Unthought Known said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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AggieArchitect04 said:

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Always tailor your dress to your audience.

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Best advice here.

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The few times I've tailored my approach to be what someone else else wanted, I've always regretted it. It's easy for one interview and only got me frustration every day until I found a better fit.

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Dress not approach. .

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Are you suggesting how a person dresses has nothing to do with your personality, culture, or values? As long as it matches in formality, hiding who you are is terrible advice.

AgLA06 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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AggieArchitect04 said:

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Always tailor your dress to your audience.

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Best advice here.

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The few times I've tailored my approach to be what someone else else wanted, I've always regretted it. It's easy for one interview and only got me frustration every day until I found a better fit.

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Dress not approach. .

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Are you suggesting how a person dresses has nothing to do with your personality, culture, or values? As long as it matches in formality, hiding who you are is terrible advice.

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And if you want to work in certain industries or jobs you have to follow a dress code. I would prefer to wear golf shorts and a polo everyday but not once have I worn that to work other than when I had a work related golfing event. If you are only comfortable wearing one type of clothing, you will find the universe of jobs for you to be quite limited. When I go to meet a customer in Midland, I wear jeans and boots. When I meet a customer in downtown Houston, I wear slacks and a sports coat. If you can't adapt to your environment, that's on you, not the environment...

Goose06 said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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AggieArchitect04 said:

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Always tailor your dress to your audience.

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Best advice here.

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The few times I've tailored my approach to be what someone else else wanted, I've always regretted it. It's easy for one interview and only got me frustration every day until I found a better fit.

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Dress not approach. .

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Are you suggesting how a person dresses has nothing to do with your personality, culture, or values? As long as it matches in formality, hiding who you are is terrible advice.

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And if you want to work in certain industries or jobs you have to follow a dress code. I would prefer to wear golf shorts and a polo everyday but not once have I worn that to work other than when I had a work related golfing event. If you are only comfortable wearing one type of clothing, you will find the universe of jobs for you to be quite limited. When I go to meet a customer in Midland, I wear jeans and boots. When I meet a customer in downtown Houston, I wear slacks and a sports coat. If you can't adapt to your environment, that's on you, not the environment...

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Apples to Oranges.

A 2 hour meeting isn't the same as the environment you'll be working for 2+ years. Comparing dress boots in Texas to cargo shorts is asinine.

Dress boots in Texas are normally accepted for the culture no different than a kilt in Scotland or long coat up north for formal events. Anything else is an indicator of the work place environment. And dare I say just as simple minded on the part of the hiring manager as supposedly they believe the individual they are judging.

AgLA06 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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AggieArchitect04 said:

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Always tailor your dress to your audience.

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Best advice here.

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The few times I've tailored my approach to be what someone else else wanted, I've always regretted it. It's easy for one interview and only got me frustration every day until I found a better fit.

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Dress not approach. .

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Are you suggesting how a person dresses has nothing to do with your personality, culture, or values? As long as it matches in formality, hiding who you are is terrible advice.

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For an interview? Absolutely.

I have NEVER worn a suit on a daily basis in my career. Ever.

But I have always interviewed in a suit.

But I've only been recruiting for 20 years. What do I know about getting a job.

Unthought Known said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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AggieArchitect04 said:

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Always tailor your dress to your audience.

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Best advice here.

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The few times I've tailored my approach to be what someone else else wanted, I've always regretted it. It's easy for one interview and only got me frustration every day until I found a better fit.

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Dress not approach. .

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Are you suggesting how a person dresses has nothing to do with your personality, culture, or values? As long as it matches in formality, hiding who you are is terrible advice.

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For an interview? Absolutely.

I have NEVER worn a suit on a daily basis in my career. Ever.

But I have always interviewed in a suit.

But I've only been recruiting for 20 years. What do I know about getting a job.

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Dress boots don't change that a person is interviewing in a suit. Would you disqualify a Scotsman for wearing a kilt? How about a Muslim for wearing a kalansuwa or a Sikhfor wearing a turban?

If so you should have taken a couple more hiring principle and law classes during those 20 years. A company that's ok with an HR or hiring manager discriminating based on nice dress boots in Texas doesn't deserve a successful Aggie employee. And sure as hell isn't a quality place to work.

That's not what I said.

You never know who might find what inappropriate. You want to mitigate those risks.

2 equal candidates dress can make a difference. Should it? No. Does it? Yes.

I'm finished discussing this with someone that doesn't pay attention to what is said and also extrapolates things out of what is being said to further his argument.

Best advice, do what you want. It's your career.

