Dress code/policy for CIA? (Reston: contractor, college, codes)

[sunomo]

Any office of the government requires when in the office to be in suit & tie (men). suit, dress skirt, dress pants (women).
Any agency that has you working in the field such as FBI, DEA, ATF etc you may wear casual or even street clothes, but you must in any way, shape or form have something that identifies you with that agency such as a hat, jacket, shirt etc. unless you are told otherwise or having such connective apparel on your person poses a threat to your life.

[CAVA1990]

Trench coat, fedora with brim pulled down over your face, brief case that shoots bullets, sword cane.

[Carlingtonian]

You will be expected to wear a baseball cap with the CIA letters prominently on the front, available from many sidewalk vendors downtown. Do not even think about showing up without this on your head.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by sunomo

Any office of the government requires when in the office to be in suit & tie (men). suit, dress skirt, dress pants (women).
Any agency that has you working in the field such as FBI, DEA, ATF etc you may wear casual or even street clothes, but you must in any way, shape or form have something that identifies you with that agency such as a hat, jacket, shirt etc. unless you are told otherwise or having such connective apparel on your person poses a threat to your life.

Hahahaha...can you please pass this memo on to my government counterparts? The guy sitting across from me (in a federal government office) is wearing jeans and a Philadelphia Phillies tshirt. (He has a dress shirt on under the tshirt, so maybe that counts for something...)

I have never once seen a government employee in a suit at my agency. Dressy is a polo or sweater with khakis here. Now contractors/consultants? They're dressed to the nines.

[Alicia Bradley]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

Hahahaha...can you please pass this memo on to my government counterparts? The guy sitting across from me (in a federal government office) is wearing jeans and a Philadelphia Phillies tshirt. (He has a dress shirt on under the tshirt, so maybe that counts for something...)

I have never once seen a government employee in a suit at my agency. Dressy is a polo or sweater with khakis here. Now contractors/consultants? They're dressed to the nines.

Seconded.. at least in my agency.

[Forehead]

I definitely overdress for my office, shirt and tie every day, even Friday's. Most of the women here do not dress up to that standard, and I'm singling out the women because I'm one of only two men in my division.

I'm 30, for what it's worth, so I don't think it's an age thing, just a personal mindset.

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

Hahahaha... The guy sitting across from me (in a federal government office) is wearing jeans and a Philadelphia Phillies tshirt. (He has a dress shirt on under the tshirt, so maybe that counts for something....

Undercover personnel?

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by South Jersey Styx

Undercover personnel?

lol, not quite. He just knows there's no reason to dress up--he travels in from another site each week, so the people he's working for aren't his superiors who write his reviews. There's no one here to impress...so he just doesn't impress anyone.

There was a woman who worked here a few months ago who routinely wore mini skirts, tank tops, and fishnet stockings. She was probably 50 or so. It was neither appropriate nor attractive. (I'm 24, and would have been self conscious wearing it out on a Friday night!)

It's entertaining sometimes to see what some folks consider work attire.

[SteelCityRising]

Frumpy is the name of the game at my agency as well. I always wear black dress pants, dress socks, dress shoes, and a long-sleeved dress shirt, at the very least (although recently I've been wearing a sweater over the shirt). Our contracting counterparts are always dressed in high-end suits (the fact that they earn higher salaries probably helps---I could never afford a nice suit).

Colleagues of mine think nothing of "Government casual" being acceptable---hoodies, jeans, sweatpants, etc. It is embarrassing, actually, and when someone puts such little effort into their attire at the office I'm inclined to think they are less enthusiastic about the task at-hand. I'm happy I'm returning to the private-sector.

P.S. It's not a generational thing. I just turned 24.

[normie]

FWIW, this is how we see dress codes from a bosses' perspective. When our employees are comfortable, they get more work done. We like them to wear a "professional" look when meeting with clients. However, for day-to-day operations I actually prefer they leave their nice clothes at home.

We learned the hard way that employees who dress nicely spend too much time worrying about their clothes and not enough time thinking about work.

They're hesitant in any situation that requires plugging in cables, fixing the copier, or moving furniture, computers, boxes, etc. They tend to go home early because dressy suits bind after awhile. If something wayward happens to expensive clothing (a button pops off, a tear, a spill) they spend too much time trying to fix it, and often slip out of work to go home to change and take the garment to a cleaners.

Give me an employee in comfortable clothes any day.