# Can you dress like you want the damn job? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 16, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830 "2005-03-16T16:14:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/161 "2005-03-18T19:05:50Z")
Even if **AndyPolley** permits jeans to be worn on the job an applicant should know not to wear jeans to the interview. I’ve always used the method of “dress one up from the job.” If you are interviewing for physical labor where you will be wearing jeans and steel toes on the job, then wear khakis and a nice shirt to the interview. If khakis and nice shirts are dress code, then maybe throw on a tie or a sport coat. This has always worked for me and sends the messages that you are aware of some of what will be required of you if you are hired and that you are able and willing to go a step beyond. ---
**Author:** ![Redwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@Redwing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redwing)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/162 "2005-03-18T19:11:04Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > It’d still be iffy, though. Now, at three times the salary, it’d be likely. > > I have, at my core, a mercenary nature. There is a dollar amount at which I feel compensated for the discomfort level. I expect that if I am interviewing someone that they show up better dressed than I am. That means a jacket and tie. I think the above statement qualifies it well; if you can’t be bothered to put on a suit and tie, you can’t be bothered to put in the kind of effort and awareness that pay the kind of salary that any positioned I conduct interviews for would pay. I don’t want to hire someone who gives a shit about how they have to dress, they just dress for the situation, and an interview is a “suit and tie like you’re meeting a customer” situation. I also wonder at how uncomfortable you find dress clothes. I’m picky about what I wear, I try stuff on until I find something comfortable. I’m worse than a woman that way. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/163 "2005-03-18T19:19:04Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Dude, societal standards of dress have existed ever since there has been a society. Workplace standards of dress have existed ever since there has been a workplace. You can think we’d be better off without them, but don’t pretend that anybody is making this shit up on their own. If anything, the standards have been getting looser over the years. Yes, injustice has existed since the dawn of time. And yet people still fight it. How foolish of them. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/164 "2005-03-18T19:37:17Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I had to read that three times before I realized it didn’t say “Personally, I’d wear a gorilla suit to work if it was what I need to do to get the kids to pay the mortgage.” > > :dubious: Well, who wouldn’t? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/165 "2005-03-18T19:40:21Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > You do realize that I said I wear a tie if it’s the company dress code, right? You’re back up to 5,999,999,999. So you’re ignoring my advice to “ditch the tie, live free”. My job is getting more tenuous every time I open this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/166 "2005-03-18T20:13:36Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Yes, injustice has existed since the dawn of time. And yet people still fight it. How foolish of them. I wasn’t gonna participate in this thread any longer, but this was too good to pass up. You’re actually equating “societal standards of dress” with “injustice”? Man. I don’t care how open your collar is … you need to loosen it some more. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/167 "2005-03-18T20:29:12Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I wasn’t gonna participate in this thread any longer, but this was too good to pass up. > > You’re actually equating “societal standards of dress” with “injustice”? Man. I don’t care how open your collar is … you need to loosen it some more. Well, it’s not on par with what’s going down in Darfur or anything, but even minor injustices are worth fighting. I see much of the business culture as being slanted toward white, upper middle class culture – the people who typically manage and own things in our society. I don’t think this is a conscious attempt to oppress others, just an unconscious belief that one set of behaviors and dress and manners is better than all others, and it just happens to be the one that the owners/managers grew into. I think we got another century or so before this particular bit of stupidity sloughs off, give or take 50 years. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/168 "2005-03-19T01:27:03Z")
[QUOTE=CandidGamera] It’d still be iffy, though. Now, at three times the salary, it’d be likely. [QUOTE] Ah, now I see why we have such differing opinions on this. I’d take a job with a more formal dress code for much less than that! I’ve always said I won’t take another job for less than 30% of what I currently make (assuming there’s nothing horrifically wrong with my current job). The 30% is to compensate me for taking the risk of moving into the unknown. Frankly, if the new position had a formal dress code and met that 30% hurdle, I’d jump on it. The dress code is just trivial to me. I really don’t care that much about what I wear. Sure, I’m more comfortable not having to deal with panty hose and heals, but not incredibly so. I guess that’s why the idea of “fight the injustice of a dress code for interviews” just doesn’t seem worth it to me. I do know that some people feel strongly about what they wear. I’ve had friends tell me they’d never take a job where they had to wear a suit because it’s just not who they are. That has always astounded me. I have to believe there’s more to them than what they wear every day. However, there are enough of them that I just have to believe it’s one of those times where people who feel differently have a hard time understanding the other position. I do agree that looking good probably has no bearing on your job performance (unless you deal face to face with customers). However, there is that whole halo effect thing. I think most of us have probably seen those (probably very unscientific) reports on news magazine shows where they send good looking and average looking people to apply for the same jobs and the good looking people come out ahead. If there’s any truth to those reports, it stinks–but it is what it is. As for me, I can’t suddenly turn good looking when I go to interview. I can, however, make my appearance as nice and professional as it can be. Dressing up does that. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/169 "2005-03-19T02:28:36Z")
> [@MaddyStrut](#): > > Sure, I’m more comfortable not having to deal with panty hose and heals, but not incredibly so. Well, I find it rather uncomfortable. I’d rather I not have to shave my legs again… ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830/170 "2005-03-19T03:09:49Z")
> [@The Chao Goes Mu](#): > > Even if **AndyPolley** permits jeans to be worn on the job an applicant should know not to wear jeans to the interview. I’ve always used the method of “dress one up from the job.” If you are interviewing for physical labor where you will be wearing jeans and steel toes on the job, then wear khakis and a nice shirt to the interview. If khakis and nice shirts are dress code, then maybe throw on a tie or a sport coat. This has always worked for me and sends the messages that you are aware of some of what will be required of you if you are hired and that you are able and willing to go a step beyond. This is actually an excellent rule of thumb, I feel. It’s one I’ve tried to follow, but never put quite so succintly. When I interviewed for a job working the phones at my university’s theater’s box office, I wore clean jeans and a polo. The dress code was essentially nonexistant, since we were just students answering phones, often coming in straight from class. When I interviewed for my current job at a net-based company where our only contact with clients is through email, I wore a button-up shirt and tie. Dress code is a little tighter, but not by much (I wear polos and jeans to work each day). When I interviewed for a teller position at a bank, I wore my suit and tie. Dress code was white buttoned shirt and tie. In all three cases I was offered the job (though I had the fortune to be able to turn down the teller job; not something I’d’ve enjoyed). I don’t believe my clothing was the deciding factor, but it’s just one piece in making yourself desirable to your employer. In my view, formal clothing is uncomfortable and stuffy, and that’s the _point_; if you’re willing to put yourself through pains just for an interview, imagine what you’ll be like when you’re being paid! (I do have a hunch that my clothing played a large role in getting my current job, though. A vibrant purple button-up shirt stands out. :D) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-dress-like-you-want-the-damn-job/294830.md?page=8)