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When "business casual" first started, I worked for a nation-wide corporation. The story/joke at the time was that on the West Coast it meant tie-dyed tee shirts and jean shorts, on the East Coast it meant you could loosen your tie and undo your shirt collar button. True story.
Yep. It is such a broad term. Almost every place I worked has been "business casual" but it has varied so much it is not even funny. First place I worked it was dress pants, dress shirt, and a tie. So their definition was basically "no suit or sport coat" required. Every place since has been anywhere from dockers/collared shirts, to tee shirts and jeans.
Depends on what kind of company it is. I worked in a PR firm for a while and although the dress code was business casual, many people were on the very high end of business casual and venturing into formal attire category.
When "business casual" first started, I worked for a nation-wide corporation. The story/joke at the time was that on the West Coast it meant tie-dyed tee shirts and jean shorts, on the East Coast it meant you could loosen your tie and undo your shirt collar button. True story.
Years ago my husband worked for a very conservative law firm. Business casual days meant that when you left your office to walk down the hallway to speak to another attorney you did not have to put on your suit coat.
Jeans are casual, not business casual. Khaki to me is extra business casual, eg Fridays during the summer. Can't go wrong with dress pants, solid white / blue shirt. And just take it from there. Good luck in the new role, very exciting.
To me, it means khakis and at LEAST a polo shirt, but preferably a button-down that you may leave unbuttoned at the top, and maybe even roll up your sleeves.
Depends on where you are and what their culture is. Business casual at least in my area (the Midwest) is generally khakis, a golf shirt or at the most a dress shirt with no tie, and no tennis shoes. Some particularly straight-laced places are leave the suit coat from your suit and tie. More laid-back places might be "nice" jeans and a golf shirt or even a nice T-shirt and a pair of less-than-dress shoes. I'd personally wear khakis, a golf shirt, and brown leather dress shoes if the dress is business casual. Jeans, non-collared shirts and tennis shoes are casual and wearing a tie is formal.
You can actually go wrong with overdressing. The guy who shows up with a suit and tie when everybody else is wearing a golf shirt and khakis stands out like a sore thumb. I work in healthcare and anybody who dresses in a suit and tie where we are just screams "legal" or "beancounter." It's not a good impression to give if you are interviewing for a job like IT or clinical staff which is very clearly subordinate to legal and the beancounters and very sensitive to that fact. We feel like we won't get along with you very well and feel better around the guy who dresses like we do.
The easiest thing to do is to go to J Crew and get some of their Bowery pants in a darker khaki or dark navy, a blue oxford shirt, kenton bucks in dark khaki suede and a matching belt.
Sorry if that sounds like a j.crew ad but i've found that 99% of the time it's easiest to just buy it all there. It looks as good as you need for most engineering interviews and is usually cut pretty well so you can actually wear it as normal clothing and not look like a dork. You can get nicer stuff if you want to pay a lot more money but cheaper brands usually look a lot cheaper. the same outfit from the Gap will make you look like you are selling pre-paid phones at the mall.
Engineering firms are usually REAL casual these days. Meaning t-shirts, jeans, polos, fleece jackets with embroidered logos, etc. However, it is generally worth it to dress up a notch better for the interview.
Polo and khakis. No external pockets on the pants (i.e., no cargo pants). Do not wear jeans until you see the vast majority of permanent, long-time employees and/or managers doing so.
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