I think wearing a suit if it’s a company which is generally casual can make it really seem like the candidate doesn’t get the culture of the company

Idontgiveagriffindamn · 10/12/2020 20:48

@Madvixen

Definitely a suit and tie. You don't lose a job for being overdressed but you can lose it for being underdressed
I was told I did as I wore a suit which they said did not demonstrate that I’d learnt about the culture of the company. No other negative feedback given.
INeedADayOff · 10/12/2020 20:54

Id expect smart/casual, so smart trousers and a shirt, wouldn’t expect a suit, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone wear a suit when people have been interviewed at our place 🤷‍♀️

I’m a site based engineer and I live in high vis with jeans under and thick jumpers it’s been cold on site this week most days of the week I’m plastered in mud anyway!

When we have teams meetings with the senior management team/client/contractor we are expected to dress more smart casual than jeans I always try to put a smart ish top on under my jumper so can take it off for these.