Why can't people dress proper for job interviews?

[Rafy]

To be honest I don't really know if I would like to work for a company more interested about the way I dress up and my "appearance" rather than how I work and what I can do. There is something uncomfortable about companies expecting everybody to dress up and look the same way (maybe they ll expect everybody to think the same way too ?).

you also fail to understand the meaning of "dressing up nicely" ...
there are millions of combinations of good looking shirts, pants, boots etc. you won't look the same as others...

I work in an IT company as a test automation engineer and I also go to interviews with our HR.
We make enterprise level applications for international companies. Most projects are projects worth millions of dollars. All our developers, testers, consultants etc have daily interraction with our clients through video call and monthly we travel there or they travel here.
Excuse me, but even if you're a developer, looking like the ultimate ghetto hipster just won't cut it... if you don't show the minimum respect and dress properly when interacting with a client that spent millions of dollars in the projects, then I don't care how good you do your job, you're not getting hired.
Like I said, you can't appear dressed like garbage in a room full of clients and directors that all are decently dressed.

[callipygoustp]

Correct. And my point was that none of the office jobs I've ever had required me to have contact with clients or customers.

Not sure what that has to do with the OP which refers to two positions that would be customer facing: marketing and front desk. Of course there is a different expectation if you don't have to interact with customers.

And I'm not talking crap office jobs, very high level things. /shrug.

It's always funny to me when someone pulls a "do you know who I am bro!". Good stuff.

[ElexionExonusAvalon]

Does the way they dress affect their work performance? Are they worse people because of the way they dress?

Yes that's the point but unfortunately a lot of people judge you on your looks, which is silly really because you could interview a person wearing baggy clothing but that person could have the acquired skills, experience and the right attitude ready for the job without having to dress smartly just to prove to them your suitable for the job, so you've made a very good point.

[pateuvasiliu]

I don't mind a dress code because whatever, nice clothes aren't expensive.

What I don't get is expecting men to be clean shaved and have short hair. As long a the beard is cared for I don't see the issue.

Making it a rule that men need short hair is just sexist.

[HumbleDuck]

Do people go to job interviews they aren't interested in?

Yea, it actually happens a lot.

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What kind of job? My only dress requirement is non-slip shoes and some kind of hat. The best cooks I know look unemployable, by office standards. Including me, and I own three restaurants now, and one suit that makes it out of my closet maybe once per year.

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Well, dressing in a certain way is part of a PR or front desk person's job.

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What kind of job? My only dress requirement is non-slip shoes and some kind of hat. The best cooks I know look unemployable, by office standards. Including me, and I own three restaurants now, and one suit that makes it out of my closet maybe once per year.

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Well, dressing in a certain way is part of a PR or front desk person's job.

[vindicatorx]

Does the way they dress affect their work performance? Are they worse people because of the way they dress?

it shows they don't give a shit about the job enough that they couldn't dress at least business casual. I wore a shirt and t when applying to be a grill cook they should at least put some effort into it.

[belfpala]

It's always funny to me when someone pulls a "do you know who I am bro!". Good stuff.

Do you have a resume? That's kind of what that piece of paper is all about.

[Kuntantee]

Correct. And my point was that none of the office jobs I've ever had required me to have contact with clients or customers. And I'm not talking crap office jobs, very high level things. /shrug.

What is a high-level office job?

[belfpala]

What is a high-level office job?

Lawyer with a corner office? Client contact was by phone only.

[callipygoustp]

Do you have a resume? That's kind of what that piece of paper is all about.

Sure, but what has that to do with ANYTHING on a gaming oriented internet website? LOL, if its not already obvious : nothing ;-)

[Sunseeker]

Lawyer with a corner office? Client contact was by phone only.

That's weird, and I've worked for and with attorneys before. Were you the attorney? And you never saw your clients in person? I would wager then you didn't do any court work for them. Even the attorneys I worked for who weren't litigating attorneys still met with their clients, they didn't just stay in a box all day long. Did you work for some kind of debt settlement agency?

[Deleted]

Does the way they dress affect their work performance? Are they worse people because of the way they dress?

