Ask HN: What do you wear to programming interviews? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What do you wear to programming interviews?

38 pointsmeat_fist55 comments

I have two interviews coming up this week. Originally I hadn't planned on wearing a full suit, but after talking to a few friends I've been second guessing that decision. My friends sort of agreed wearing a suit is "something to check off the list" for an interview candidate? Is this true? Even if the company's style is no suit, should I wear one just for formality? Does it matter that much?

edit Since people seem to have the wrong impression, I never planned on walking in dressed like a slob. A button down shirt, tucked into nicer pants with nicer shoes on. Maybe a tie if I could find one that looked nice. I just never planned on wearing a full matching suit.

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Find out how people normally dress at the company and dress as well or slightly better. If people normally wear ties to work I'd say go with a suit. If they wear business casual make sure you've got a tie but maybe not a suit. If they wear shorts and flip flops wear a nice pair of jeans and possibly a collared shirt. Only companies in the last category are likely to penalize you for overdressing. Companies in the earlier categories will penalize you if you underdress. If in doubt speak to the recruiter and ask how people normally dress at the company.

Unless you're trying to look like Dilbert, never wear a tie without a jacket

don't wear short sleeved buttoned shirts, that's a bigger nono than wearing a tie without jacket.

Don't know why this is being downvoted. It may not matter much in engineering circles, but anyone who is knows how to dress knows that a tie without a jacket looks silly (or like you just came from a high school homecoming dance.)

Let the downvotes rain you jacket-less tie wearers.

On topic: OP, you're never going to be dinged for wearing a suit to an interview. You may be taking a chance by dressing down. How people perceive you at first glance does matter, whether we like it or not.

Personally, I would wear the suit. That said, I have been involved in more than a few interviews/hiring decisions, and I've never rested my decision on dress (if you showed up in shorts and a T-shirt there may be an issue as it says something about your attitude.) I wouldn't give a leg up to the candidate who wore a suit over the candidate who wore a button up and chinos, but that's me, and we all know that dress isn't exactly something which is on the mind of many engineers.

Actually, you may be dinged for wearing a suit. I've seen comments, I think some even here on HN, where people have laughed at interviewees that wore suits and rejected applicants because of it.

I'd say "you wouldn't want to work for anyplace that would ding you for a suit". At least I wouldn't.

Well you could have the tie with something else also, like a cardigan. But that works best with a non-silk tie, like knitted wool or something

Glad you said it! A jacket with no tie is much more casual than a tie with no jacket.

For an enterprise company always wear a suit. For a C level interview wear a suit, regardless of environment in my opinion. If a startup comments about you being overdressed just have some fun with it.

For mid-sized firms it can go either way, suit or just business attire with or without tie.

For small firms, dress appropriately to the company, as someone else said, dress at least 1 level up from what they are wearing daily.

Also, you can always ask the phone screen person or HR rep. Say hey, what is the daily dress code like? Or be more direct and say hey I like to make sure I am respectful of your environment and would normally wear slacks and a button down shirt, would that be acceptable for an interview with your team? Frankly I have had only a few people ever ask me and they stood out in my mind positively as conscientious.

Financial services/banks etc, always wear a suit. A few other industries are like this too from my experience.

> Say hey, what is the daily dress code like?

Actually, i think this is the key. Not because it's an easy way, but because that is exactly what an interviewee's task in a job interview is:

Finding out basic facts about the company.

Yep, totally agree. You are as much interviewing the company as they are you in the end. But when you are first starting out it never feels that way.

It depends on the company. Google, as an example, sends you an email when you interview that there's no need to dress up for the interview - wear what you're comfortable in, the interview is about your skills. I'd say about half the places I interviewed at basically said that they weren't expecting me to dress up and I wore a nicer everyday outfit.

If the company doesn't give you guidance, I think it's easiest to ask. Usually you're dealing with a recruiter at the company and they want to get someone good hired, but ultimately the choice to hire won't be theirs. They're not going to want you to get a "no" decision simply because someone interviewing you didn't like your dress. They know the people who will be interviewing you and what they're expecting. If the company keeps track of numbers for these inside recruiters, those recruiters are going to want to look like they're bringing in good people - that they have good judgement when bringing people in for interviews. They won't want their numbers to be bad based on your dress - based on a technicality. How crummy would that be - your numbers are worse than another recruiter's because you wouldn't advise candidates on how to dress and they were denied because of that?

