Recently an Amazon executive revealed that she had rejected a candidate who showed up to an interview in a T-Shirt that said “I’m too Hot for a Job”. This caused a lot of noise on social media with folks either supporting her or calling the interviewer out for rejecting the candidate for no good reason. I am in the former camp and would have rejected a candidate if they came for an interview dressed like that.
I personally love quirky T-Shirts and about half of the T-Shirts I have have some saying/joke on them (At one point it was more than 90% of my T-Shirts) but I have never worn them to work, or even to meet people who I know on a professional basis. At one point a few years ago I remember complaining that I wasn’t able to wear any of my T-Shirts because of this, which is when I started getting T-Shirts that were more neutral and less quirky. The reason for that rule is quite simple, there is a time and place for everything and a Job *Interview* is not where you wear such clothes. I have worn a suit to pretty much all my in person interviews and I wear a formal shirt for Virtual video interviews.
People supporting this girl say that if the company dress code allows it then it is hypocritical to punish the person for it during the interview but I look at it differently. Yes the dress-code might allow it but even then I would question the judgement of a person who came into the office in a shirt that says “I’m too hot to for a Job”. I can’t even imagine wearing something like that to work forget a job interview. Maybe in a non-corporate environment something like that would be ok but not at a major company for a white collar job.
You are judged by what you wear and during an interview every gesture & action of yours is being scrutinized and judged. I remember reading about a company who asked their receptionist about each candidate and how they treated her and factored that into the hiring process. Please note that I am not saying that you should only go to interviews wearing a suit. I do that because I am comfortable in it and most of the companies I worked for in the past decade and half have been banks where formality is expected. But even when interviewing at a startup, I would suggest wearing a formal shirt or at least something neutral without any slogans/jokes/weird artwork etc. You have a lot of competition for the position and it would be a shame to loose it because of what you wore.
“This isn’t about dress codes. It’s about understanding context. You don’t wear swimwear to a wedding. You don’t wear a tuxedo to the gym. And maybe, just maybe, you don’t show up to an interview wearing a T-shirt that literally announces you’re too good for the thing you’re interviewing for,” she added.
According to Jain, the issue was not that the candidate chose casual clothing or failed to wear traditional business attire. Rather, it was the message displayed on the T-shirt that she felt sent the wrong signal during a job interview. The slogan, she argued, suggested a lack of seriousness about the opportunity and created an impression that the applicant considered herself above the role she was seeking.
The flip side of this is that the hiring manager/HR should also refrain from overly judging people on what they wear. For example rejecting someone because you didn’t like their brand of shoes or clothes would be wrong. It might not be what you would wear but as long as it is not shabby or offensive I feel it should be ignored. However, depending on the position someone is interviewing for, the right dress could potentially make or break the deal.
I recommend researching the company in advance before the interview so you know what to expect and if you don’t then you are taking a risk. I had a candidate who missed their interview with us because the company security didn’t allow them inside because they were not properly dressed. This was at a bank where we weren’t allowed to wear jeans to work and this guy showed up for the interview in Bermuda shorts, slippers and an artfully torn T-Shirt.
Remember, if you are too formally dressed then you can always take off the tie or the blazer and look more casual. I did that at a Startup meet in France where I was the only one wearing a tie at the event so I took it off and it was good. It it was the other way round where everyone was wearing a tie and I wasn’t then I would have been in trouble.
Long story short, an interview is not somewhere you show up wearing T-Shirts with jokes or torn clothes or Artsy look (unless you are applying for an art position) it is where you are expected to put your best foot forward.
– Suramya