Sometimes yes.

Some personality types simply don't pay much attention to how they dress (and don't care about fashion) because their mind is occupied by other, more interesting things. So in the morning they just pick up whatever clothes happen to be clean. They generally can dress up "properly" if needed though.

Others go through a great deal of trouble only to appear as retarded as possible, either to show off how unique snowflakes they are, or to manifest their "I don't give a fuck" -attitude. They usually also get very agitated when they are suggested to pay more attention to personal hygiene, or to remove the nose ring for workplace safety. None of the traits is generally viewed as a desirable quality in any job where you actually need to do something productive.

We've had similar issues with young people and their work motivation recently: they do want to get paid, but don't want to work. Someone actually said "dude, I haven't come here to work" when the employer suggested he would stop staring at his smartphone and actually start doing the job he was hired to do.

[Kjango]

Why anyone should tell me how to dress?
Thats kind of a "racist" and old, do you also want me to shave?
As long as its no selling job which dressing is part of it, fuck it i do whatever i want

[breadisfunny]

Why anyone should tell me how to dress?
Thats kind of a "racist" and old, do you also want me to shave?
As long as its no selling job which dressing is part of it, fuck it i do whatever i want

uhm how exactly is that racist telling someone to dress properly for a important function or event? lol.
i bet that attitude is gonna get you REAL far in life.

[belfpala]

That's weird, and I've worked for and with attorneys before. Were you the attorney? And you never saw your clients in person? I would wager then you didn't do any court work for them. Even the attorneys I worked for who weren't litigating attorneys still met with their clients, they didn't just stay in a box all day long. Did you work for some kind of debt settlement agency?

I wrote a lot of emails and made a lot of phone calls. I was lead support for the attorney who actually showed up in court, so yes occasionally I'd be in a meeting with her and a client. I kept a suit and tie in my office for those occasions. Otherwise, I rocked a t-shirt and jeans.

We primarily did patent litigation. I think when I left, I was working on two mechanical engineering cases, one genetic engineering case, one trademark case, and one false advertising case. The patent cases involved were multi-million dollar accounts. The trademark case was larger (I can't be specific, but it had something to with going to space). The false advertising one was silly; plaintiff was just throwing away money trying to put a competitor out of business.

[Deleted]

It's a very judgmental approach to label people based on appearance like that.

It is not in this particular situation. Dress for the job you want. Simple. Wanna work in a bank and dress like a punk? You wont get the job because you are not able to represent the bank accordingly to the customer. So yeah, I wouldnt even waste my time on those hippies. "Thank you for coming, have a nice day. That is all. We wil not call you."

[GarlicGuy]

I'm retired, but I used to work at a place where it was perfectly accepted to wear fuzzy bunny slippers.... but they fired a girl ( she was a pain intern ) because she wore clothing that was considered "too sexy". She was sent home to change 3x..... the fourth time they let her go.

I missed her.

[Rogue Bagel]

Why anyone should tell me how to dress?
Thats kind of a "racist" and old, do you also want me to shave?
As long as its no selling job which dressing is part of it, fuck it i do whatever i want

It's not racist to have a code of conduct. If shaving is part of that code of conduct then you shave.

[Orlong]

It's not racist to have a code of conduct. If shaving is part of that code of conduct then you shave.

He is probably going to use the same stupid excuse that a lot of African American use in the military to get out of shaving. They claim their skin is different and if they shave it gets bumpy so they go to medical and get a no shave chit so they can be lazy and not shave every day like everyone else does. Even if true, who cares, shave anyway. Nobody cares if you have some little bumps on your chin unless youre a narcissist. Its just an excuse for laziness

[Shadowferal]

He is probably going to use the same stupid excuse that a lot of African American use in the military to get out of shaving. They claim their skin is different and if they shave it gets bumpy so they go to medical and get a no shave chit so they can be lazy and not shave every day like everyone else does. Even if true, who cares, shave anyway. Nobody cares if you have some little bumps on your chin unless youre a narcissist. Its just an excuse for laziness

So...blacks are lazy if they say that?

Coming from you, this comes as no surprise.