If I ever go to a interview at MS I would go for that J Allard styleI work at Microsoft and we have pretty strict guidelines on interview protocol from our side - we are encouraged to stick to objective stuff, and not focus on soft skills - to put candidates at ease but also challenge them for clear answers and approach. I'm what's called an "as-ap" interviewer which means that I can come in at the end of the day, interview the candidate (who will have been in several other interviews) and answer their questions as well as to get a sense for team fit and persona, without forcing those criteria -but of course it IS important the person be a functional colleague for a team.
I'm very serious about the process and while I think it's the absolute bottom criteria in an interview, the way you dress CAN make an impact on the people you meet and interact with throughout the process and extremes can tell us a lot. You won't get dinged for tattoos or piercings or any of that stuff, but depending on the job we expect a reasonable level of personal appearance for the interview as a sort of formality to show effort if nothing else. We encourage people NOT to wear suits or to go to any expense - but to wear something comfortable and the sort of "best version of what you'd probably wear to work" - which in our case means looking something like the other engineers, artists, designers and so on in the office.
If somebody showed up wearing like, denim cutoffs and tevas with socks and a t-shirt with a swear word on it - I would personally take note of it, but it wouldn't affect your interview unless all the other candidates were exactly as good and no other criteria differentiated them (impossible).
I have a subjective vision of what constitutes the right apparel for interviewing in the tech field, but I don't want to present it as a fait accomplish since it is subjective, but if you dressed like this for an interview with me, you'd get brownie points at the very least and frankly it would tell me you'd at least considered it and taken the interview and our time seriously:
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You're already dressing business casual.
I work at Microsoft and we have pretty strict guidelines on interview protocol from our side - we are encouraged to stick to objective stuff, and not focus on soft skills - to put candidates at ease but also challenge them for clear answers and approach. I'm what's called an "as-ap" interviewer which means that I can come in at the end of the day, interview the candidate (who will have been in several other interviews) and answer their questions as well as to get a sense for team fit and persona, without forcing those criteria -but of course it IS important the person be a functional colleague for a team.
I'm very serious about the process and while I think it's the absolute bottom criteria in an interview, the way you dress CAN make an impact on the people you meet and interact with throughout the process and extremes can tell us a lot. You won't get dinged for tattoos or piercings or any of that stuff, but depending on the job we expect a reasonable level of personal appearance for the interview as a sort of formality to show effort if nothing else. We encourage people NOT to wear suits or to go to any expense - but to wear something comfortable and the sort of "best version of what you'd probably wear to work" - which in our case means looking something like the other engineers, artists, designers and so on in the office.
If somebody showed up wearing like, denim cutoffs and tevas with socks and a t-shirt with a swear word on it - I would personally take note of it, but it wouldn't affect your interview unless all the other candidates were exactly as good and no other criteria differentiated them (impossible).
I have a subjective vision of what constitutes the right apparel for interviewing in the tech field, but I don't want to present it as a fait accomplish since it is subjective, but if you dressed like this for an interview with me, you'd get brownie points at the very least and frankly it would tell me you'd at least considered it and taken the interview and our time seriously:
Spoilered so it doesn't claim any authority for the thread.
If OP is fit and handsome, this is the right look!
Only change I would make for a formal interview are solid jeans as opposed to jeans with a wash like here.
I don't really think you need to be fit or handsome to make a simple three piece outfit like this work. But it's important that all of your clothes are fitted well if you've put on some weight. Don't try and hide stuff with baggy clothes, it looks bad no matter the outfit you go with. Though I might switch to a v neck sweater instead of crew neck just because the triangle shape is a bit more flattering and draws the eyes up.
I have never seen someone in real life pull off the blazer and tee shirt combo.
Only change I would make for a formal interview are solid jeans as opposed to jeans with a wash like here.
This.
I work at Microsoft and we have pretty strict guidelines on interview protocol from our side - we are encouraged to stick to objective stuff, and not focus on soft skills - to put candidates at ease but also challenge them for clear answers and approach. I'm what's called an "as-ap" interviewer which means that I can come in at the end of the day, interview the candidate (who will have been in several other interviews) and answer their questions as well as to get a sense for team fit and persona, without forcing those criteria -but of course it IS important the person be a functional colleague for a team.
I'm very serious about the process and while I think it's the absolute bottom criteria in an interview, the way you dress CAN make an impact on the people you meet and interact with throughout the process and extremes can tell us a lot. You won't get dinged for tattoos or piercings or any of that stuff, but depending on the job we expect a reasonable level of personal appearance for the interview as a sort of formality to show effort if nothing else. We encourage people NOT to wear suits or to go to any expense - but to wear something comfortable and the sort of "best version of what you'd probably wear to work" - which in our case means looking something like the other engineers, artists, designers and so on in the office.
If somebody showed up wearing like, denim cutoffs and tevas with socks and a t-shirt with a swear word on it - I would personally take note of it, but it wouldn't affect your interview unless all the other candidates were exactly as good and no other criteria differentiated them (impossible).
I have a subjective vision of what constitutes the right apparel for interviewing in the tech field, but I don't want to present it as a fait accomplish since it is subjective, but if you dressed like this for an interview with me, you'd get brownie points at the very least and frankly it would tell me you'd at least considered it and taken the interview and our time seriously:
Spoilered so it doesn't claim any authority for the thread.
Well, that's a sweater, not a t shirt. If you want to class it up, a collared shirt under the sweater is fine, but unless you wear that outfit regularly, it tends to look a bit try hard to me. or sloppy if the collar isn't stiff and pressed.
Can you speak to how this changes for women interviewees? Even if it's not for yourself but if you've noticed that people look down on interviewees who aren't in make-up and heels.
