Hi all,

 

So I've got an interview with a design/digital agency (for a web developer role), and I'm not sure what to wear (I sound like such a girl, I know!).

 

They like 'quirky' and cool, but I'm not sure if I should still go white-shirt and tie, or just something like black-shirt without tie?

 

Any thoughts appreciated!

I don't know about anyone else, but whenever I go for a interview, no matter what the job is, I always wear a suit etc.

Fair enough - unfortunately I have literally no spare cash at the moment, so I can't afford to buy a decent suit (this design agency contacted me, as I wasn't really looking around at the time so I was unprepared!). I basically have a choice of a white shirt and tie, or black shirt.

 

I did however manage to find some coins to buy shoe polish, so at least I have good shoes!

To be honest, unless you were to tell us which agency this is, it's impossible to really say exactly. You need to look at their website and make a judgment. Read about them, see if you can find out who they are. If they have staff pictures on their site, great, you can gauge from those. If they're all wearing suits in their pictures then by all means wear a suit.

 

A little bit of snooping around on social networks could give you some clues too.

 

For example, you can see from their website that if you were going to an interview for this company, you'd 100% not wear a suit. You'd wear a smart casual shirt, smart jeans/chinos and leather shoes.

 

Whereas with this company, you can spy some smart shirts and ties going on, so you'd at the very least wear a smart shirt with trousers, tie and shoes.

 

So to be honest, it's down to you to identify this. Nobody can tell you, this is a big part of the interview and it's up to you to get it right. Personally, I think it's very hard to go wrong with any business if you wear trousers and a shirt....but not a suit. It's a good halfway house unlikely to alienate.

 

Also, if you wear that, it's easy to make quick changes on the fly. You can bring a tie with you in your pocket easily that you can chuck on in the toilets if you see that everybody else has one on, or if you see that everyone is a bit more casual you can undo a couple of the top buttons on your shirt.

Edited April 15, 201214 yr by brightonmike

Thanks brightonmike, very much appreciated.

 

I went for a chat with the MD after work one day (very informal), and he basically invited me to "meet the guys" (didn't mention 'interview' at all). All sounded very informal, so I am thinking against wearing a tie - instead just looking 'smart' would probably be the way to go.

 

I've just pm'ed you the place I'm going to. Another former colleague went to the interview wearing bright coloured hair, so it's that sort of place (I'm not dying my hair just yet though!). Thanks again

Ah, well having seen their site, not one single one of them is wearing a suit and only two guys out of what looks like 20/30 people are wearing jackets, and I assume they are the bosses. So yeah definitely not a suit!

 

I would, judging by their site and no mention of the word interview, wear shoes, smart jeans, smart casual shirt. Probably don't even tuck it in, or if you do wear with a contrasting belt, so a brown belt with blue jeans etc.

 

Good luck!

Pretty much what I was thinking. I'm guessing that after the "meet the guys" stage, they might invite me back again for a second interview or something, so I might go slightly more formal (if I make it that far!) on that occasion. They contacted me through recommendation and liked me after the initial 'chat', so I think I'm in a good position, but will just need to see what happens! Thanks again for your thoughts.

Just read this post - just wanted to say good luck! Let us know how it goes!

Thanks very much - will do

Ok, well I just got back from the interview - went very well. Decided to go for just black trousers (formal) and black shirt, and to be honest, even that was probably too much! Could have probably got away with more casual (maybe not jeans, but everyday casual!). Too smart is better than not smart enough though!

 

Anyway, they have a few more people to see I think, so will just need to wait!

Ok, well I just got back from the interview - went very well. Decided to go for just black trousers (formal) and black shirt, and to be honest, even that was probably too much! Could have probably got away with more casual (maybe not jeans, but everyday casual!). Too smart is better than not smart enough though!

 

Anyway, they have a few more people to see I think, so will just need to wait!

I really hope you get the job, they must be interested in you if they approached you in the first place