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
    10·
    1 day 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 dress at work when an executive or a customer 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.
    (I’ve worked with several hundred companies of varying sizes and in different sectors as IT consultant)
    And in my personal opinion, a tie without a suit jacket never looks good anyway.

    For a creative role, I’d go with a pastel-colored, neatly ironed button-down shirt.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
      8·
      1 day 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?