Interview Attire Question

[cheezer]

What would you wear to a tech start-up interview on the west coast if you are a man?

I know the answer is not a suit but I'm not sure how dressed down it should be.

[tacosforlife]

Fun socks. Nothing crazy, but like a blue stripe instead of solid blue. I see bolder/patterned socks on men EVERYWHERE right now.

[tacosforlife]

And in case it wasn't clear, I do advocate wearing clothes in addition to the socks.

[y4m]

Blazer and slacks if they have specifically been told not to wear a suit. If not...I still say suit. But then men I see are mostly in sales, so that's a little more conservative.

[larzhope]

khaki's and a button down. or dark jeans and a button down and nice shoes. I work in tech. Teams at my company have been known to not hire someone because they wore a suit, so definitely stay far away from anything that can be construed as suit-like.

[Deleted]

Patterned blazer or button down + nice, dark jeans or slacks.

West coast is super super casual + tech / startup even more so.

Don't over think it. Just dress nice and have some fun with it.

[LoveTrains]

I just came back from Seattle where my BIL works at a startup. He has an MBA from Haas/UC Berkeley and formerly worked at McKinsey. He was telling me that he "dresses up" for business meetings by wearing a blazer. Like I saw him go downtown and he was wearing a gray wool blazer, patterned dress shirt, and khakis. They used to live in Boston so we got into a long conversation about cultural expectations/norms between east coast/west coast. Even at McKinsey no one wore suits in the Seattle office.

[cheezer]

Mar 30, 2015 15:00:59 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I just came back from Seattle where my BIL works at a startup. He has an MBA from Haas/UC Berkeley and formerly worked at McKinsey. He was telling me that he "dresses up" for business meetings by wearing a blazer. Like I saw him go downtown and he was wearing a gray wool blazer, patterned dress shirt, and khakis. They used to live in Boston so we got into a long conversation about cultural expectations/norms between east coast/west coast. Even at McKinsey no one wore suits in the Seattle office.

People (including senior people) wear jeans in my office.  And my job is one of the dressiest there is.  8 months out here and I'm not sure I know how to dress appropriately on the east coast.

[LoveTrains]

Yeah he normally wears jeans.

[pink]

Jeans + blazer/t-shirt or button down
Maybe slacks, but I see that rarely (especially if it's on the engineering/technical side)

[Poppy]

Huh. Well I worked in engineering at a F500 tech company at a non-HQ site that was very casual and we'd be fine with no suit. But our HQ in silicon valley was actually dressier. I don't know what the interviewing norm was for that site though...

I did go to another big tech company in Oregon and was overdressed compared to the engineering team that I was meeting with. But it's kind of hard to know - does he have any contacts at the company that he can ask?

ETA - I also interviewed with a small start-up here and they were surprisingly formal so my pseudo-suit was a good choice in that case. It's just tough to know the culture. Sorry if I'm just adding doubt.

[v]

Is there a headhunter involved by any chance? If so, I'd ask the headhunter for tips.

[cheezer]

Mar 30, 2015 17:45:32 GMT -5 v said:

Is there a headhunter involved by any chance? If so, I'd ask the headhunter for tips.

Nope.  I told him to go stake out the building the day before. LOL

[lolo]

It really depends on the culture of the start up.

For the most part, a blazer that can be removed if it's too formal plus slacks works well. Add something whimsical or nerdy. No tie.

It also depends on the position. If it's sales, I'd dress up more vs in engineering, I'd dress down slightly.

Fwiw, MH interviews people regularly at a prominent silicon valley company. He says he sees everything from jeans and a hoodie to a full suit. He says unless it's really extreme, it has no effect on who gets hired.