Is it wrong to feel taken back by interviewers showing up in extremely casual clothes including hoodies, T-Shirts, baseball caps etc.?

32 Comments

1. AnonymousMarch 16,2023 at 2:18AM UTC

   I love to see a casual approach from leadership. It usually means they are more approachable and interested in more modern ways of conducting business.

2. AnonymousMarch 16,2023 at 3:25AM UTC

   Not unusual at all. Unless you work in finance or wear a uniform to work, or fashion casual is business attire.

3. AnonymousMarch 16,2023 at 4:04AM UTC

   Sometimes dressing up is seen as old school or stuffy.
   Especially when the company has a more contemporary vibe. At newer companies dress is more for comfort and not at all a reflection of etiquette or respect or level of expertise.

4. AnonymousMarch 16,2023 at 1:59PM UTC

   Thank you for the other perspective. I've worked in more business attire (not even just for the interview) companies so this was new for me.

5. AnonymousMarch 17,2023 at 12:40PM UTC

   When I was coaching potential interviewees before an interview, I would tell them to find out what the dress code at the company is and take it up one notch. If everyone is casual (jeans and T-shirts), wear business casual (dress shirt and khakis). If everyone wears business casual, wear a suit jacket. If everyone wears suits, wear a suit. Luckily I had access to a clothing bank where I could get them appropriate attire if they couldn't afford it. If the company has a uniform, always go business casual. Scouring the website for action pictures of the interviewers or workers is easy. High-level sales jobs, financial institutions, government agencies, and law offices almost always will be formal attire. The medical profession is almost entirely wearing scrubs now.

   On the other hand, if the company's culture is highly casual, showing up in a suit can be as damaging as showing up in leggings and a t-shirt at a law office.

6. Mary PoolMarch 17,2023 at 1:49PM UTC

   I would tell them that we are looking for sound judgment, and showing up to an interview in a hoodie and baseball cap shows a lack of sound judgment. This way, they know exactly what costs them the job and can change their behavior in future interviews. I tell them business casual is usually the best bet. Over the years, I've only had one person tell me this was what they could afford. So we hired them and gave them an advance to purchase appropriate work attire. Will I trust my business' reputation on someone who shows up to an interview in a hoodie and baseball cap? Absolutely not.

7. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistMarch 18,2023 at 4:50AM UTC

   The OP is talking about the interviewers being in hoodies, T-Shirts, baseball caps etc. - not the candidate.

8. AnonymousMarch 17,2023 at 2:54PM UTC

   Yes! I agree! Call me “boomer” or “old school “ all you want. Dress for the position you want in an interview and dress like you are a manager if you’re a manager. I have walked away from a few “cool” company jobs over this. I can’t even fathom how these people dressed like high school students run a business.

9. AnonymousMarch 19,2023 at 3:09AM UTC

   You walked away from a company over how people dressed? Were you interviewing with The Fashion Police?

10. AnonymousMarch 17,2023 at 5:23PM UTC

    IMO, it depends on the industry. Finance/banking - business. Tech - casual to very casual.

11. AnonymousMarch 17,2023 at 5:39PM UTC

    Not wrong to feel taken back, but it is good insight on the company culture if these are interviewers.

    There are many people who believe that it doesn't matter what you wear as long as you can do your job. If the ability to do your job is the same in a hoodie as it is in traditional business attire, what's the point of being in the less comfortable business attire? Not saying this is right or wrong, just giving a bit of insight into the reasoning behind this.

    I personally would never show up to an interview without dressing up, no matter which side I'm on (interviewer or interviewee). If the interviewee is expected to dress up, it's a sign of respect to them if I also dress nicely. I won't wear a suit, but I do a dress or nice slacks and a blazer. The exception to this would be a position in IT or another position where it gets dirty and it's not practical for them to dress nicely.

