Skip to content

Interviewing in 2020

  • by

Still on the job hunt. I’ve had a few interviews lately, including one actual in-person meeting. How do you dress for an in-person interview anymore? Do you match your mask to your tie? Does a custom mask with my website address send the wrong message? Does it send the wrong impression to show up with a disposable mask, versus a reusible cloth mask? I have no idea.

Then there are the Zoom/Microsoft Teams interviews. Will I need to turn my camera on? Did I remember to change my name and background from the “funny” nickname and backdrop I was using for last night’s group chat with friends? Better dress for that with the official business casual look of 2020: polo shirt on top, pajama pants underneath. Work from home business casual is the mullet of clothing styles.

Of course, almost no one actually turns on their camera, which makes this no better than a phone call, but with extra steps. At least on a phone call I can pace around the room a bit. Gotta stay at the desk for the online meetings, because I’ve got to use my camera mic rather than my streaming headset, because the headset and hat isn’t a good look with business casual.

Hopefully this will all be over soon, and I can go back to just having online meetings with coworkers where we’re all in our “Corona-Casual” attire.