Interview suit?

I know this is an old one, but I feel that it needs to be revived.

On an interview that I just went to, a guy showed up wearing a full "freight dog" pilot uniform. Old white shirt with oil stains, wings, epaulets, dirty pants, black running shoes with white socks. It would be somewhat acceptable had he just flown in that morning and got off work late (maybe). But no, they flew him in the night before and that is what he chose to wear. He also brought several books and was studying in the conference room during the process.

Have some pride in yourself.
 
Boyington said:
I know this is an old one, but I feel that it needs to be revived.

On an interview that I just went to, a guy showed up wearing a full "freight dog" pilot uniform. Old white shirt with oil stains, wings, epaulets, dirty pants, black running shoes with white socks. It would be somewhat acceptable had he just flown in that morning and got off work late (maybe). But no, they flew him in the night before and that is what he chose to wear. He also brought several books and was studying in the conference room during the process.

Have some pride in yourself.
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Did he get hired?
 
USN88 said:
So I have a navy blue suit, but just recently bought a gray suit in sale that fits quite a bit better than my navy suit.

Is gray an acceptable suit color for an airline interview. It's not ash gray, but more of a gray gray.

I'm thinking white shirt and dark navy blue tie?
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I would say Gray is alright for an interview, but a blue suit would be better.
 
Cptnchia said:
That's one of the first things I look at. Of course, I graduated from The Citadel, and served in the USMC. If a man cannot be bothered to take a few minutes to make sure his shoes are shined, then what other areas of his life is he lacking in? And no, corfams are an abomination!

NOW RACK THAT CHIN IN YOU STINKING MAGGOT!!! YOU BETTER NOT BE EYEBALLING ME!!!
Racking-Knobs-640x415.png



Ahh, good times!
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Good advice! Now how about pilots wearing corfram in uniform? Saw a deadheading captain wearing a pair the other day.
 
so what is the consensus on wearing current airline's uniform to an interview?

Feels kind of toolish to me, but i find myself in a kind of a pickle. I have an interview on the 5th, and have several LOVELY suits. The problem is I bought them all, then lost about 50 pounds and now they look like i'm wearing a large grocery bag.

i guess I could cultivate about 50lbs of mass between now and then to fill them out...
 
poser765 said:
so what is the consensus on wearing current airline's uniform to an interview?

Feels kind of toolish to me, but i find myself in a kind of a pickle. I have an interview on the 5th, and have several LOVELY suits. The problem is I bought them all, then lost about 50 pounds and now they look like i'm wearing a large grocery bag.

i guess I could cultivate about 50lbs of mass between now and then to fill them out...
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You could have it tailored. My suggestion.
 
poser765 said:
Not to mention I have around 3 weeks from now...and I won't even be back home for another week.

I'm just going to have to look like a zoot suiter I guess.
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There are some techniques to cheat the appearance of a tailor by using a safety pin. YouTube has a lot of short videos on how to accomplish this.
 
I would think it would serve someone well to get a new suit if you are planning on going to several interviews. It can cost as much to get a suit tailored as it does to purchase a cheap new one. If your old suits are nice, however, and you don't plan on gaining the weight back, I would look in to getting a suit tailored. If you don't, then the suits will be useless to you for as long as you have them. Get one tailored, and it is useful to you and you will have it for interviews/weddings/funerals/etc...

I would feel like a tool wearing my uniform to an interview, unless I am asked to wear it or there is something beyond my control that would force me to.
 
Cptnchia said:
That's one of the first things I look at. Of course, I graduated from The Citadel, and served in the USMC. If a man cannot be bothered to take a few minutes to make sure his shoes are shined, then what other areas of his life is he lacking in? And no, corfams are an abomination!

NOW RACK THAT CHIN IN YOU STINKING MAGGOT!!! YOU BETTER NOT BE EYEBALLING ME!!!
Racking-Knobs-640x415.png



Ahh, good times!
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Good times, indeed! Old Corps edge dressing goes a long way as well.
 
It's good for me to read a thread like this every once in a while, just to remind me of what's truly important in airline flying.

<sidebar>
Does anyone else appreciate the humor in the vestige of trying to impress people with your clothes?