12. BeaBoss750792March 17,2023 at 9:41PM UTC

    Casual dress, including jeans and hoodies, is the norm in the tech industry. For those of us who work in tech, an interview loop is an hour meeting in a typical day of ours. Frankly, if I dressed up to interview someone, I’d get chided by my peers asking me if *I* was interviewing somewhere that day.

13. AnonymousMarch 18,2023 at 12:47PM UTC

    This happened to me a lot when I was interviewing during the pandemic, I would be carefully dressed with a full face of makeup and the other person/people would be in a hoodie. I finally realized that even though the interview was an “event” for me it was just another meeting in a routine day for them.

14. Angie MartinMarch 18,2023 at 12:34PM UTC

    I work for a very casual company and have nterviewed warehouse and sales staff. I don't dress any differently than any other work day. If the interviewer is dressed casually, that's insurance if company culture, and a sign that if you are offered the job, you might not fit in if you like to dress up. Depending on your role, dressing up might be necessary (outside salespeople tend to dress more nicely for meeting days/trade shows, etc).

15. Celena BartonMarch 18,2023 at 12:43PM UTC

    Candidates should always dress nicely. They don’t have to wear an Armani suit but should at least wear a nice top and pants. Hoodies and hats are unacceptable, no matter the industry. I don’t there is bias in someone dressing nicely for an interview in a casual environment. First impressions do matter.

16. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistMarch 19,2023 at 3:07AM UTC

    YOU SAID: "I don’t there is bias in someone dressing nicely for an interview in a casual environment. First impressions do matter."

    There's a word missing in your comment - I'm going to assume it's "think".

    And that's not necessarily true. There absolutely cam be a bias in someone being overdressed for the company they're interviewing for.

    In some companies, if you show up overdressed, you can be considered too old (yes, I know age discrimination is a illegal but it happens all day, every day), to rigid, too old fashioned to learn new things, too uptight to be a fit in a very casual environment, etc.

    Back in the day, I placed engineers and had to tell all of them to make sure they got a haircut, got their shoes shined, wore a nice suit and tie. I had one client who had a very casual environment and specifically requested that candidate come dressed casual. They did it for two reasons: to make sure candidates were comfortable in that casual atmosphere and to make sure they listened.

    When it comes to dress code for interviews, my advice is to read the room. What you wear is just another way to show that you would fit in at that company. First impressions do matter.

17. AnonymousMarch 18,2023 at 1:48PM UTC

    Especially if the job is remote/work from home, not strange these days. I only work in office once per week and the rest of the week it’s t-shirts, hoodies, flannel and leggings. I recently interviewed with a start up company in my industry (not tech!) and everyone was dressed petty laid back. I still dressed a little nicer but it was nice to have a laid back feeling, like we were just having a conversation. Helped put me at ease and I really enjoyed meeting everyone. People who work from home are looking for an environment like this. Not many want to dress up just to sit at home.

18. Audrey KirschMarch 18,2023 at 3:46PM UTC

    Depends on the company. This company may have a casual in Office atmosphere so that’s what they’re showing you. Listen to what they have to say rather than worry about what they’re wearing.

19. Lorna Rose, J.D., M.S.March 18,2023 at 4:41PM UTC

    It’s not wrong to feel taken aback, many people feel that way about the relaxing of dress codes. It’s merely a sign of the times evolving and adapting. The pandemic showed us that good work can be done in a variety of settings by professional people who wear a variety of styles. “Business attire” is a gatekeeping mechanism to prevent people of lower means from breaking socioeconomic barriers that were meant to keep them out of middle- and upper-classes.

    Think of it this way: if the interviewer/hiring manager/CEO of the company was blind, what difference would a dress code make? Absolutely none!

20. AnonymousMarch 18,2023 at 5:03PM UTC

    As someone who broke socioeconomic barriers, husband and I joined the military at age 20. We earned a low pay but learned valuable work and life skills. Keeping our uniforms pristine was required. After four years, we became civilians and bought khakis, dress shirts/blouses at KMart on the cheap since that was what could afford for our civilian job hunt. Our clothes were always clean and pressed.

