# Reality Check: Would you wear a suit to a career fair/interview? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-would-you-wear-a-suit-to-a-career-fair-interview/682159 "2014-02-24T21:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-would-you-wear-a-suit-to-a-career-fair-interview/682159/81 "2014-02-27T18:47:14Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Yes. I know. > > You may assume, therefore, that I do not work in their industries. And that my dressing for an interview they way they dress for daily work would be breaking the rules in my industry. > > Of course, I do not dress the way I dressed for my interview every day, either. I keep my emergency dress up clothes handy though, in case a government agency comes to call. In my experience it’s wise to frequently dress as if you’re going to an interview even when you’re not. It makes it less noticeable when you ARE ducking out to talk to the competition. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-would-you-wear-a-suit-to-a-career-fair-interview/682159/82 "2014-02-27T20:18:28Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > And 1 step up from your interviewer, if your interviewer is in a polo, IS a suit and tie. The whole thing makes me go 😕 Ok this part, above all others, shows how clueless you are about dress styles (no offense intended). One step up from a polo is a button-down shirt. One step up from that includes a tie (or maybe a jacket sans tie). And then one step above that is the full suit and tie. You are way out of touch with what dress modes are available and acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-would-you-wear-a-suit-to-a-career-fair-interview/682159/83 "2014-02-27T20:54:27Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > In my experience it’s wise to frequently dress as if you’re going to an interview even when you’re not. It makes it less noticeable when you ARE ducking out to talk to the competition. The last time I slipped out for an interview, I wore exactly what I usually wear to work and am wearing today. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-would-you-wear-a-suit-to-a-career-fair-interview/682159/84 "2014-02-27T21:05:51Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Yes. I know. > > You may assume, therefore, that I do not work in their industries. And that my dressing for an interview they way they dress for daily work would be breaking the rules in my industry. > > Of course, I do not dress the way I dressed for my interview every day, either. I keep my emergency dress up clothes handy though, in case a government agency comes to call. I realize that different industries have different codes - my son-in-law is a lawyer and dresses a lot better for work than I do. I haven’t dealt with government people for ages, and when I did it was with a National Labs then administered by Bell Labs, who dressed exactly like we did. But I have given presentations and panels at defense industry oriented conferences, and didn’t wear a suit then either. Not that I get funded by the government, but panelists more closely associated didn’t wear suits either. I can imagine wearing a suit if I were going to interview for an IT job on Wall Street. For Microsoft or Google. never. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-would-you-wear-a-suit-to-a-career-fair-interview/682159/85 "2014-02-27T21:14:26Z")
Meh. This reminds me of comments that come up on LinkedIn all the time: look your best, be positive, did you go the extra mile?, things to never do at a job interview, etc. Here’s the deal; the degree to which an employer is concerned about things like whether you tried to impress them with your conformity or ability to tie a windsor knot is proportional to the number of applicants for the position. If they really need an engineer that has x amount of experience doing y, then there are going to care less about whether the whole shoe, or just the toe was polished. If the are filling a position for which they have an abundance of qualified applicants, then they start looking at the tiniest details that have little to nothing to do with the job to eliminate people. The recent recession has been a prime example of this phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-would-you-wear-a-suit-to-a-career-fair-interview/682159/86 "2014-02-27T21:17:50Z")
I would wear a suit…but only because I look GOOD in a suit. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-would-you-wear-a-suit-to-a-career-fair-interview/682159/87 "2014-02-28T01:07:47Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > In my experience it’s wise to frequently dress as if you’re going to an interview even when you’re not. It makes it less noticeable when you ARE ducking out to talk to the competition. And always take a long lunch at least three times before your scheduled review. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-would-you-wear-a-suit-to-a-career-fair-interview/682159.md?page=4)