What to Wear - Interview at SEC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the answer to this question ever not a suit?

+1

And FWIW, I strongly believe there are jobs that one can interview for wearing a dress and jacket or other "creative business attire" ensemble. The SEC is not one of these jobs.

yep - to be honest, i'm so used to suit that for those creative business type interviews, my version of 'casual' is light grey suit instead of navy blue or charcoal suit, no tie instead of tie, and deep color button down/pattern button down shirt instead of white/light blue shirt.

without a suit, i don't feel 'put together' for an interview and on my 'a-game'...not that it really matters.

OP here - I feel like the female version of your grey suit with no tie is, in fact, a nice, professional dress (think a black sheath) with a nice blazer in another color. I can understand always wearing a suit as a man, but the difference between my dress scenario and a standard black suit is what I was asking about. You would agree with the black suit, then, specifically for SEC?

And any thoughts on skirts vs pants?

Me too. I don't wear suits. I wear a well tailored black dress,black sheath dress. I don't wear a blazer though. It's not my style and looks weird on me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the answer to this question ever not a suit?

+1

And FWIW, I strongly believe there are jobs that one can interview for wearing a dress and jacket or other "creative business attire" ensemble. The SEC is not one of these

OP here - I feel like the female version of your grey suit with no tie is, in fact, a nice, professional dress (think a black sheath) with a nice blazer in another color. I can understand always wearing a suit as a man, but the difference between my dress scenario and a standard black suit is what I was asking about. You would agree with the black suit, then, specifically for SEC?

And any thoughts on skirts vs pants?

Me too. I don't wear suits. I wear a well tailored black dress,black sheath dress. I don't wear a blazer though. It's not my style and looks weird on me.

So, you go to interviews with bare arms? If a blazer looks weird on you, you probably need to get it tailored.
I get that people don't like suits, or your personal style is something else. But the time to express your style is after you get hired, not before. Unless you're interviewing at a fashion house or lady mag, society expects that you will wear a suit.

I'm on the hiring committee at my work, and I absolutely would not recommend a hire who couldn't be bothered to wear a suit to an interview.

[Anonymous]

I worked at the SEC for two years and although the day-to-day dress in my office was business casual, I wore a suit to the interview. I wouldn't have felt comfortable in anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, OP at 17:52. And thanks - I have consulted at many Fed agencies and very few require a suit at the interview (in fact, at many, you will feel overdressed). It's just that the SEC strikes me as more formal, which is the reason for the question. Suit it is. Black.

Whaaaat? this does not ring true. name some names OP. I work at a VERY casual agency but nobody would think to not wear a suit for an interview. It's not about "require."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I worked at the SEC for two years and although the day-to-day dress in my office was business casual, I wore a suit to the interview. I wouldn't have felt comfortable in anything else.

+1. I think the only interview I ever didn't wear a suit to was in high school when I applied to Kohls to be a cashier and I wore a shirt and tie to that interview. I also always wear a suit when I show up the first day for work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I worked at the SEC for two years and although the day-to-day dress in my office was business casual, I wore a suit to the interview. I wouldn't have felt comfortable in anything else.

+1. I think the only interview I ever didn't wear a suit to was in high school when I applied to Kohls to be a cashier and I wore a shirt and tie to that interview. I also always wear a suit when I show up the first day for work.

+2 I work in the private sector, and I always wear a suit to an interview. At my current job, the dress code is on the very casual side of business casual (e.g. in the summer, people wear jeans during the week, not just on Fridays). I wore a suit to the interview and it did not feel out of place at all, even though the two guys I interviewed with wore very casual polo-type shirts. I probably would not pass on an otherwise qualified candidate who didn't wear a suit, but it would definitely cause me to wonder about their sense of judgement. And a former boss at a different organization was seriously considering not giving someone an offer because that guy's suit "looked funny" (I think it was a strange shade of gray, or something like that). You just don't want to stand out in a negative way like that .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, OP at 17:52. And thanks - I have consulted at many Fed agencies and very few require a suit at the interview (in fact, at many, you will feel overdressed). It's just that the SEC strikes me as more formal, which is the reason for the question. Suit it is. Black.

Whaaaat? this does not ring true. name some names OP. I work at a VERY casual agency but nobody would think to not wear a suit for an interview. It's not about "require."

OP here. Census, DOL, Veteran's Affairs. FWIW most positions I have held (either as a consultant or a Fed) or for which I have conducted interviews are in IT shops. Developers can pretty much get away with anything that even vaguely resembles business attire. It just doesn't factor into the decision making process as much as knowing how to actually code most of the time. This does not happen to be a developer position, so I am putting a bit more thought into it and SEC just sounds like it would be more formal than the average gov't agency.

I wasn't asking if I could get away with wearing jeggings and a tunic, people...I was comparing a standard black/grey/navy suit to something like this: http://www.cakestyle.com/content/what-to-wear/what-to-wear-to-a-job-interview/ or like this (but w a black dress): http://www.polyvore.com/m/set?.embedder=9208461&.svc=pinterest&id=109806287.

Since I am assuming that most of you who have responded actually have experience w/ the SEC and represent the culture there, black suit it is!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would bring a dominatrix whip and then crack it on the table saying that's what you use to spank traders, TBTF bank execs, and hedge fund managers that have been naughty boys.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would bring a dominatrix whip and then crack it on the table saying that's what you use to spank traders, TBTF bank execs, and hedge fund managers that have been naughty boys.

I love you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I worked at the SEC for two years and although the day-to-day dress in my office was business casual, I wore a suit to the interview. I wouldn't have felt comfortable in anything else.

+1

[Anonymous]

A suit.

To be specific, a catsuit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, OP at 17:52. And thanks - I have consulted at many Fed agencies and very few require a suit at the interview (in fact, at many, you will feel overdressed). It's just that the SEC strikes me as more formal, which is the reason for the question. Suit it is. Black.