You can always fall back to being more dressy, but I think asking is the easiest.

Ask the recruiter at the company, "What do the programmers typically wear? I just want to dress appropriately for the interview." Then just dress slightly nicer than that. If they wear t-shirts and jeans, then you wear a casual button-up shirt and jeans. If they wear dress pants and button-up shirts, then you throw on a jacket and maybe a tie. It is all over the board for a programing interview depending on the company and location.

I did not know whether asking explicitly would be frowned upon or something. I'll just ask, that'll simplify everything.

Asking about company dress code is a perfectly good question, and it's one part of understanding the company's overall culture. Any sane recruiter or hiring manager wants you to understand and be attracted by the company culture, and will be happy to answer questions about that sort of thing. Furthermore, they may give you brownie points for asking since it shows you are interested in making a good impression and in understanding the nature of your job on the whole.

I had this fear too. It's a common fear, I think! It probably made a lot of sense until the last few decades of recent history.

But now that we have CEOs wearing everything from suits to sweatshirts, there's no way you could possibly be expected to magically know what a company's dress code is ahead of time. :)

Asking is completely sensible. Ask either the person you did a phone screen with or the hiring manager.

This is a good question. When setting up an interview, don't be afraid to ask a question. Especially when you are speaking to a recruiter.

Dress appropriately for the organisation. I once wore a suit to an interview at a hipster place in east London -- mistake (though I got the job in the end). You want to be just a bit better dressed than the norm for the people interviewing you. So if it's a jeans and t-shirt place, rock jeans and a shirt. If it's a shirt place, wear a jacket. etc.

I work in the tech industry in silicon valley. I just wear a shirt and solid color jeans. That works for most interviews in the valley at-least. I would check the company culture and who you are interviewing with to determine what to wear.

When I just left university, I spent a significant amount of money I had on a suit for interviews. Then all the companies and recruiters said "just wear smart casual" and i said "FUCK YOU im wearing my overpriced suit". It hasn't actually impacted my interviews much, because for good interviewers who you are matters more than what you wear. Just don't wear obviously wrong things.

edit: I didn't actually say FUCK YOU to anyones face.

I graduated in the dotcom bust, 2001. I had good grades, and got plenty of interviews (after putting a lot of effort into applications). The thing is, everyone / everywhere is different and places values on different things. If the job has a client facing aspect, I am sure wearing a suit would go down way better than jeans and t-shirt. I have worked mainly in back end stuff, so its not been as important. Working for a bank they have different expectations from academia.

I wear something from the upper end of the range of what I would wear to work every day. Usually, this is because I am taking time off for the interview, either coming directly from my existing job, or going directly there after the interview.

I do not comment on attire during the interview, not my own, nor anyone else's. If I am asked about it, I say "This is what I wear to work. Does your company have a dress code?" Regardless of the answer, this is a warning signal, and my salary expectation just jumped. The interviewer permanently lost its potential discount for work environment.

I may even keep my existing employee ID on its neck band and tucked inside my shirt pocket, to reinforce the signal that I already have a job (and you're keeping me from it).

When I interview while unemployed, I'm far more likely to wear the suit. Or at least a tie. My hoop-jumping reserves not being depleted by an existing employer, I am far more willing to acquiesce to expectations not relevant to the job description. It's very much like the difference in dressing up for a date night versus going out with your spouse.

Generally speaking, no one cares what you wear to a programming interview. If it wouldn't cause people not to sit next to you on the subway, you're fine.

Sure, there are outliers -- Goldman Sachs probably won't hire you unless you show up for the interview in a tuxedo, and some brogrammer-laden startups won't hire you unless you dress exactly like they do -- but they're rare, and recruiters will warn you ahead of time if you're walking into that kind of situation.

Personally, I would rather hire a solid programmer who needed some guidance on how to dress than a solid dresser who needed guidance on how to program, but that's just me.

Based on what? I would play it safe and wear a suit unless I have an assurance from the recruiter or the company that dressing casual would improve my chances.

Based on personal and anecdotal experience, both as an interviewer and as an interviewee. Nothing scientific, unfortunately.

