I underdressed to my programming interviews in the bay area (I generally wear what I like). I can't really say if it helped or hurt but I did fine and doubt it mattered much.
It's kind of hard to "underdress" to a programming interview in the Bay Area - indeed, I'm not even sure what the lower bar would be for style of dress for a programmer interview. It's got to be pretty close to what would get you arrested for indecent exposure. :-)
undershirt and gym shorts, maybe? Pajamas?
The thing is, if we're interviewing, and the person who shows up in Pajamas rocks out on the whiteboard, and just blows us away with their humility, ability to communicate, domain knowledge, and mental agility - I don't think we'd hold the Pajamas against them. Also - Pajamas are kind of a hipster startup wear on occasion. I recall our VP of HR showing up in pajamas at Loudcloud. And, I saw people wearing Pajamas at Lily's Crepery in San Mateo this weekend. Maybe they would lose marks on the Gym Short/undershirt thing - but they wouldn't automatically flunk out the interview.
In The bay Area? Show up for a Programming Role in a nice Suit with a tie.
Not quite underdressing -- but you'll likely be judged as less capable solely on the way your are dressed.
I might give you extra points for a nice suit.
I've actually found that I've been penalized more for 'over-dressing' than for underdressing over here. I worked a small marketing job for a while a couple years back, and I picked up on wearing suits as an effective way to 'hack' most people into giving you more credibility than you would otherwise initially get (which works great with the whole 'fake-it-til-you-make-it' program an introvert like me needed). So I experimented with this idea and wore a suit pretty much everywhere for about a year (not like traditional white-collar + boring tie suits mind you, think more 'Jonny Cash with a flashy tie'), and while most normal people were receptive to this style (as I expected), I noticed that a fair share of programmers/techies were generally put off/uncomfortable with it. I found it a bit ironic, since I felt I was just doing the same anti-status-quo thing programmers initially did by owning the 'underdressed' style; but I guess it's just too soon for techies to be comfortable with that kind of 180.
But didn't programmers do it because they didn't trust "the suits"?
Is it really ironic that they STILL don't trust them?
Has something happened in the past few years that would give programmers a reason to trust them that I've missed?
You could show up straight from the gym, and, if you could code, we would hire you. You might not make an optimal first impression, but good developers are hard to come by.
Thank you for reminding me of one of the reasons I love being a developer =)
tangent: an oddity about pajamas is they are actually quite formal, being a shirt and pants. The top has a collar, cuffs and a front pocket - more formal than a T-shirt. It's odd that people should dress for sleep as if attending an important occasion - perhaps in case they should die before they wake, they are prepared for a funeral, and to meet their maker.
My brother was told to show up to his first day in clean clothes, for one data point.
I went to a Serious Business Meeting in the Bay Area where one of the other company's engineers was wearing a kilt. Pretty excellent.
Kilt is rather formal.
That's the Bay Area. I doubt you could have gotten away with such an activity had you applied for a job on the East Coast, or for a large defense contractor, like Lockheed or Boeing.
I did get away with it.
Performing the interview? Or getting the job?
I got a job offer at Lockheed martin wearing a wrinkled suit, no tie, and was visibly hung over
I am sincerely impressed.
ha! I got a job with them in a polo, cargo pants, tennis shoes and a hoody. Looked fantastic in the team photo too, what with everybody else in formal.