> Finally, "person fails interview because interviewer expects to see cultural signal and interviewee does not broadcast cultural signal" is a common failure mode. Think about someone who wears a suit to a tech interview.
Honest curious question: Is it really considered that much of a faux-pas to wear a suit to a tech interview nowadays?
This is why I hate hacker news sometimes. Many posts and commenters are really narrow minded and make bold, sweeping, contextual but nevertheless ignorant claims, conjunctions and statements.
To answer your question, no: in Japan there are many technical interviews where it's completely reasonable to wear a suit. It really depends in which part of the planet you live, and what company you apply for.
As with all such things, it depends on the company and the person doing the interview. There certainly used to be a very strong idea of "cultural fit", coupled with appearance cargo-culting, that made guessing what to wear at some places a minefield. On the one hand, if a company is putting their hiring decisions in the hands of insecure stereotype-wannabees who idolise a fantasy vision of the valley, do you want to work there anyway? On the other hand, we all need to pay the rent and sometimes if you can get past the "cultural fit" gatekeepers the rest of the company is pretty solid.
On a personal note, I always wear a suit to inteviews. I don't have many suits, but they're bespoke and tailored to fit. When I put one on, it's like a mode switch; lookin' sharp, feelin' sharp. Sometimes it's even a talking point when an interview notices (although, to be fair, at least once one interviewer appeared to have slept in his clothes and looked a complete mess, and me lookin' sharp just emphasised it). I do live and work principally in the UK, though, where wearing a shirt with buttons is not seen as dressy.
I also dress up for interviews even if the place is casual, and I even usually dress nicely for the first day of work. You’re normally introduced to 100 people on your first day, and I like to make a good impression. I’ve never had a problem with negative feedback from this. I think you can tell someone’s cultural fit better by a conversation than their clothing.
IMO, so long as you don't violate dress code for the company, you can wear whatever you want to the interview. You can dress up or down as much as you want and it won't count against you.
I might think you're a little odd, but that's okay. Most of us are odd in some way.
It's been fun reading all the responses to my "don't ask the lunch question" post because so many people think I'm an uptight curmudgeon, but that's not true at all. I'm just aware of the line for "appropriate" during an interview.
Everything you say and do in an interview is being weighed, no matter what the interviewer says. It's simply human nature, and the interviewer is especially susceptible to it if they claim they aren't.
That said, every company culture is different, and lots of wild west startup companies have weird criteria for their culture. They may think someone who obeys authority is a bad idea and so suits are out, but shorts and flipflops are fine.
Someone else already said it, but I'll repeat it: Interviews go both ways. Each side is interviewing the other. It's in everyone's best interest for a 2-way match.
Honest curious question: Is it really considered that much of a faux-pas to wear a suit to a tech interview nowadays?