Being a graduate student (and a chemist), my wardrobe tends toward a dichotomy of T-shirts and polos with jeans or my one suit. I’ve got a job interview on Friday and my suit is now back from the dry cleaners, so no problem there. However, I am apparently going to dinner (I don’t know where) with someone (I don’t yet know who or what position) from the company on Thursday night (they’re flying me from El Paso to Albany.) I’m trying to come up with some sort of business casual look, but my wardrobe is ill-suited for the task. I’ve got some grey slacks I was thinking about wearing and I do have this more casual shirt (or close enough.) However, I can’t decide if I should go more dressy with my classic Oxford blue dress shirt or find a pair of brown Dockers in some color that matches the linked shirt. The pants I have are a little more formal than I think the shirt calls for, as they look more like dress pants. I also have some black (think they’re black and not very dark blue) wool dress pants I like.
Now, spending more than about $30 is out of the question at the moment. I thought I might be able to wear my navy blue blazer with either of the grey or black pants and either the striped shirt or one of my colored dress shirts (dark red, tight grey pattern, or Oxford blue are about my only options without going to the store.) Any suggestions on what I can do with my current wardrobe or with one run to JC Penney?
You are WAY overthinking this IMO. So long as you look neat and clean, and your clothes fit you reasonably well and match, you are good. Personally I’m not great at matching colors, but it is hard to imagine you would go wrong with either your black or grey pants and blue dress shirt with no tie. Definitely within the range of acceptible.
My vote: Grey pants, Oxford blue shirt, blue coat. It’s conservative but you can dress it up with a tie–what are your options there? Do you have dark shoes–what color?
What shirt are you wearing with the suit at the interview?
I am actually well supplied with ties and will go with one that has a bit more of a pattern to it. I’ll either wear the black Clarks (more casual but still laced) or my black dress shoes. I normally wear a white shirt when interviewing, though I have also worn Oxford blue and even the grey depending on the kind of interview and what happens to be clean.
You want to dress “up” a little during the interview process. So I don’t think a tie is over the top, unless you’re going to eat at a bar on the beach.
I’m the furthest thing from a fashion maven, and am sitting in my office wearing birkies right now, but I just can’t imagine how wearing a tie is anything casual. JMO!
Exactly what I was going to post. Grey slacks, blue button-down and blue blazer is kind of the standard, can’t-miss, fits-nearly-any-business-casual-occasion outfit. Iron the shirt. Based on your description, you could probably forgo the tie, but it’s your call.
Well, it’s erring on the formal side out of respect for the process. I went through four interviews (separate days) for a company and the fourth one was “casual” lunch. She wore shorts but I couldn’t bring myself to wear anything less than skirt, hose and heeled shoes. It was a step down from the suits I had been wearing but still I felt I was being respectful. It may have indicated that I couldn’t relax, but they did offer me the job!
Hell, I’m just a guy who hates wearing ties. If I have to have a buttoned up shirt and a tie around my neck, it really doesn’t make me feel any less uncomfortable if the shirt is striped instead of white and the tie is “kicky.”
I’m down to one suit now - grey pin. All my dress shirts are white. And if I am not in court or otherwise required to wear “business dress,” it is casual slacks and an open neck polo shirt. Of course, I am decades away from interviewing for a job…
Exactly. The question is, however, how the guy should dress for an interview.
The shirt/slacks/blazer thing is fine for the dinner; skip the tie at dinner. Suit and tie at actual interview.
Going forward, a pair of khaki slacks will be a good investment. I don’t care for the striped shirt you link to – it’s neither casual (stripes too emphatic) nor formal (emphatic stripes), IMHO. Since you don’t need it for this pair o’ occasions, I’d leave it at home.
I’d say the blue oxford shirt and the grey or navy slacks. Basic enough that they probably won’t even give 2 seconds thought to your outfit. If they give you zero information about the who/where then I would assume they’re sending over someone at about your level for a mid-range restaurant, and either tie or no tie is fine.
I assume this is a job in the chemist/engineer/researcher area, in which case, I kinda agree with Dinsdale in that you can only worry so much about the wardrobe. Obviously you want to be a pleasant and well-dressed dinner companion, but they know you’re a student, they’re not expecting anything high-stylin’
If you’re looking for dinner chit-chat: Ask what’s nearby to visit on the weekend. There is a whole bunch of places: NYC, Montreal, Vermont, Saratoga. Don’t ask what the winter is like in Albany, I can tell you the answer right now: It sucks. Especially if you’ve been living in Texas. But, you could ask if they like to ski.
Yeah, business casual to me has always meant no tie. It depends on the company of course, and the standard daily dress there. If you go for your interview and see the rest of the employees wandering around with no tie, or in polos, I’d probably head to dinner with no tie.
The idea of the dinner is to see if you are “one of them”.
So you need to be one of them.
Dress how they dress and act how they act. It’s only for a couple of hours.
This is tough since you don’t know them and how they dress and don’t have access to that information. Or do you? I’ve been known to go to meetings a day ahead of time just to see how everyone in the company is dressed when they arrive for work in the morning. Is everyone on time or is it pretty lax? How many and who smoke. Do they look happy? Its tougher to get an idea about after work but you have about a 50/50 chance that the person assigned to take you to dinner won’t be going home to change first. He/she will be wearing work attire. Take a tie to the dinner appointment but don’t put it on until you know which way your escort is dressed. If it turns out not to be necessary throw it away. It’s only a tie. If it is necessary and you have it it’s worth a million dollars. The other thing you can do is call the receptionist and be honest about needing information. They tend to be sympathetic and know what everyone at the company wears, does, thinks, etc. Keep it very friendly and somewhat conspiratorial. Plus when you go in on Friday you’ll actually know someone!
Ideally on Friday you’ll be dressed just a little better than the people in the job you’re applying for and just a little less than your potential new boss. Do the Friday morning parking lot thing if you can, although Casual Friday may be in effect and it does not apply to you. You’ll feel way more confident and stress free if you can walk in knowing you’re dressed properly.
Take as much clothing as you possibly can and have a female friend help you pack if that’s possible. Pay her if you have to.
Even without entering the realm of the Felix the Cat ties, or the Cat Stalking (Computer) Mouse ones, I met several consultants who had worked for Portland. They had these Portland-logo ties, baby blue with the logo in orange, which are definitely too bright for most interviews.