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.

  • superkret@feddit.org
    0·
    25 days ago

    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 be dressed at work when an executive 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.
    And a tie without a suit jacket doesn’t look good anyway.
    For a creative role, I’d go with a pastel-colored, neatly ironed button-down shirt.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      25 days ago

      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?