I mean, you're trying to impress people by buying and dressing up in expensive clothing... and you're ascribing all sorts of amazing secondary attributes to people based on their ability to do so. Attention to detail? Hoping someone doesn't get hired because they're not wearing fancy enough clothing?

And everyone headbobs along like a room full of chickens, because yeah, sure, that makes sense. Spending thousands of dollars on a tailored suit of exactly the right shade shows {pride|taste|etc}, and is the only way to demonstrate {attention to detail|personality|pride|???}.

I just find it unfathomable that in this day and age, people are still playing the 'status' game. "Oh, you went to USC? How quaint—I went to Stanford. Oh, you call that a suit? It looks like you bought it at Men's Wearhouse. Oh my god, those shoes are soooo 1990s. Oh, you wore a blue tie? And you think we'll actually hire you?"

I can understand wearing a uniform with pride, but if we're really so interchangeable that the measure of a pilot is how much their suit budget is, whether they know the minutiae of fashion, or whether they have a degree, then we probably don't even deserve what pay we still have.

I guess "If you had to explain it, I wouldn't understand anyway."
</sidebar>

I guess I'll need to buy a suit at some point.

-Fox
NB. As far as learning fashion on daddy's knee, my dad is a working man who wouldn't have been able to afford a suit if he'd wanted one. For all the years he was busting his ass working two jobs out in the hot Florida sun, working more on the side, driving $500 cars and getting three hours of sleep a night just to try and put food on the table, I suppose I should be annoyed with him that he never passed on the gift of men's fashion.
 
Acrofox said:
And everyone headbobs along like a room full of chickens, because yeah, sure, that makes sense.
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That's because it does, and your post is a perfect demonstration of it. Your "sidebar" demonstrates someone who has a problem with conforming. That's not the kind of employee I want. I want someone who conforms to the expected standard without bitching about it and knows how to follow directions. If you show up to an interview where you know what is expected of your appearance, and you choose not to meet that expectation, then you've just told me everything I need to know about why I shouldn't hire you. The rest of the interview is just a formality at that point. You already lost the job as soon as you walked in the door.
 
In addition to demonstrating attention to detail, the interviewers are looking for professionalism and maturity. Wearing a suit does not, in itself, show this. Not wearing a suit, however, shows that you lack professionalism and maturity. Someone who takes their career seriously would treat the interview seriously as well.

Dressing appropriately with shined shoes, bringing resumes on resume paper, and having all required paperwork filled out correctly shows that you are serious about the interview and you want the job.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
That's because it does, and your post is a perfect demonstration of it. Your "sidebar" demonstrates someone who has a problem with conforming. That's not the kind of employee I want. I want someone who conforms to the expected standard without bitching about it and knows how to follow directions. If you show up to an interview where you know what is expected of your appearance, and you choose not to meet that expectation, then you've just told me everything I need to know about why I shouldn't hire you. The rest of the interview is just a formality at that point. You already lost the job as soon as you walked in the door.
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First thing's first: You are absolutely correct about me, in that regard—I will not 'conform' for the sake of conformity. If something appears silly, I'm going to first assume that I don't adequately understand it and ask questions. If those questions don't yield satisfactory answers, I'll offer the chance to explain why it isn't silly. If nobody can adequately explain why it's not silly, I'm going to say it's silly. If something's unsafe, I'm going to say it's unsafe. I'm not argumentative nor confrontational, mind you, but I refuse to accept 'because that's how it is', 'because I said so', or 'It's always been done that way.' as reasons.

If conformity is your chief value in an employee, I'd never want to work for you and you certainly wouldn't want me. But I doubt you're hiring pilots, and if you were hiring me in a technical capacity you couldn't afford me.

Is conformity really the chief attribute of a pilot?

And by the way, here's one for you: I'd show up in a sharp suit to an airline interview.

-Fox
 
I look at it in the "professionalism" aspect rather than the conformity, but I do understand that point of view. I think it has to do with ability to follow rules/SOPs. If you can't even conform to basic social protocols, how can you be trusted to follow SOPs. If you don't take your first meeting with the airline seriously, how can you be expected to take their rules seriously when you are in the airplane with your hands on the controls?
 
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