I'd wear a suit. If they have specifically said not to, I'd wear very smart jeans or trousers (chinos or similar), tan leather shoes, plain white shirt and a blazer.I have an interview with a company I'm very keen to work for in the coming days (I've been watching them for the last year or so and by sheer force of will and luck, I've landed a meeting), and they've told me that they're relaxed and casual in their approach to work life and interviews, and they "don't expect me to prep" for the interview.
It's more of a chat than anything else, and I get the impression going in wearing a suit goes against their ethos. But, I'm really keen to work for this company, and want to make the best impression (it's a financial role).
I don't want to insult them by going in with a suit after they've advised to come casually, but then I'm wondering whether or not it's a test (I'm guessing not).
Anyone else been in a similar situation?
Any advice welcome
This Business and Moment...
- Thread starter randomshenans
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That app looks like its making great progress.
Been assigned a mentor in the business to mentor the more "political" side of my job. Hes the best when it comes to difficult customers/cases in seemingly unrecoverable situations, handling major incidents, high profile people as well. Hes been in the business some 25 years. Its great I have been able to establish a rapport with him which naturally has led on to him mentoring me, and now was made official. Couldn't have a better person for it!
Well that works both ways, though is rather unlikely.
Interview done via webex. It was fairly informal, panel of three - more about getting to know me and my motivation rather than proper competency based stuff. Should hear back by the end of the month about next steps.
That is only true once the UK leaves the EU. Until then it is very easy to hire a UK citizen and there is no burden of proof on Swiss companies to show that no local talent was available.
Edit: Work permits can be a little trickier as there is a quota on them each year for all foreigners, so you need to apply early enough in the year before they all are given out or go to a canton with fewer foreigners or a larger quota.
Sounds like jeans, shirt and a jacket would work mate
Thanks for all the suggestions guys.
I have a contact within the organisation who will be present in the interview, (she's mostly the reason I landed the interview in the first place, I imagine). I just asked her to confirm what the situation is, as I didn't want to insult the company ethos etc.
She confirmed, smart jeans, smart shoes, a smart shirt, absolutely no tie, and no suit jacket. Think I'm pretty much set! I didn't want to get in touch with her really as I didn't want any "outside help", or any more than I've already had, but she was more than happy to advise.
Just need to wait for the interview to roll round now
I'll let you know how I fare.Well that was to be expected I guess, though good you could get it confirmed/double checked by your contact too if it was something you were concerned about (you don't really want your mind to be elsewhere in the interview/worrying about additional things like that).
I wouldn't worry about outside help, especially if she's recommended you or something - she'll want you to do well in that case (in plenty of companies she might even have a financial incentive if you get hired/get through probation).
Hope it goes well for you
Thanks for all the suggestions guys.
I have a contact within the organisation who will be present in the interview, (she's mostly the reason I landed the interview in the first place, I imagine). I just asked her to confirm what the situation is, as I didn't want to insult the company ethos etc.
She confirmed, smart jeans, smart shoes, a smart shirt, absolutely no tie, and no suit jacket. Think I'm pretty much set! I didn't want to get in touch with her really as I didn't want any "outside help", or any more than I've already had, but she was more than happy to advise.
Just need to wait for the interview to roll round now
Excellent, I hope it goes well
Is there not a salary band with the role? (if not say I've looked at similar roles and would like a salary of X)
I don't like the q of "what's your current salary" as it's just an opener to try low ball you, in my cynical mind. The response would be "I have a package value of (INFLATED VALUE X Inc all benefits) and would like the new role to be £Y
I always ask, I dont have much of a choice my in situation as most of jobs I have applied for in Germany and Switzerland don't state salary on the vacancies.
More referring to when there is a salary range
In which case, id imagine them to ask your expectation in salary
If not include something along the lines of "I have looked at similar roles (or current role) have a package value of (INFLATED VALUE £X Inc all benefits) and would like the new role to be £Y salary /benefits"
hahaInteresting, in Austria I believe it's the legal requirement to state it.
The truth is that in larger organisations they'll often have a band of discretion that they can't easily go above. It's like the reverse of putting an offer on a house, you have to consider the market, the worth of the item in Weston (you) and how much you want the same to go through.
A friend of mine chanced his arm recently with a large Salesforce organisation - they offered in the region of 50k, he said he wanted 65, they flat out rejected him and removed him from the application pool despite having been a front runner until then. So whilst there's nothing wrong in asking for more than they are offering, be realistic and know that it can backfire if you take the mick.
True enough, I wouldn't ask for above the set amount in the add anyway
Neither would I, it’s also a bit cheeky.
Well that was to be expected I guess, though good you could get it confirmed/double checked by your contact too if it was something you were concerned about (you don't really want your mind to be elsewhere in the interview/worrying about additional things like that).
I wouldn't worry about outside help, especially if she's recommended you or something - she'll want you to do well in that case (in plenty of companies she might even have a financial incentive if you get hired/get through probation).
Hope it goes well for you
Excellent, I hope it goes well
Thanks guys!
Just got back from the interview. Think I pulled the right move with the attire (smart jeans, shirt and formal shoes). The employees looked to be wearing similar or more casual, which was great.
Everything seemed to go well. It was more interviewee (coining that term) than I was expecting, or how the original conversation went about, but I've had a good amount of experience with interviews and thinking on my feet, so nothing really threw me off, other than a couple of curve ball questions... (if you were a kitchen utensil, what would you be? and, you're 80 years old looking back on your life, what do you see career wise?) - didn't particularly see those coming, but we had a good laugh over them.
Now have to wait until Friday to see what has come of it, if I'm lucky there'll be a second interview. Will keep you posted.
Just gotta keep my mind occupied this week now... still not sure whether or not to tell my manager as we're quite close, and I tried to leave 14 months ago but ended up staying.