Dressing Up for a Virtual Interview?

There’s a real element of this. I think it’s generally right to be a little more formal than the interviewer. But you should wear something you’d be willing to wear to work. Because otherwise you might find yourself stuck in a job that has expectations you don’t want to meet.

WTF? I wore suits for years. A suit that fits is very comfortable. I mean, except in the summer when the subway isn’t air conditioned… but the rest of the year, …

I didn’t like wearing ladies pumps, and when I had to wear them at work, they lived in my desk, and I wore walking shoes to get to and from the office. But I never minded the suit.

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Naw, there’s this secret hidden dress code for women that I can never figure out. The dress code for men is obvious and simply stated. You can walk into a shop and say, “I need X” and they will sell you an outfit appropriate for your workplace. I can’t do that.

I say this w.r.t virtual interviews only - the part of your blouse that the interviewer is going to see has only a couple of requirements. (1) Covers your cleavage, (2) Covers most of your arms, (3) Ultra modern necklace? (4) Plus don’t have hair/makeup combo that makes you look like you just crawled out of bed.

…okay maybe even just the top 1/3 of a woman is still pretty high maintenance.

I have gotten pretty good at hiding hair grease on camera with a crazy high 80’s ponytail that I can almost pull off because I’m already a bit eccentric.

I don’t think suits are comfortable at all, but I can tolerate it. I think I hate ties more than suits. And it’s weird to wear a suit without a tie. Women don’t need to wear ties. I also have a prominent adam’s apple, so I always feel like I’m choking. Not the best feeling when you’re trying to interview.

I haven’t had to wear a tie since I was in Brownies, and a lot of guys find them uncomfortable, so I’ll take your word on that. But if you separate the suit from the tie, suits are very nice. Wool has some give – it’s not exactly spandex, but it’s more flexible than cotton. Men’s suits are riddled with convenient pockets, too. (I bought ones with at least the external trappings, and hired a tailor to turn them into functional pockets.) Suits are also an easy choice. I never struggled with the secret dress code for women when I worked in a business-formal environment.

The only downside is that it’s a nuisance to get them cleaned – few good suits are machine washable.

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Finding pants that fit has always been a struggle of mine (until American Amazon), so just the idea of having to find a suit that fits gives me anxiety. Going to a tailor would also give me anxiety, so I just avoid that whole shebang.

I think for people who only wear a suit on special occasions it’s uncomfortable because they get a garment they don’t care for and it’s likely to have been a while since the last alteration so it doesn’t fit well.

For people who wear them every day, they put more thought into it and are more likely to get alterations as their body shape changes.

When I didn’t wear suits regularly, when I had unexpected job opportunities I would have to wear one on the fly which I hadn’t done in three years and of course it was uncomfortable for an entire day because I had gained weight. I now have a closet full of suits that are tailored and if needed could simply just wear one that I used last week for an interview.

Or buy a new suit. But yes, when I wore one every day, I made sure my suits fit well. Also, while I once had a seamstress chide me for not having lost weight (how was I supposed to know she assumed I would diet frantically before my wedding?) all my experiences with tailors have been neutral to good. They do the job, and you pick up your garment and it’s better than before you dropped it off.

I like to wear a tie for a virtual interview but not a sportscoat. However, I like to wear ties and when paired with a properly fitting shirt is no big deal. I have a ton of fun ties so that is what I wear.

I like to see a well dressed applicant when I perform an interview. I feel like it signals to me that they care and are actually interested in the position. I’ve done too many interviews over the years where the applicant exuded an air of doing me a favor just by being there. I had one guy do a virtual interview wearing a white polo shirt with a big stain (coffee maybe) on it. It was so distracting because I couldn’t stop wondering why he didn’t change his shirt. He was doing the interview from his apartment.

Coffee stain seems a bit too reckless lol.

I usually notice people that overdress more than underdress.

Dress shirts/suits that don’t fit also kill my eyes.

It also depends on whether or not a guy works out. Fit guys can get away with a lot. As can fit ladies, I imagine.

One of my all-time best employees was very obese. I try to judge how the person might work and not be overly distracted by what they look like.

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I just interviewed 6 people in a row via zoom. I have no idea what they were wearing, I paid no attention.

However what did unintentionally stick out was the room. Bare white bedroom walls makes it look like your interviewing from a prison cell. If I was to put effort into anything, it’s the background.

I’ve done that myself. I have stuff on my walls and the wall behind me is all bookcases. Books are on the top shelves, the bit of nonbook stuff I have is on the lower shelves where it’s not visible. I did have a bit of artwork visible that I realized looked a bit racy on zoom, so that got moved out of line of site.

I hid neon colored hair (with significantly outgrown roots) and a COVID mullet past my shoulders with a high and a low ponytail, looked just like a briskly slicked-back hairstyle with my natural color, lol.

:popcorn:

Crap, was I supposed to be hiding that? I just put some extra color in.

In terms of racy, I was recording some videos. You can see the kitchen through the French doors in my office. First watch through, I see my wife walking back and forth in the kitchen in her workout clothes. re recorded that one.

:laughing: Ah yeah that’s fair. I was thinking you meant a painting or something but spouse in background makes sense to avoid.

Lol. I’m about to re-bleach and dye again before my next interview. Nice litmus test whether I’d want to work for them.

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Never done the bleach thing myself, and only recently got brave enough to try to refresh the purple/teal/pink myself. In fact, my hairdresser never really bleached it either because my hair was so full of blond highlights that it was basically already bleached. The pandemic got rid of all my highlights and now I’m basically brunette :face_with_raised_eyebrow:.