what it do, is pinstripe okay for a career fair? lol only suit I own from a wedding a few yrs ago. nogo?

[Edited on January 18, 2010 at 10:23 PM. Reason : spelling bee]

1/18/2010 10:21:42 PM

if its your only suit just go with it

pinstripes can look nice if worn properly

1/18/2010 11:28:08 PM

if it's your only suit, actually fits well, and looks good... sure. Personally, I wouldn't wear a pinstriped suit to an interview. But I also have solid suits.

And to be honest, you don't have to wear a full suit. The people at the career fair realize you're still a student (you'll probably be surprised by how many of them are not wearing suits). Slacks and a nice shirt work fine.

I'd go - pants (shoes), shirt, tie. Maybe a jacket if you have one, but not necessary. Save the suit for an actual interview. Shoot, I didn't even have a suit for interviews right out of school. I had some casual pants, shirt/tie, and a sport coat. I ended up with the luxury of choosing between job offers. Decided to leave that job, still didn't have a suit at that time -- didn't stop me from getting another job.

Just look like you can dress yourself and you'll be fine in that department.

1/19/2010 12:19:06 AM

don't bother with the suit for the career fair. the engineering community is not a dressy one.

a shirt and tie will let you look nice and professional, but not like you're trying too hard and toolish (which is how the suit guys look at the career fair, IMO - others may disagree)

1/19/2010 7:02:41 AM

You can get by at the Career Fair with just a nice shirt and tie concept. Besides, the Career Fair has really just turned into just a giant filing cabinet for resumes these past few years so who cares. In the end they're just going to tell you to apply online.

[Edited on January 19, 2010 at 7:26 AM. Reason : -]

1/19/2010 7:26:15 AM

when i used to go to these i wore dress pants and a polo shirt considering that's what most engineering companies dress code is. in addition, i dont think these recruiters are ever impressed when someone comes up to them and he/she has a suit on; i agree that it seems like they are trying too hard. you can still look professional in a polo shirt and dress pants and shoes.

Quote :

"Besides, the Career Fair has really just turned into just a giant filing cabinet for resumes these past few years so who cares. In the end they're just going to tell you to apply online."

dan nailed it right on the head. if you know this going in you will be less disappointed coming out at the end of the day. only nice thing is getting the freebies, sometimes you get good stuff!

[Edited on January 19, 2010 at 8:08 AM. Reason : too]

1/19/2010 8:07:56 AM

^yes and no on the giant filing cabinet. you also get to make a face to face impression on the people working the career fair. if you are personable and look nice, this can help you get a foot in the door if you make a lasting impression on one of the recruiters.

1/19/2010 9:57:59 AM

I've done recruiting before at career fairs so here's my experience on it:

If you are looking for a full time, real world job then a suit isn't necessary but will help. You should at least wear a tie though. Pinstripes are fine.


If you are looking for an internship or a co-op, polos/khakis are fine.


And most likely you will just be given a link to submit your resume online anyway, but there are a few companies here and there that might be doing on-sight interviews that day.

1/19/2010 10:37:21 AM

I got my current job from the Engineering Career Fair. It is one of the few companies that didn't tell me to apply online.



True story

1/19/2010 8:39:25 PM

yeah i just didnt want to show up looking like a douche or anything.

1/19/2010 8:59:16 PM

Show us a picture of this suit (or similar one)...some pinstripe suits are ok...some not so much.

And the choice of wearing a suit or not shouldn't be about "not looking like a tool".

Think about which companies you want to work for and what their culture is. Most HR folks will see it as a positive unless their company culture is super casual/free spirited (hint: most companies at the engineering career fair won't fall into this category. Think Ben and Jerry's).

Dressing up more will show you care enough to make yourself presentable and sets you apart from all the people walking around in polos and khakis (or worse) because they didn't want to risk looking like a tool in front of their peers.

1/19/2010 9:56:43 PM

Quote :

"most likely you will just be given a link to submit your resume online anyway, but there are a few companies here and there that might be doing on-sight interviews that day."

1/19/2010 10:51:28 PM

i don't think he was worried about looking like a tool to his peers so much as to the representatives. Which is a perfectly acceptable thing to worry about.

Dressing appropriately is more important than dressing "up." It's definitely possible to overdress or to dress inappropriately and then look odd... or like a tool, since that's the word of choice.

