"Look, it's simple. If you are going for an interview in a place of business, you wear a suit."

This is not the 1950's. A suit may be appropriate, but it is definitely not a given. I personally wouldn't wear a suit because I am not a suit-wearing type person and it would be absurd for me to interview in something I felt uncomfortable in. So far I have never been turned down from a tech job I've interviewed for in-person, nor have I lost any client project proposals in my freelance work. My philosophy cannot be that far off.

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[Edited by - M2tM on February 23, 2010 12:08:00 AM]

Quote: Original post by way2lazy2care

Quote: Original post by ChaosEngine
Look, it's simple. If you are going for an interview in a place of business, you wear a suit.

Q: Is it fair, or even reasonable?

A: No. Welcome to the world of employment.

I've been told it's best to dress one level above what you'd wear to work if you got the job to the interview.

edit: unrelated, but where can someone with a thick neck that doesn't weigh over 180lbs get a dress shirt that isn't for a 250lb person? all of my shirts are grossly oversized for my body type because I can't find any others that fit my neck.

Any decent mens store will be able to order a shirt to size, you just probably won't be able to pull off the rack.

If that doesn't work, get a shirt that fits around the neck and have it tailored. I started doing this recently and it makes a huge difference in how your clothes fit.

Just match what your interviewer will be wearing.

On a related note, six weeks after threatening to quit, Google's hiring:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703510204575085133385968968.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_tech

I interviewed at Google once. I was told I missed it by as narrowly as you can possibly miss it by (can't go into specifics). It was sort of a funny situation. I don't get nervous for interviews, but for some reason, I got nervous for this one and couldn't sleep the night before. I literally slept about 2 hours. To make matters worse, I was also having a bad hair day; I was in desperate need of a haircut and the gel wouldn't keep one part of my hair down for some reason. I didn't notice until after I had been interviewed by a few people.

To make a long story short, had I just relaxed and slept better, I'm sure I would've gotten it. Like the other advice in this thread, it's better to be yourself. You can certainly find some basic info about what goes on at a Google interview and what's it like.

As for me, I may apply again, but I haven't decided. I wasn't 100% convinced the environment was for me. Like most places, there's both good points and negatives, and it's just a matter of whether it's the right mix.

Quote: Original post by Rydinare
I interviewed at Google once. I was told I missed it by as narrowly as you can possibly miss it by (can't go into specifics). It was sort of a funny situation. I don't get nervous for interviews, but for some reason, I got nervous for this one and couldn't sleep the night before. I literally slept about 2 hours. To make matters worse, I was also having a bad hair day; I was in desperate need of a haircut and the gel wouldn't keep one part of my hair down for some reason. I didn't notice until after I had been interviewed by a few people.

To make a long story short, had I just relaxed and slept better, I'm sure I would've gotten it. Like the other advice in this thread, it's better to be yourself. You can certainly find some basic info about what goes on at a Google interview and what's it like.

As for me, I may apply again, but I haven't decided. I wasn't 100% convinced the environment was for me. Like most places, there's both good points and negatives, and it's just a matter of whether it's the right mix.

"well this guy had beautiful code..."
"I donno dave... he had sploog hair."
"yea... pass."

Quote: Original post by way2lazy2care
"well this guy had beautiful code..."
"I donno dave... he had sploog hair."
"yea... pass."

That's not too uncommon, actually. If two candidates have very similar skill levels, then the one who doesn't look weird will have an advantage. Even if it's unfair, interviewers are just humans.

Quote: Original post by way2lazy2care

Quote: Original post by Rydinare
I interviewed at Google once. I was told I missed it by as narrowly as you can possibly miss it by (can't go into specifics). It was sort of a funny situation. I don't get nervous for interviews, but for some reason, I got nervous for this one and couldn't sleep the night before. I literally slept about 2 hours. To make matters worse, I was also having a bad hair day; I was in desperate need of a haircut and the gel wouldn't keep one part of my hair down for some reason. I didn't notice until after I had been interviewed by a few people.

To make a long story short, had I just relaxed and slept better, I'm sure I would've gotten it. Like the other advice in this thread, it's better to be yourself. You can certainly find some basic info about what goes on at a Google interview and what's it like.

As for me, I may apply again, but I haven't decided. I wasn't 100% convinced the environment was for me. Like most places, there's both good points and negatives, and it's just a matter of whether it's the right mix.

"well this guy had beautiful code..."
"I donno dave... he had sploog hair."
"yea... pass."

Hahahahahahaha. That damned Dave was so shallow. :P j/k

Man, I don't know if you guys are a bunch of crazy code nerds, or my experience has been a little different than some of the rest of the world's.

I went to Merrill Lynch out of school, and EVERYONE had a suit to interview with them. I realize that is a bank, and not a more "nerdy, loose" culture, but every interview i've ever had (except for when I was young and interviewed at pizza hut and a video store) I wore a suit to.

I can't believe that people think it would be a detriment -- let's look at it from Dave's point of view.

Dave - "This guy cares. He made the effort to have everything in place, wear a suit, have his hair done well. He obviously puts the effort into what he does to make sure that every detail is in place. On the other hand, person B has hair standing up, and didn't have the attention to detail to put it down."

Not that i'm making fun of the guy with the hair, but I just feel like in the real world(tm) being able to be attentive to detail and being a good business person is more important than being a brilliant programmer savant.

Once again, the hole in my theory is that half of my interviews have been in tech at wall st. firms, and the others have all been other fairly professional places.

On an unrelated note, I would love to be able to wear shorts, t-shirt, and bare feet to work. That would rock.

I think it would all depend on the place. I'd probably wear a suit though since I've never had a reason to wear my nice suit yet.

">Nothing suits me like a suit >_>