I'm not saying that dressing casual would improve your chances; I'm saying that you are very likely to be the only one who cares what you wear to your interview.

Much of it depends on the culture and industry.

For a safe bet, nice pants and a nice shirt let's them know you prepared and that the company is worth your time. Dressing down too much is not helpful. On the flipside, wearing a suit is actually overkill and may lead to impressions you are hiding something (unless you are going to be in finance). Developers don't really trust the suit, especially in the game industry.

As long as you feel confident in it you will do well. You might be in interviews for many hours for each one, bring water and make sure you are comfortable.

My dad would say that you can never be overdressed.

Wearing a suit to a hipster office certainly isn't going to loose you the job, they'll be more inclined to look at the person rather than the suit.

Wearing a suit to a corporate role will certainly help get you the job.

Wearing a suit makes you look good, looking good isn't a requirement for day to day work, but there are occasions you should smarten up. An interview is definitely one of those occasions.

Wear a full suit, feel comfortable in it and know you are looking your best and presenting the best side of you.

Other commenters disagree with your dad and your second statement.

I am inclined to wear a suit as all of my female friends think I look pretty good in a suit. However, there is a chance that the suit selection is limited - the trousers might no longer suit my waistline with one outfit, another outfit could still be covered with detritus from that last wedding and so on. Also sometimes you don't want to advertise to the world that you are going to a job interview. Therefore the suit idea just might not be possible.

Next choice, out of the regular work wardrobe, is to wear the clothes I am happiest wearing. These are the ones that are a bit like a wrap-around comfort blanket.

For me, most important is to actually be clean. I couch-surfed my way to one interview some years ago, where there was a problem with the water. I could not shower or even do a minimal effort wash. I felt horrible and I did not get the job.

One idea though, if you work primarily with one programming language/application/framework, then, if you have any merchandise - e.g. a hat or a T-shirt emblazoned with the language/app/framework logo - then that could work and break the ice.

Personally I've always just worn my everyday clothes to interviews as a programmer an have had no problems getting jobs. It's about what you know and what you can do and not about what you wear. For the record: my everyday clothes are jeans or casual dress pants and a Linux conference t-shirt.

Button-down shirt with slacks for most companies. That way you're unlikely to be penalized before being over or under-dressed. When going for a leadership level position, add a blazer or sport coat.

For C-level positions or if you are interviewing in the finance industry, wear a suit.

Find out what the culture of the company is and try to match that.

My strategy is to wear a fully-awesome Western shirt; pearl snap buttons, big embroidered images on the shoulders, the whole works. It's dressy but also hilarious.

This + a bolo tie and you've pretty much nailed it.

Dark jeans, nice dress shirt, sensible shoes have worked for me in every tech company situation. Be safe, neutral and don't spend too much time worrying about it.

Ask or drop by at lunch and see what people are wearing. I went to an interview about a two years ago in an academic setting in the finance department and one of the interviewers was the president of the finance department. I wore a suit and tie to the interview and the team walked in with polos and khakis. I quickly slipped my jacket off, so it was not too uncomfortable. But its better to know, it one less thing to NOT worry about.

From experience it is always better to overdress than under-dress, minimum should be business casual. It is hard to not think good of someone that dresses well, looks clean, sharp and knows what they are talking about. You may also get a higher starting salary for dressing on point. Once you have the job you can adjust the way you dress accordingly.

Watch some move about hackers and look what they are wearing. A few minutes into the movie there will be guy on a motorcycle or a sports car with a hot chick, that will be the main character and how you would like to dress like. ;)

... beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. If there is not a new man, how can the new clothes be made to fit? If you have any enterprise before you, try it in your old clothes.

Describe the company, even vaguely, would be helpful.

The one seems very informal. 34 people, sports management software, I talked to the CTO who opted to fly me out.

The other seems more formal. 70 people, teaching software. The phone screen was with an HR person who was dressed nicely, although she brought up beer a number of times (which was awesome).

I guess my biggest fear is "over" dressing? As in, I'm presumed to not be a cultural fit because I overdress. Gameplan was to dress nicely, but not in a full suit. I might even wear a tie, but a full suit to me seems excessive.