For ex. wearing a $1500 suit to an interview for a job that pays around 35k is very tool-ish.

Pinstripes, as a general rule of thumb for an interview, should be approached carefully compared to a solid suit. Mainly because there's such a variety that falls into "pin-stripe." Some are fine imo. While other pinstripes aren't typically seen in a business environment. I'd say the less noticeable it is, the better. A navy colored suit with slightly lighter blue pinstripes or even small white stripes is a lot different than the pin-striped suits you see in old gangster movies or in trendy stores (those aren't really business suits). Also, suits made of shiny materials are usually not recommended for interviews.



You should think about this now and start buying some dress clothes. If I were an upcoming grad, I'd look for a solid colored, flat looking suit. And you can never go wrong with black or navy. But I think other colors are perfectly acceptable as well, just stay away from anything too bold or unusual. If you can only afford one suit, i'd say definitely go with navy or dark gray/charcoal or something standard and darker. They don't really stand out, so you can wear the same suit with a different shirt/tie combination and it doesn't stand out as the same suit. With other colors, it may stand out more.

Also, if you're worried about cost, consider dress slacks and maybe 1-2 jackets instead of a full suit. You can get 2-4 outfits instead of 1-2 that way. If you only have one suit, you're gonna end up wearing the same thing to a follow-up interview. Not the end of the world, but it's nice to look like you own more than 1 acceptable outfit. Which like i said, stands out more with less common colors.

And if you can help it, don't buy the cheapest thing you can find. A decent looking/fitting suit/jacket is worth a little more.

1/20/2010 2:22:26 AM

I've never worn a suit jacket to an interview... Even for high level engineering jobs. I wear a nice long sleeve shirt and slacks.

And I mean, seriously... In today's corporate engineering culture, as long as you're wearing real dress clothes, you'll be dressed up more than everyone who interviews you (manager, work group, HR, everyone).

Wearing a suit jacket just makes you that much more dressed up and IMHO exceeds the "odd looking" threshold of overdressed.

One question I do have, though, is would a tie be ok without a suit jacket? I've done earlier interviews with a tie (without jacket) but ditched the tie since.

[Edited on January 20, 2010 at 7:54 AM. Reason : s]

1/20/2010 7:32:11 AM

Quote :

"And I mean, seriously... In today's corporate engineering culture, as long as you're wearing real dress clothes, you'll be dressed up more than everyone who interviews you (manager, work group, HR, everyone)."

that's a great way of summing it up.

as for the tie without a jacket look, i personally would not go that route. if i was going to put the effort into wearing a tie i would go 1 more step and have the jacket. being in dress pants, shirt and tie with no jacket looks a little silly, IMO.

1/20/2010 8:04:56 AM

Quote :

"you'll be dressed up more than everyone who interviews you (manager, work group, HR, everyone)."

Not necessarily... I'd say that is is also dependent on where you are interviewing. When I went in for my interview, my boss was wearing a full suit as well. That's the first, last, and only time I've ever seen him wear a tie though.

1/20/2010 9:29:26 AM

Quote :

"One question I do have, though, is would a tie be ok without a suit jacket? I've done earlier interviews with a tie (without jacket) but ditched the tie since."

i think a shirt and tie w/o a jacket is definitely fine for something like a career fair. And some jobs. But you can't go wrong with a shirt, tie, and jacket as a minimum for most interviews.

Quote :

"Wearing a suit jacket just makes you that much more dressed up and IMHO exceeds the "odd looking" threshold of overdressed."

I've interviewed people for jobs that don't require shirts/ties as typical dress. And it really doesn't look odd for an interview. Interviewers are expecting candidates to be dressed up. A standard business suit is pretty much expected and easily accepted regardless of day to day dress requirements. You can dress to their norm and be OK imo (in a lot of technical fields anyhow). But it's rarely going to hurt you to be in a jacket and tie or full suit.

There are 2-3 exceptions I can think of where dressing up isn't necessary. All from personal experiences which worked out just fine.

1/20/2010 10:27:34 AM

agreed. Most people seem to over-analyze interview dress. I am an Engineer and at every company I interviewed at, slacks and a polo or button up are fine every day. (I wear slacks and a nice button up). For all of my interviews on campus, the interviewers were wearing suits and I did as well. For my on-location interviews at their office, I still wore a suit and for them it was a mix of slacks and a dress shirt, some with a blazer. I didn't feel too dressed up at all.