    We didn't think this was "the man" keeping us down. That's a bad mindset. We knew if we wanted to get ahead and differentiate ourselves from other applicants, this is what we have to do.

21. AnonymousMarch 19,2023 at 3:57PM UTC

    you joined the military and became government property. Of course you don’t see “the man” holding you down; after all, nobody joins a cult.

22. AnonymousMarch 20,2023 at 12:38PM UTC

    We were poor and couldn't afford college. Didn't want student loans. We went in for GI Bill and job skills. We worked up to the middle class, raised 2 kids and paid their college, recently retired with 2 homes. Boy "the man" really held us down.

23. AnonymousMarch 18,2023 at 5:33PM UTC

    I agree to some extent. However, you can wear jeans or khaki-type pants with a nice shirt and some nice casual shoes. During an interview you should be dressed nice. And you don’t have to spend a lot of money either because rest assured they have nice clothes for celebrations or going out that they could use.

24. Lori Laurito BetzMarch 18,2023 at 6:50PM UTC

    Define ”they” because your entire assertion of “they have nice clothes…they could use” sounds very prejudice…another anonymous keyboard warrior ?

25. AnonymousMarch 18,2023 at 6:30PM UTC

    If you’re working with tech companies for example this is standard. It’s very standard in many industries post covid. An interview is just one small task in their day and they’re not thinking about this/changing how they dress daily for random candidates. Even more so if they can be client facing like this. I wouldn’t take it personal but it very clearly shows you the culture of the company. They’re not all going to change once you join, so you have to decide if this culture is a good fit for you. My guess is this isn’t your place if you’re so bothered by their clothes already.

    Good luck finding a good fit!

26. Paulla Fetzek, MSEdMarch 19,2023 at 2:01PM UTC

    Great point, but you're taking this from the view that the poster is the person who is looking for a job.

    Other way around. they're the person doing the interview. It's never in good form to attend an interview in relaxed clothes - unless the company states so,

    However, you make a great point for one who's looking for a job. Don't necessarily base your opinion on the company by the dress of the people interviewing you. You have no idea why, on that particular day, they may be dressed the way they are.

27. AnonymousMarch 18,2023 at 6:42PM UTC

    Are you the fashion police? These days folks barely get out of their sweat pants to go to work. Let it go. Some of the best employees spend more time on the content of their work than what they put on their bodies. Unless its some offensive t-shirt with a rude slogan ignore it. It's likely a casual workplace so if their style doesn't suit yours its not a fit.

28. Paulla Fetzek, MSEdMarch 19,2023 at 1:56PM UTC

    You're right - there are thousands of awesome employees who don't dress up to work. This is also completely irrelevant to this situation.

    Unless the company states it's a relaxed environment - including interviews - it's extremely bad form to come poorly dressed.

    As one who interviews for my company: If you don't care enough to dress up for the interview, why should I think you'll care about the job?

29. Erica MitchellMarch 19,2023 at 10:57AM UTC

    In my opinuon, I find it very unprofessional to show up for a professional interview wearing sweats. If they can't put effort into looking professional, what does this say about the effort they'll put into the job.

30. Crystal HowellMarch 19,2023 at 12:49PM UTC

    Send them home!!!!!!

31. AnonymousMarch 20,2023 at 12:10PM UTC

    I think the dress code says a lot about the culture of the company that is interviewing you. If you are taken aback by the way the interviewer is dressed, maybe this is not a good fit for you.

32. MidwestMaven456March 20,2023 at 3:08PM UTC

    Many things have changes over the years. Now, things are so dependent on age of both the interviewers and applicants, location of company, field of work and notes from interviewers.

    Is it an artistic field or a normally conservative one? Are you in a major metro area vs a small town? Do you have a 55+ y/o HR person or twenty something? Did anyone say to come for the interview in standard business attire or have all of your Zoom interviews been in casual business? These things all matter.

    FYI, you want the caliber of the person to shine. If you are the HR person, you can always give them hints up front about what you are looking for if they seem to fit the bill.