Just as a point of reference, my wife works for a bank. Not only does everyone wear a tie, all the men wear suits. Note, she works in business banking and almost all client contact happens out of the office so this isn’t about looking fancy for clients who may come in. All the men wear suits because that’s just the culture. On casual Friday they don’t wear a jacket.
I agree with everyone else, wear a tie until you know the culture of the office. Most places are business casual, but not everywhere is (and in some places business casual still means a tie.)
I’ve actually found it more frequent that people will be wearing a suit coat without a tie than a tie without a suit coat lately. If it were up to me, I’d make a bolo tie fashion statement.
Of course, I’m in a midtown Manhattan financial-industry office right now in jeans, hiking boots, and a Christmas-y sweater.
I think it depends on what “around here” means. In the last two offices where I worked, things were usually pretty casual. But where I am now, we’re expected to dress up. I’m good with that, because I have a pretty awesome tie collection.
They are not going to think less of you if you wear a tie - you’re a temp and are expected to come across as a bit of a keener.
If you get there and everyone is in golf shirts and khakis, then you know what to wear on day two. If you are dressed down and everyone is wearing a tie, you will feel MUCH more awkward.
This really is dead on correct. When I started this temp job, I read all the paperwork the company gave me and it included a dress code - business attire. Which I wore. The first day. My boss showed up in jeans, a sweatshirt, and sneakers, and she told me you do NOT want to wear nice clothes for this job - wear jeans. So dress up the first day - they’ll tell you what to wear after that. Plus you’ll see for yourself.
I went downtown today (to get hitched up with another temp agency), and I took a look at what the guys downtown are wearing - I saw a mix of ties and no ties, but most guys had dress shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes on. I did see one bowtie - that was bit of surprise!
If you’re seeking work, wear decent slacks, a nice shirt, a jacket and a tie. Once you have work, you can adjust your attire to conform with everyone else in the office.
I don’t know where the OP is seeking work, but a lot of temp word processing happens at law firms, which are pretty conservative. Lawyers wear suits and ties (or whatever the equivalent for women is).
Lots of firms have policies that allow one to dress down a bit on Fridays, and a smaller number of firms have “business casual” dress codes, but in general they’re pretty conservative places, especially the big firms.
Not only is it regional (East Coast v. West) and industry based (law firms tend to be tie places) but it can also vary from group to group within the same company at the same location.
It isn’t a horrible idea as a temp to have a bag with dress down clothes in it - just in case the “office temp” you thought you were going to be turns out to be “follow me into the warehouse and we’ll get you started on those pallets.”
My advice to the OP: Wear nice slacks, a button-down shirt [long sleeved] and a tie. Add a jacket if you think it’ll be more formal. You really don’t want to be underdressed on your first day of temp work, but if you think you might be doing more active stuff, bring a change of clothes just in case.
My DH has a fondness for bowties, courtesy of a former boss. We also know a young man at church (probably under 30) who likes bowties and three-piece suits.
Again it depends on where you work. Here people who interview in jackets are either new college grads who don’t know better, eccentric, or clueless. I sure didn’t wear a tie when I interviewed here 16 years ago. On the other hand a place like a law office is very different.
Heck, my VP and exec VP never wear ties, and when I started I got an article about our fairly famous CEO who hated ties, and only wore jackets when meeting with Prime Ministers and the like.
I can re-offer the other standard option of visiting the job site before starting work and seeing what people wear.