{"id":7126,"date":"2016-09-29T15:49:03","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T15:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterindia.com\/career-advice\/startup-culture-can-you-dress-down-for-an-interview-7126\/"},"modified":"2021-12-31T10:19:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T10:19:45","slug":"startup-culture-can-you-dress-down-for-an-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/startup-culture-can-you-dress-down-for-an-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Startup Culture: Can you dress down for an interview?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dressing for an interview with a startup presents a unique conundrum for a job seeker: you need to come across as professional, but you also want to show you\u2019ll fit in with their culture (which we\u2019re assuming is ripped jeans, iced lattes and late starts…)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Philippines, fresh grads have always been told by their parents and tutors that clean-cut, professional, middle-of-the-road attire is always best at an interview. But this is an old school view – these days, casual dress is not only permitted in many offices, it\u2019s encouraged.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As more startups pop up around the Philippines (a government roadmap is targeting 500 startups with total valuation of US$2 billion by 2020) job seekers and their parents are going to have to get used to a whole new look.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what should you wear when you\u2019re making that all-important first impression?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can do better than jeans and hoodies<\/strong><\/span>
They might be allowed, but you don\u2019t want to show up to the interview looking like you\u2019ve just rolled out of bed. A suit and tie isn\u2019t required, but don\u2019t assume maong pants, plain tees and sneakers are the go. Ditch the jeans and your favourite band shirt and opt for smart casual – chinos, a smart t-shirt and a jacket for the men, and smart jeans, heels and a blazer for the ladies. Don\u2019t wear anything too flashy, and avoid looking like a walking brand.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research won\u2019t let you down<\/strong><\/span>
When in doubt research, research\u2026 and then research some more. While doing your homework on the company, have a snoop around for some staff photos or videos. What are they wearing? What does the office look like? Can you get a sense of the culture and appropriate attire from the images? If you can\u2019t find a single lick of information online, then err on the side of caution and dress as mentioned above.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inquiring is your saving grace<\/strong><\/span>
If you\u2019re still coming up short, then ask! Tap into your networks to see if anyone knows anything about the company you\u2019re interviewing with, or politely touch base with someone currently on staff there. Better yet, flick their HR a message – they\u2019ll appreciate the effort you\u2019re putting into your prep.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need more help in acing your next interview? Click here for Interview tips<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dressing for an interview with a startup presents a unique conundrum for a job seeker: you need to come across as professional, but you also want to show you\u2019ll fit in with their culture (which we\u2019re assuming is ripped jeans, iced lattes and late starts…) In the Philippines, fresh grads have always been told by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-startups"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11636,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7126\/revisions\/11636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}