Dear Ken,
I’m currently in the market for a job and after a few interviews am a little confused as to what is considered appropriate dress for a graphic design job interview. I know in most other career fields a suit and tie is mandatory but to be honest most of my graphic design friends mostly wear jeans and sneakers to work. Also am I alone in thinking that wearing a suit and tie is a little unnatural and gives the potential employer very little insight into my personality? Any help or insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Underdressed and Overwhelmed
Underdressed and Overwhelmed,
Call me old fashion but I have always looked at an interview the way a lot of people look at church, “wearing their Sunday best”. An interview is usually the first time you will see your potential new employer and their first chance to look at you, and first impressions are very important. I personally haven’t done a lot of interviewing (from the interviewer side), but the interviewing I have done, I was always more receptive to a candidate that was prompt, polite and well dressed and not necessarily in that order. Dressing up to some people means that you are taking this seriously, that you mean business and it is also an indication that you understand protocol and business.
If you think about graphic design and in general what we do for a living, dressing up for an interview only makes sense. As designers a good part of what we do is “presentation”. When you design an ad, brochure, poster, etc. and you go to the client meeting to present the idea, what do you normally do? You dress up, you get a high quality print out and mount it to black, grey or some other nice presentation board, you might even put it into a dust jacket/cover. An interview is a meeting to “present” you and your work to one of your biggest clients, your new boss. We as designers get graded on presentation all of the way through the process, that is why people hire us, basically it is our job to make them look good, to “present” them well. With that in mind, if we can’t present ourselves well what can they expect when we present them or represent them.
I understand the need to be creative, expressive and rebellious, I can’t think of a creative person that isn’t that way to some degree. I realize that a lot of creative environments have loosened the dress code to make people more comfortable and foster creativity, but in a job market where competition is tight, do you want the deciding factor of your employment to be that you didn’t dress up and the other guy/girl did. I wouldn’t worry about tennis shoes and jeans until after you have gotten the job.
Regards,
Ken Bullock
If you have a design or career related question that would like Ken to answer please email them to info@houston.aiga.org or post them on our Facebook page.
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Comments ( 5 )
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Tweets that mention Ask Ken: January 2010 | AIGA Houston -- Topsy.com added these pithy words on Jan 18 10 at 10:32 pmChris H added these pithy words on Jan 18 10 at 11:18 pmI have to disagree. My first agency job interview I was advised to wear a tie and basically got laughed at and my creativity and personality questioned because I was wearing a tie — they pretty much flat out told me I didn’t get the job because I wore a tie (a bit shallow perhaps, but still a hard lesson learned). I haven’t worn one on an interview or with a client since (still dress “up” a bit — for me that means nice jeans/pants and a cool button down shirt with the collar open or maybe a cool t-shirt with a sport jacket over it).
I’m not saying wear a t-shirt and jeans, but be creative about how you dress up and let what you wear reflect your personality/creativity. Definitely NOT your “Sunday Best”, though.
I wouldn’t even wear a tie to a client meeting. If you were a client, would you want the AD/CD of the agency you’re working with coming in looking like a lawyer? Cool sport jacket? Sure. Tie? Never.
Yes, presentation counts. But be mindful that you want to project creativity AND business sense.
If you’re still at a loss, go hunting for videos/presentations of CDs/ADs from other agencies and see what they’re wearing and take cues from that.
jluu added these pithy words on Jan 27 10 at 5:16 pmI think both viewpoints have merit.
If you’re interviewing for an inhouse position (the majority of design jobs) or with a firm that specializes in B2B (most firms in Houston) I would think that a suit and tie would be appropriate for three reasons:
1. It shows the interviewer that you take the interview seriously.
2. There’s a good chance that some of the people interviewing you will not be from the creative side so normal interview attire would not be unexpected.
3. Figuring out a suit, shirt and tie combination is a lot easier then figuring out a jean, t-shirt and blazer combo.I sincerely doubt that it’s possible to be overdressed for a job interview, the end goal is that the interviewer should be focused on your qualifications and portfolio, if you are remembered for what you wore, that’s probably not a good thing.
With that said some agencies out there do go out of their way to cultivate an anti-corporate environment in which case my advice would be to lose the tie and maybe go with an edgier look. A little research into the agency will help determine which route to go.
Another thing to consider is, if the job interview is one of the few times you find yourself wearing a suit you might not be completely at ease during the interview and that will definitely affect how the interview goes. At the end of the day you want to be comfortable and project confidence with whoever it is you’re interviewing with. If you can do that with jeans and tshirt, great, if you feel happy and comfortable in a suit, that’s valid too.
Often times I’m reminded of a quote by Henry David Thoreau “beware of all enterprises that require new clothes”
rtooms added these pithy words on Jan 27 10 at 11:51 pmWow, lots of great advice here.
I’m a big advocate of doing your research first, so that you know who you’re meeting with, what the environment is there and what their expectations are. With a little sleuthing, this is completely possible.
I’m usually the one sitting on the other side of the table – the interviewer instead of the interviewee. Truthfully, unless you’re dealing with the extremes of standard dress (overly casual or overly suited), you focus more on the person and their work than their clothes.
Interviews can be stressful. I’ve probably seen every type of nervous reaction there is, and I’m entirely sympathetic. Not too many people are comfortable in interview situations, so I do my best to make them feel comfortable and at ease. The best situation is when you can both sit down and have a conversation. If their attire feels “matched” to the environment, then that helps us get to that point just that much quicker.
I also want to point out that this conversation thread also applies to when you visit a client for the first time. This is an “interview” in a way as well. Heed John’s advice (above) for client meetings too. And don’t forget – do your research.
KBullock added these pithy words on Feb 02 10 at 10:09 amI personally have never heard of someone not getting a job for being overdressed (though sounds like you have). I have been on interviews with agencies, design firms and in-house (B2B) groups an tons of client presentations and while some may comment on being over dressed (rarely negatively), I have heard more often of negative reactions to dressing too casually.
Research is probably your best weapon, but it usually is when applying for a job. You need to know something about a company before working for them, the dress code is just part of the equation.