You're advocating hiding the fact that you wear boots to get the job because it could be an issue.

How would you suggest mitigating everything else between being hired and your next review? If it's going to be a problem for an interview it's going to be a problem after as well. Fit matters for an environment where you'll be more than home with your family.

If a Scotsman plans to wear a kilt everyday, yes I will disqualify his ass if that is not appropriate. If you want to be an investment banker in Houston, I recommend you not wear boots. If you can't wear normal dress shoes everyday then don't apply for an investment banking job. This is coming from a guy who wears boots to work regularly and is also a former investment banker. Be aware of your environment and if you are incapable then your career won't be as successful as it otherwise could have been, is that so hard to comprehend?

I wear suits dropped over my Justin workboots or my Chippewa snake boots all the time. The Chippewas are my "fancy" boots. With me, you get what you get. Then again, I'm a wildlife biologist.

Then again, my jacket and tie stay on a thumbtack in my office.

AgLA06 said:

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You're advocating hiding the fact that you wear boots to get the job because it could be an issue.

How would you suggest mitigating everything else between being hired and your next review? If it's going to be a problem for an interview it's going to be a problem after as well. Fit matters for an environment where you'll be more than home with your family.

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Bingo. You're either really good at your job or you arent. Your boots vs shoes are NOT the problem or solution. Lol. I can't believe this is even a discussion.

These comments are hilarious.
Lots of new army up in here.

I'm class of 2001, so not THAT old. Dress boots are completely appropriate in Texas. Somewhere else, maybe not. Totally fine here.

Now I own a company and it's me on the other side of the table conducting the interview. Still no problem with a suit and dress boots.

ea1060 said:

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Its been said before but it's about knowing your audience. Are you interviewing for an oil and gas service company with a 50+ year old guy from west Texas? Then it's probably ok to wear boots. If you're interviewing for a consulting job with a lady from New York who went to an Ivy League school, then she might hold it against you. It's just the way it is sometimes.

I used to wear boots and slacks at my last company (small offshore drilling company) because everyone else did too. It was normal. Now I work for a larger operator and don't wear boots to work because no one else on my team or floor does. Very few people in the building do.

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This whole discussion is odd to me. Do people really find an article of clothing that important? I mean, I can see the ability to telecommute, or a working environment being critical.

Secondly,

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The few times I've tailored my approach to be what someone else else wanted, I've always regretted it.

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This also comes off funny, but I assume I am globalizing it beyond it's intent. Most people's jobs entail some function of tailoring your approach to be what some else wants (or thinks they want). This is how you get buy-in on unpopular things, win over people that are critical to your projects, etc.

Lotta bad advice in here. Don't wear boots. Dress in the same boring crap everyone else wears. Charcoal suit, white shirt, blue or red tie, normal dress shoes. Why? Because even if the company culture is more laid back, you almost never are going to get docked for doing that. And the goal of an interview is to get to a point where you decide if you want the job. Wear something flashy or different and odds are very high it isn't going to help you. Odds are fairly low it isn't going to hurt you. But a suit and regular dress shoes almost never will. So why make a low risk, no reward decision?

Once you get the offer, you can think back to the interview, what everyone else was wearing, and more generally if the company culture is right for you and then make a choice on whether to work there. But why do something that could potentially (albeit unlikely) take the choice out of your hands?

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And the goal of an interview is to get to a point where you decide if you want the job.

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I think you got this confused. The goal is to get the job offer. The rest of your post supports this.

diehard03 said:

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Quote:

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And the goal of an interview is to get to a point where you decide if you want the job.

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I think you got this confused. The goal is to get the job offer. The rest of your post supports this.

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Eh, get the job offer such that you can decide whether you actually want to accept.

I have interviewed for 5 other jobs in my career, since accepting my first off campus 12 years ago. I wore boots and a suit to every interview. The jobs were at:

Law Firm
Accounting Firm
Investment Bank
Department of Justice
Management Consulting Firm

I got offers from each. I actually turned each of them down, because my gig is pretty good. The most important thing you can be in an interview is yourself.

Keeper of The Spirits said:

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I have interviewed for 5 other jobs in my career, since accepting my first off campus 12 years ago. I wore boots and a suit to every interview. The jobs were at:

Law Firm
Accounting Firm
Investment Bank
Department of Justice
Management Consulting Firm

I got offers from each. I actually turned each of them down, because my gig is pretty good. The most important thing you can be in an interview is yourself.

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No, no, no. Haven't you learned. It's better to pretend to be what you think they'd want you to be. All the rest will just magically work itself out.