For the majority of professional jobs, I feel like you can't go wrong with a suit. You can probably get by with less just fine and thats great, but outside of a few isolated cases I can't imagine it being a negative to be wearing a suit to the interview.

1/20/2010 10:37:02 AM

Well just please make sure the jacket fits. And engineers won't know if it fits because they have no fashion sense. So take it to a tailor before you wear it. All of the interviews I've done with people wearing suits - none of their jackets fit and they definitely looked worse than if they had just ditched the jacket

1/20/2010 11:55:51 AM

Wear a tie.

Make an impression on the recruiters, dont be annoying, but be forceful about spending some time talking to the ones you really want to talk to.

1/20/2010 12:16:37 PM

good thread... I was thinking the same thing. I got a few suits coming back from a sale they had a while ago and I was wondering which one to wear. The pinstripe one is very subdued and probably the best looking one.

1/20/2010 6:09:59 PM

Upcoming:

Engineering Career Fair - Feb. 2
Management Career Fair - Feb. 3
CHASS Career Fair - Feb. 16
Networking & Career Fair (Forestry & Environmental Resources / Wood & Paper Science) - Mar. TBA
Non-profit Career Fair - Mar. 25
Health Career Expo - Mar. 28

12/1/2010 6:12:14 AM

As far as the "resume filing cabinet" goes...

A friend of mine who now works at a large company in the area was sent to the Career Fair to recruit. This is a company that DOES tell students to go online and apply. However, he told me that they were also screening candidates based on their personal interactions...confidence, resume strength, communication ability, etc. From that, they graded each resume as they got it, and ended up only getting about 3-5 very qualified candidates. I suppose from there they look for your application online and then pull it out.

The 'apply online' is to see if you actually have the drive to go for this company. Another one of those 'extra steps' necessary to see if a candidate is serious about the job.

12/1/2010 4:20:12 PM

only indians wear suits to the career fair.

12/1/2010 6:51:44 PM

shirt and tie with no jacket looks like you're a 12 year old.

12/2/2010 2:22:04 PM

shirt and tie with no jacket looks like you're a mormon.

12/2/2010 9:36:17 PM

shirt and tie with no jacket looks like standard dress in my industry.

Consulting engineering tends to be pretty conservative in that regard. Just don't wear a short sleeve shirt with the tie and you'll be fine, and get a shirt and slacks that aren't intended to be pieces of a suit. This means a blue or green shirt with khakis and a matching tie with pattern that isn't too loud. Black or navy pants are ok in the winter. White shirts are ok, just find a thicker weight one than a suit shirt. And for god's sake wear a freaking belt. A blazer can be paired with the outfit if you're trying to impress in an interview. We spend a lot of time interacting with clients, and tend to try to dress one step above their standard dress. If they normally wear jeans, khakis and a polo works. If they wear khakis and a polo go for button up shirt with no tie. If they wear button up shirts, put on a tie. Jackets are a game for everybody. If you're talking any sort of headquarters/executive level meeting, you walk in with a jacket on then hang it on your chair and then put it back on if you have to go up to the podium.

Wearing a full suit to a career fair is pretty pointless, particularly since it usually shows how uncomfortable you are in it. Companies send 2 types of people to recruit at career fairs. HR recruiter types don't really care how you dress, they're forming opinions based on how you look on paper anyway. The other group is recent alumni or other similar rank and file people who are forming opinions based on your interaction with them and how well they think you'd fit their company culture. They will judge you by how you look (neat is more important than what you're actually wearing) and what you say to them. They want to see that you can look them in the eye, shake their hand, and spend 30 seconds discussing your genuine interests and whether they fit with their company. Most people I've interacted with at career fairs don't seem to be able to do this, and I can guarantee you the resumes I put on top of the stack belong to the people I remember as confident and personable.

12/3/2010 8:07:00 AM

Wearing a pinstripe suit to a career fair is completely acceptable. If you are going to the engineering career fair, you better wear a damn suit... or else you will look pretty unprofessional IMO. Anybody who is anybody wears a suit to the engineering career fair.

12/3/2010 1:02:04 PM