Regional? A suit is the norm in DC for most industries, including software. I've only interviewed one candidate (in DC) who dressed casually. Two or three in suits w/out a tie or a blazer and dress pants. The rest were in a standard suit with a tie.
Bangalore was the opposite end of the spectrum. Not only casual attire but a casual attitude to the interview in general (cell phone on the bus, in the park, etc). I don't know if that would hold for local, in-person interviews, but was true for video interviews (development team is split 50/50 between DC metro and Bangalore, with managers in both locations).
At my employer, arm or neck tattoos would be noticed, but probably not impact a developers job prospects. Management might be a different story.
My wife is in banking and a suit is 100% expected at interviews. And tattoos covered. And piercings anywhere but the ear removed. A face or neck tattoo would likely be an immediate disqualifier for a job at HQ and probably also in their call centers or branches. Of course, they also dress true business casual every day (no jeans, men wear jackets, etc).
Food service? Construction? I think a lot of folks are failing to include things like trades, services industries, etc.
Sure, most white collar interviews out east might require a suit.
> At my employer, arm or neck tattoos would be noticed, but probably not impact a developers job prospects.
This bums me out. I'm a software manager about to get full sleeve tattoos. You know what doesn't affect my ability to be a good software engineer or manager? My appearance. The fact that someone would say, "This person is great, except I don't like the way they look, so maybe let's not hire them" is truly awful, and I'd hope that at least someone on the hiring committee would push back hard.
Well, it could also be a reflection upon the poor judgment of someone who persisted in getting tattoos in the full knowledge that their (perhaps potential) employer frowned on them.
That's a circular argument. "Getting tattoos makes you a bad candidate because it shows that you're willing to get tattoos". You shouldn't want to work for people that think that way. Great way to weed out bad companies if you ask me.
This is just being shouted to the masses, not to you personally: If a qualified candidates only disqualification are his tattoos, he's still a qualified candidate.
Also, I've had visible tattoos (hands, neck, arms) my entire adult life. I've never had an issue with them involving employment. Excluding the time an employer wanted to put pictures of them on their website and I decline. Two weeks later I was laid off. Either they were going to fire me and wanted to take pictures of me on my way out, or they weren't going to fire me and this made me seem like I wasn't a "team player".
...huh. Interviewing in VA/MD, only once had a candidate wear a suit. Nice shirt and blazer with jeans/slacks seems to be the norm. I wonder if it’s micro-regional to DC? Or something about the specific software industry you are in?
My understanding has been that most large companies, especially those older than like 15-20 years, in the east coast follow suit-culture for white-collar work; the minimum being business casual for daily work (not eg meetings with execs).
This difference being the quintessential culture shift compared to california (aka silicon valley) dress code, with shorts and shirt being a very direct reaction to it
But this is based on hearsay and history; I’m not old enough to experience it myself ;)
That certainly fits both my employer and my wife's.
Both are large and old.
When I meet with clients in any sort of sales capacity, I wear a suit. Daily wear is nice casual (jeans, button down shirt). Conventions or site visits are pants and a jacket, no tie.
Bangalore was the opposite end of the spectrum. Not only casual attire but a casual attitude to the interview in general (cell phone on the bus, in the park, etc). I don't know if that would hold for local, in-person interviews, but was true for video interviews (development team is split 50/50 between DC metro and Bangalore, with managers in both locations).
At my employer, arm or neck tattoos would be noticed, but probably not impact a developers job prospects. Management might be a different story.
My wife is in banking and a suit is 100% expected at interviews. And tattoos covered. And piercings anywhere but the ear removed. A face or neck tattoo would likely be an immediate disqualifier for a job at HQ and probably also in their call centers or branches. Of course, they also dress true business casual every day (no jeans, men wear jackets, etc).