I worked in engineering at Google from 2007-2015. I conducted … I can’t remember, definitely more than 100, maybe something like 200 in-person onsite technical interviews. (In addition to loads of phone screens, but I couldn’t see those people.)
Not a single person wore a suit.
If anyone had, I would have been very surprised and I would have immediately started wondering what other memos that candidate had not received.
For anyone reading this: if you’re ever in a situation where you wore a suit when others are less formal, Do Not Panic.
Remove tie (if wearing tie) and place in inside jacket pocket. Remove jacket and place out of view. Unbutton top button of collar, if buttoned. Roll up sleeves. Sit in a way that pants aren’t visible, if possible.
Boom, you’re now down to something much less formal in under 30 seconds.
Ok, so maybe both ”people who don’t think they can cut it on their technical skills [and so wear suits]” and socially oblivious people with suits are rare. And so the dominant signal would just be that the person is an outlier level of culturally out-of-touch.
(Though maybe suits start seeping in more at less prestigious and culturally iconic tech companies than google.)
I worked in engineering at Google from 2007-2015. I conducted … I can’t remember, definitely more than 100, maybe something like 200 in-person onsite technical interviews. (In addition to loads of phone screens, but I couldn’t see those people.)
Not a single person wore a suit.
If anyone had, I would have been very surprised and I would have immediately started wondering what other memos that candidate had not received.
For anyone reading this: if you’re ever in a situation where you wore a suit when others are less formal, Do Not Panic.
Remove tie (if wearing tie) and place in inside jacket pocket. Remove jacket and place out of view. Unbutton top button of collar, if buttoned. Roll up sleeves. Sit in a way that pants aren’t visible, if possible.
Boom, you’re now down to something much less formal in under 30 seconds.
Yay, empirical data!
Ok, so maybe both ”people who don’t think they can cut it on their technical skills [and so wear suits]” and socially oblivious people with suits are rare. And so the dominant signal would just be that the person is an outlier level of culturally out-of-touch.
(Though maybe suits start seeping in more at less prestigious and culturally iconic tech companies than google.)