Genre and Sub Genre — Material Folklore: Tech Interview Dress
Language: English
Country where Item is from: United States
Informant Data: Emily Lin is a senior at Dartmouth College and a Computer Science and German double major. Emily is from Richardson, Texas, where her mother is a dentist and her father is an engineer. After graduation, Emily will work as a software engineer. On campus, Emily is the sponsorship and marketing director of HackDartmouth and is a sister in Kappa Delta.
Social Context: Given that appropriate dress within the contexts of interviews, Tech 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 Computer Science, Engineering, or Mathematics.
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 Tech 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 Tech interview and get a better sense for what constitutes appropriate dress. Towards this end, Emily Lin was interviewed by Yixuan He one-on-one in a study room in the library.
Item: Interestingly enough, Emily Lin noted that dressing in any particular manner was not emphasized for tech interviews. She intimated that one had a greater level of latitude in dress for tech interviews as opposed to what one might encounter in either Finance or Consulting interviews. She noted that a nice pair of jeans and a shirt are fine. She also noted that many companies, in the interview preparation packets they provide, urge students to wear whatever they would be most comfortable in. She also notes that one would actually be out of place wearing a suit to an interview. Based on what she intimated, one gets the sense that dress is not as important in tech interviews. The emphasis is more on one’s technical competency as opposed to one’s appearance.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Relevant Portion: 5:55 — 6:49
Transcript of Associated File:
- Yixuan He: What about for interviews…?
- Emily Lin: It’s a little bit fancier… So Jeans and a nice shirt effectively .. You could wear whatever you want … um..
- Yixuan He: What would happen if you showed up in a suit?
- Emily Lin: Nothing would happen..
- Yixuan He: Would they think negatively of you?
- Emily Lin: I don’t think so.. It’s just out of place… When you get your interview packet … where they tell you how to prepare… they tell you to wear whatever you want
Informant’s Comments:
- Don’t stress about your outfit in tech interviews!
Collector’s Comments:
- Informant’s perspective was particularly illuminating. This aspect of tech corporate recruiting folklore, namely the material folklore of tech recruiting, is not always something the broader public necessarily has an appreciation for.
General Comments:
- The only variance noted here was that one informant suggested a suit and blazer for an interview, whereas the other two informants suggested one had a great level of latitude in terms of dress with respect to interviews. This variance could perhaps be a consequence of the particular tech roles being interviewed for.
Collector’s Name:
- Yixuan He
Tags/Keywords:
- Material Folklore, Tech Interviews, Dress, Appearance