I’m in the U.S. but interviewing for UK jobs since we’re emigrating in January, which means all of my interviews are remote. I’ve only had a couple so far and only one has been via video, the other just phone, but I realized I don’t actually know the protocol here.
I’m in a creative field in the U.S. and the advice I keep being given here is to just wear a shirt and tie to an interview and not a suit because (especially since I’m in my late 40s) it makes you look too old, out-of-touch and grim for a creative position. I actually started getting more work when I ditched the suit for interviews in the U.S., so apparently that was good advice.
But I have another UK interview tomorrow and I’m thinking that maybe they’ll see that the opposite way- that if I don’t wear a suit, I’m not serious about wanting the job.
So what’s the protocol here? Any advice would be appreciated thanks.
Damn, that’s great that you’re interviewing. Congrats for getting the ball rolling! Is the hope to get a work visa and be able to stay in the UK indefinitely? Or do you already have some connection there that’d make it easier to become a citizen? signed, another hopeful someday expat
Thanks! I’m lucky in that I have dual citizenship, so I can just be hired. The pain in the ass will be getting the expensive family visa for the kid and possibly my wife as well if she can’t find work that sponsors her. They have to be they fore 10 years before they can be citizens, but the family visa has to be renewed every 3. The kid will be 17 by then, and America will probably be a very different place, so we will have to cross that bridge when we come to it.
Oh, I remember answering you in another thread about moving to the UK! I hope it works out for you and your family. Best of luck 😊
Thanks!
Tuxedo, top hat and tails, and a monacle. The pipe, of course, is suggested, but optional. Any less, and Jeeves will tut-tut you mercilessly.
Understood. And I assume the monocle needs to pop out when they ask me an unexpected question.
They actually have a special measuring device called a pom-pom-mollynocker to see how far your monocle pops out when they spring the surprise question on you. I reccomend starting a workout regimen of eyelid crunches and cheek-ups today if you really want to send that baby flying and impress them
Damn it, I have less than a day! Why did I not ask this sooner?!
Honestly, in the UK I doubt anyone would care what you’re wearing unless you turn up in a blue bathrobe complete with a rubber ducky. Which, to be fair, is a cool look 😉.
Creative industry, eh? I’d wear anything that is classed as smart casual and then see from there. Likely it will be even more relaxed but if you want to play it safe.
Good luck with the interview 👍.
Thanks! Sounds like the other suggestion of button-down shirt plus jumper might be the way to go in this particular interview case, but I might even go more casual if it’s an actual entertainment or production company.
By the way, Grim Fandango is one of my all-time favorite games. As a former VO actor who has done games, it’s definitely the game with the best VO I’ve ever heard.
Isn’t it just! They don’t make games like that anymore.
Yes, that sounds right. I wouldn’t wear either of the outer two options (of the 5 above) to interview. Too casual. Shirt + jumper is a good smart relaxed middle ground.
No suit and tie. Either a shirt (even just a nice business shirt can be ok), or shirt and smart jumper, or even a shirt and open jacket.
Unless it’s a financial institution I’ve never saw people putting too much weight on how you are dressed, as long as you show that you’ve put some effort in it.
Thanks!
And just for anyone reading this for the financial job interview. Yes, shirt and tie. The people interviewing won’t be wearing one, and might even comment, but it’s far far better than finding yourself underdressed compared to the interviewer. Being slightly overdressed no-one will mind and then day one in the office is tie-less smart casual like everyone else.
Find the people you’re interviewing with, or others in a similar role with that employer, on LinkedIn or a company website, and dress the way they do in those photos.
Alternatively, dress the way you’d want to dress at work when an executive or a customer walks in.
If you are then over- or underdressed at the interview, it’s a sign that the employer isn’t a good fit anyway (cause dress code represents culture).In my professional experience, even a tie is overdressed nowadays, unless you’re applying at a bank, insurance company, law firm or similar.
(I’ve worked with several hundred companies of varying sizes and in different sectors as IT consultant)
And in my personal opinion, a tie without a suit jacket never looks good anyway.For a creative role, I’d go with a pastel-colored, neatly ironed button-down shirt.
In my professional experience, even a tie is overdressed nowadays
I guess California has spread to the world. When I was living in L.A. I came into work in a polo shirt one day and someone asked me why I was so dressed up.
Thanks for the advice, I’ll definitely do that in general because I didn’t even think of it. In this case, it’s a company needing someone in a creative role, but the company itself is not a creative business. Maybe in this case pastel shirt and colorful tie?
Try to find out who is actually making the hiring decision.
This can be an issue in companies where the team you’re working with is casual, but HR and the C-suite are not.Good point! Thank you!
Nahh, don’t use the tie. I go for shirt and smart jumper
Thanks, I’ll try that out!
Not an answer but it feels strange seeing all of this happening through comments and asklemmy posts.
My life? I don’t really have anyone else to talk about it to. I’m in a shitty town in Indiana where I have no friends. My closest friends are over an hour away by car.
I hope my fragmentary autobiography is at least somewhat entertaining.
I’m in Indiana too, fucking cold as hell today. Proud of you for getting out of here <3
Yes it is. And thank you, I hate it here. I hope you find a way out too.
