<p>So my interviewer wants to meet at a coffee shop. I dug through a lot of old posts on cc and they all seem to recommend business casual (slacks and a nice shirt). However, my mom insists on me wearing a suit. What do you CCers think?</p>
<p>Business casual. You could compromise with your mom and wear a blazer–that wouldn’t look overdressed.</p>
<p>^ Would that still include a tie?</p>
<p>I probably wouldn’t wear a tie to a coffee shop interview. If your mom insists, it’s not a big deal one way or the other. Don’t wear a tuxedo.</p>
<p>Below are my personal opinions that I would strongly encourage anyone to take up. I’m certain I’ll receive flack responses, and I will not respond, except to the OP or candidates with questions. I’m not nay saying your opinion either… just consider this a modest expert point of view. :)</p>
<p>Do not wear a suit. This was difficult even for me then, because I love suits, but it will be ineffective, uncomfortable for the interviewer and even somewhat inappropriate.</p>
<p>For your coffee shop scenario, wear something nice. If that means khakis and a polo, fine. If you’re an engineer or an artist or whatever, wear a really nice western shirt and jeans. Yes jeans. </p>
<p>If you’re interviewing at a law firm, a Harvard Club (especially NYC), country club, office environment, etc. then jeans are out of the question (obviously). If the interviewer says you should wear something, then wear it (i.e. wear a three piece if he/she says wear a suit). However in an interviewer’s home or a coffee shop, a suit is inappropriate, and a high quality outfit that will make your interviewer most comfortable is ideal.</p>
<p>Take note of that last sentence. Making your interviewer most comfortable is key.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I don’t necessarily disagree with Gordon’s advice, but I add that it is also key for you to convey to the interviewer that you take the interview seriously, and that you respect the interviewer and the school. This is why you don’t want to underdress. This is why business casual is the safest choice in virtually every situation, except maybe at a law office–even there, you might learn that most people wear business casual most of the time.
The reason not to overdress is that it might make some interviewers think that you lack good social savvy, or that you’re pompous, or that you’re awkward. If your demeanor doesn’t add to this impression, this isn’t a very serious risk. You can always smile and say that you think you’re a little overdressed. The interviewer will say, “Not at all–it’s better than the people who show up in torn T-shirts, etc.”</p>
<p>If your interview is in a coffee shop, you want to be most nicely dressed person in the coffee shop without being so nicely dressed that you look out of place in a coffee shop. The result is business casual.</p>
<p>Yet another way to put this is that you don’t really want your interviewer to notice what you are wearing–so don’t overdress or underdress. Business casual is the new uniform for this kind of situation.</p>
<p>Gordon has it mostly right, if a little backwards. Your interviewer does not expect you to make him or her comfortable. Chances are – being older, being more experienced, having chosen the venue, being in the power position in the interaction, and of course being a Harvard alumnus – your interviewer feels plenty comfortable already. Your interviewer cares a lot more about making YOU comfortable.</p>
<p>As an interviewing applicant, you really have two goals with what you wear. The first, and most important, is to make you feel good about yourself. You want to feel relaxed (insofar as possible), comfortable, sharp, in control. That doesn’t mean you should wear a t-shirt if you usually wear t-shirts, because it will really undermine your self-confidence if you are worrying about being underdressed or inappropriate. But if a tie is going to make you feel like you are being strangled, don’t wear a tie. Even at the Harvard Club or a law firm. There are a limited number of places left on Earth where you absolutely have to wear a tie, and that’s not where you will be interviewing.</p>
<p>The second goal may be more complicated, although it doesn’t have to be. You are trying to show that you have some sort of understanding about the social conventions of the world you are trying to enter. Not that you have mastered them completely (unless you have, cf. the characters in Gossip Girl), but that you at least have a clue. The easiest way to do that is to show respect for your interviewer by dressing up a little, signalling that this is important to you and you are prepared to be deferential. That’s what your interviewer will expect. But you shouldn’t go too elaborate. Walking into a Starbucks dressed like, well, Gordon Gekko, or Fred Astaire, will come across as pretentious and clueless. (Still – if you need to put on that kind of drag to feel relaxed and sharp, do it.)</p>
<p>Some people can turn that on its head, and flout social custom to show how outside-the-box they are. A friend of mine in law school used to go to interviews straight from the basketball court, wearing shorts, a cut-off T, and dripping sweat. By and large, interviewers ate it up – it helped (a lot) that he was 6’-3", athletic, and looked like a Greek god, that he had bottomless reserves of self-confidence and charisma, and that he truly didn’t want to work for anyone who would get seriously offended if he didn’t wear a suit. If you are like that, too, you could pull something like that off. But chances are, if you are honest with yourself, you will know you aren’t up to that yet – he probably wasn’t, either, when he was 17 – so it’s better not to go that route for now.</p>
<p>With allowance for some change in styles, Andrew Carnegie’s advice is still worth repeating.</p>
<p>When asked for his advice on how to get ahead in business, Carnegie declared: “Always wear your Sunday suit.”</p>
<p>I recommend a top hat and spats. That would convey: Take me seriously!</p>
<p>LOL: </p>
<p>Go with the business casual. If I were honest, I would find it hard to not frown upon a guy wearing a suit to meet me in a coffee shop. </p>
<p>Hunt’s advice: “The reason not to overdress is that it might make some interviewers think that you lack good social savvy, or that you’re pompous, or that you’re awkward.”</p>
<p>This holds sway with me – although like I said, I’d try to overcome my bias.</p>
<p>Great few paragraphs that relate to this very well (very top sentences, before “Perfecting your Handshake”): [Enchantment:</a> The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions - Guy Kawasaki - Google Books](<a href=“Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions - Guy Kawasaki - Google Books”>Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions - Guy Kawasaki - Google Books)</p>
<p>As I wrote before somewhere else [it’s actually a paraphrase of someone else]: Some people can pull of wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers and make it look like the most natural and elegant combo possible, while there are some people you could dress with all the three-piece suits in the world and they’d still look sloppy.</p>
<p>Sorry for hijacking, but I didn’t want to make a new thread when there already is a relevant one.</p>
<p>My interview will be at a law firm, but after my interviewer gets off from work. I’m a girl. Should I dress like I would for a job interview, or still just business casual?</p>
<p>My feeling is that a law firm calls for more than business casual.</p>
<p>my interview is at my interviewer’s home, not sure if i should wear a suit or just go with a shirt and black pants. any suggestions?</p>
<p>For an interview in the interviewer’s home, I would not recommend a suit.</p>
<p>Agree with Sikorsky. Think of it this way. You really don’t want to be considerably overdressed compared to your interviewer. It is highly unlikely that he/she will be wearing anything close to business formal in his or her home. Ergo, look presentable, but don’t overdo it. If you’re accompanying your parents to the house of a family friend or their old college buddy for dinner, what would you wear?</p>