Whaaaat? this does not ring true. name some names OP. I work at a VERY casual agency but nobody would think to not wear a suit for an interview. It's not about "require."

OP here. Census, DOL, Veteran's Affairs. FWIW most positions I have held (either as a consultant or a Fed) or for which I have conducted interviews are in IT shops. Developers can pretty much get away with anything that even vaguely resembles business attire. It just doesn't factor into the decision making process as much as knowing how to actually code most of the time. This does not happen to be a developer position, so I am putting a bit more thought into it and SEC just sounds like it would be more formal than the average gov't agency.

I wasn't asking if I could get away with wearing jeggings and a tunic, people...I was comparing a standard black/grey/navy suit to something like this: http://www.cakestyle.com/content/what-to-wear/what-to-wear-to-a-job-interview/ or like this (but w a black dress): http://www.polyvore.com/m/set?.embedder=9208461&.svc=pinterest&id=109806287.

Since I am assuming that most of you who have responded actually have experience w/ the SEC and represent the culture there, black suit it is!

Yes, OP. I am the PP that there are many jobs where you can wear "creative business attire" to the interview, but the SEC is not one of those jobs. The links you posted are what I mean by "creative business attire". You need to wear a standard black/grey/navy suit to this interview. With closed-toe leather pumps. And professional jewelry. And carry a conservative handbag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, OP at 17:52. And thanks - I have consulted at many Fed agencies and very few require a suit at the interview (in fact, at many, you will feel overdressed). It's just that the SEC strikes me as more formal, which is the reason for the question. Suit it is. Black.

Whaaaat? this does not ring true. name some names OP. I work at a VERY casual agency but nobody would think to not wear a suit for an interview. It's not about "require."

OP here. Census, DOL, Veteran's Affairs. FWIW most positions I have held (either as a consultant or a Fed) or for which I have conducted interviews are in IT shops. Developers can pretty much get away with anything that even vaguely resembles business attire. It just doesn't factor into the decision making process as much as knowing how to actually code most of the time. This does not happen to be a developer position, so I am putting a bit more thought into it and SEC just sounds like it would be more formal than the average gov't agency.

I wasn't asking if I could get away with wearing jeggings and a tunic, people...I was comparing a standard black/grey/navy suit to something like this: http://www.cakestyle.com/content/what-to-wear/what-to-wear-to-a-job-interview/ or like this (but w a black dress): http://www.polyvore.com/m/set?.embedder=9208461&.svc=pinterest&id=109806287.

Since I am assuming that most of you who have responded actually have experience w/ the SEC and represent the culture there, black suit it is!

Yes, OP. I am the PP that there are many jobs where you can wear "creative business attire" to the interview, but the SEC is not one of those jobs. The links you posted are what I mean by "creative business attire". You need to wear a standard black/grey/navy suit to this interview. With closed-toe leather pumps. And professional jewelry. And carry a conservative handbag.

OP here. This is so helpful. Thank you very, very much. Now I need a new black suit since I have dropped a ton of post baby weight. Happy face!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, OP at 17:52. And thanks - I have consulted at many Fed agencies and very few require a suit at the interview (in fact, at many, you will feel overdressed). It's just that the SEC strikes me as more formal, which is the reason for the question. Suit it is. Black.

Whaaaat? this does not ring true. name some names OP. I work at a VERY casual agency but nobody would think to not wear a suit for an interview. It's not about "require."

OP here. Census, DOL, Veteran's Affairs. FWIW most positions I have held (either as a consultant or a Fed) or for which I have conducted interviews are in IT shops. Developers can pretty much get away with anything that even vaguely resembles business attire. It just doesn't factor into the decision making process as much as knowing how to actually code most of the time. This does not happen to be a developer position, so I am putting a bit more thought into it and SEC just sounds like it would be more formal than the average gov't agency.

I wasn't asking if I could get away with wearing jeggings and a tunic, people...I was comparing a standard black/grey/navy suit to something like this: http://www.cakestyle.com/content/what-to-wear/what-to-wear-to-a-job-interview/ or like this (but w a black dress): http://www.polyvore.com/m/set?.embedder=9208461&.svc=pinterest&id=109806287.

Since I am assuming that most of you who have responded actually have experience w/ the SEC and represent the culture there, black suit it is!

Yes, OP. I am the PP that there are many jobs where you can wear "creative business attire" to the interview, but the SEC is not one of those jobs. The links you posted are what I mean by "creative business attire". You need to wear a standard black/grey/navy suit to this interview. With closed-toe leather pumps. And professional jewelry. And carry a conservative handbag.

Hey PP, OP here. I had my interview. I am not sure that I did well enough to get the position, but I was very glad that I wore a suit and appreciate that you took the time to respond in such a pleasant way. I just wanted you to know that in honor of you and your good advice, I paid it forward by buying coffee for the random person standing behind me in line today (I would have bought you a cup, but, ya know, the anonymous thing). Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

The rule that I learned is that you should dress nicer for the interview than you would on an average day on the job if you get it. In other words, even if people there aren't wearing suits, you need to wear one.

Personally, I think a very nice business-y dress is fine in place of a suit (particularly if the weather is hot). However, I think a suit says business more than a dress does. If your resume and personality are pretty straight-on business and typical for this job, a dress might be fine. If you want to up your professionalism a little or feel you look young or inexperienced, I'd wear a suit for sure.

Honestly, the easiest thing and best thing is to just wear a black/gray/navy suit if you own one. If you get there and find it's really casual, you can always take off the jacket at some point (though I can't imagine anyone doing this in most cases). I don't think skirt vs. pants matters at all these days -- whatever you like better and feel comfortable in.