I'm presumed to not be a cultural fit because I overdress

The dress code for someone applying to some kind of professional job is (in the Western world - not everywhere in the world wears English national dress when they want to look smart) a suit, smart shoes, nice tie (or a female equivalent). Doesn't necessarily have to be the same material for trousers and jacket, but smart trousers and a good condition jacket. That is the dress code for a job applicant.

The dress code for the workplace at which you are interviewing might be different, but you don't work there so that's not your dress code; you're a job applicant at an interview. Someone dressing smartly has gone to the effort of dressing well, and in doing so has indicated that they have prepared for this interview, and that they recognise the formality of it; they are demonstrating basic good manners, and good manners should be a cultural fit in every workplace.

Sadly, I suspect there are workplaces who want you to be psychic and guess how to dress to match them exactly so they think you're "one of them" and mark people down for dressing smartly and not looking just like them, even though you don't even work there. I'd like to say that such workplaces are not worth your time, but sadly it wouldn't be true (although they may well have bought a little bit more into some kind of hipster inspired cargo-cult than you might like). Nonetheless, all you can do is play the probabilities, and on balance dressing smart for a job interview will win you more points than dressing like them.

When I interview, if they're not dressing smartly, it goes against them, even though most people around the office do not dress nearly so smartly.

As an addendum, when I'm the interviewee, and some joker interviewing me is wearing scruffy clothes, it makes me less likely to want the job; I'm not asking for the interviewer to be wearing a suit, but jeans frayed at the cuffs and a faded t-shirt? I'm sorry, have I accidentally wandered into a job interview for flipping burgers? Sure, it's one factor amongst many, but if the interviewer can't be bothered to try to present at least a smart appearance, it makes me wonder what else is going wrong in the company; do they want to hire good people or not?

Ironically, these people are often found to heavily support the idea of beautiful interfaces and advocate how important appearance is in UI and so forth; well, a conversation with a person is very much a UI for getting a job.

I think there are a few considerations based on the type of role. If you're expected to interact with clients, then I think a full suit for an interview is appropriate, basically to demonstrate that you can present yourself in a business environment if necessary.

If the role is purely for programming, and your impression is that the other developers at this company do not wear them, I would not wear a tie and jacket- it could come off as an incorrect cultural fit.

I don't think you'll feel overdressed in any work environment if you wear a button up shirt, comfortable slacks, and understated dress shoes.

A super casual place that is trying to protect their vibe should tell you that during the phone interview. Sometimes they forget and are usually cool if you just ask prior to going in. If they're not cool with the question (especially when you way you're going to wear a suit otherwise) do you really want to work there?

Clothes that I think I look nice in. I live on the west coast, a suit is too formal.

When in doubt, ask the employer: hiring manager, HR, whoever!

nothing

dropbox trucker hat.

If it matters, don't take the job

How you carry and present yourself does matter in life, regardless of whether or not think it should. It says something about you, and people infer things about you based upon it. If you don't come to terms with that early on then you're holding yourself back for no reason.

Can we dispel the myth of tech companies as being super lax when it comes to attire? (Presuming this is a tech company since you asked on HN and mentioned programming). The last thing I would wear to an interview is something casual and slacker. You want to give the impression that you've come there to work hard, so at least make the effort. If you wear the same hoodie you've been wearing since you were 12, you will be immediately cast off as incompetent. Make an effort.

I never said it was super lax, and I never said I'd show up in a hoodie and sneakers. Obviously I would dress nicely, a tucked in button-down shirt, nicer pants and shoes, maybe even a tie. I just didn't think a full-suit was a requirement.

Generally speaking, jacket and tie is safe even if it's not normal in the work environment. As others have said, you're not working there when you're interviewing. Even if you know the environment in question and know that you don't really need to wear a tie, it shouldn't hurt unless someone has explicitly told you otherwise. A suit's usually overkill outside of certain situations--though I can't say it's out of bounds either especially if it's for a customer-facing role. Those doing the interviewing should understand that it's conventional to dress up for interviews as opposed to trying to perfectly fit in with the conventional dress code at their office.

> Can we dispel the myth of tech companies as being super lax when it comes to attire?

It's not a myth of startup companies are actually hiring developers who show up in jeans, tshirt and tennis shoes.

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