Genre and Sub Genre — Material Folklore: Interview attire

Language: English

Country where Item is from: United States

 

Informant Data: Matthew Kang is a senior at Dartmouth College studying Economics. Matt is from Tallahassee, Florida, where his parents work for the state government. He has participated in numerous rounds of finance recruiting interviews here at Dartmouth, and he has had finance internships ranging from venture capital to investment banking. He will also begin his career in the finance industry after graduation in New York City. On campus, Matt is part of the Dartmouth Business Journal and Dartmouth Finance Society.  

 

Social Context: Given that appropriate dress within the contexts of interviews, Finance or otherwise, can often be a confusing issue for many prospective interviewees, interviewees will reach out to those who have conducted interviews and have ideally secured offers from the interviews in question. And so the material folklore in question here is shared among more junior undergraduates, who have yet to really begin recruiting in earnest, and those who are more senior  and who more than likely have secured offers and have already worked in professional capacities. This folklore again is shared amongst both males and females, and among those pursuing degrees in Finance, Economics, or business more generally.

 

Cultural Context: Appropriate dress is something emphasized in cultures throughout the world. However, what constitutes appropriate dress changes based on the situation or the particular context one finds one’s self in. Given the highly competitive nature of Finance Interviews and the myriad of things one needs to get “right” in order to secure an offer, we wanted to explore how one ought to dress in a Finance interview and get a better sense for what constitutes appropriate dress. Towards this end, Matthew Kang was interviewed by Joseph Wang one-on-one in a study room in the library.

 

Item: Matthew Kang noted to Joseph in response to his questions regarding appropriate dress in interviews that one must dress Business Formal in Finance Interviews. This means wearing a suit, tie, and dress shoes. One must also be generally understated in what they wear in a Finance interview. He also noted that the aforementioned stipulation in dress is analogous for women.

 

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Relevant Portion: 3:13 — 3:42

Transcript of Associated File:

• Joseph: Can you talk generally about the dress code… ?

 

• Matthew: Um… interviews are always in my experience and talking to others have always been business formal …. For men … um it’s a suit … it’s a tie .. its dress shoes.. For women it’s in the same vein

Collector’s Comments:

• Matthew was very lucid in his explanation of what constitutes appropriate interview attire. Given the centrality of appropriate dress in Finance interviews and having had conversations surrounding interview attire with friends similarly recruiting, Matthew had a great appreciation for material folklore in Finance, a reality exemplified by his insights noted here.

General Comments:

• In speaking to our informants, we generally heard the same things about dress in Finance interviews. For one, we heard that Business formal is a must. A good tie, nice dress shoes, and a nice belt to go along with one’s outfit. Some informants in particular suggested wearing either a blue or black suit. Also black or brown shoes in particular were suggested. There we no meaningful variances in the material folklore collected here.

Collector’s Name:

• Joseph Wang

Tags/Keywords:

• Material Folklore, Corporate Recruiting Folklore