IT Professionals: Need Your Opinion

[PenguinPower]

My company is going through a strategic shift over the next three years...focusing on quadrupling our digital service delivery market. To do that, we are looking to add quite a few IT-related positions (PM me if you are looking... we have positions available in Boston and Nashville), and we've realized that our dress code is a bit too traditional and is a potential roadblock in our branding.

Just looking for some quick feedback on your preferred dress code and/or what your company has in place. Added bonus if you provide your industry.

 

[brainhulk]

leather chaps
bow tie

 

[Apathetic]

Anything more than business casual for IT folks is just plain stupid.

Dave

 

[child of wonder]

Casual. Unless you're in a potentially customer facing position, I see little harm in letting guys wear nice jeans and polos.

 

[Aharami]

my company has business casual with dress down days on Fridays (jeans, polo...no shorts or T shirt). I'd prefer jeans and t shirt every day

 

[kranky]

Ours is pretty simple. No t-shirts or shorts. Jeans OK. No flipflops. Dress shirt & pants when meeting with a customer; if the customer is known to wear a tie, you wear a tie. Plain one-color t-shirts technically aren't allowed but nobody says anything if someone wears one. The t-shirt ban is really to eliminate t-shirts with printing on them.

 

[Wyndru]

Our company is business casual, but I'm often working in server rooms and dusty wire closets, and moving equipment around so I wear jeans and collared / button-up shirts so I don't ruin my pants.

I've been wearing sneakers a lot lately too, since I do a lot of walking.

If it's a cubicle position I would think business casual is the norm.

 

[Nemesis13]

Our company is causal, unless a bigwig is coming. Today im wearing shorts and a tee-shirt.

 

[vi edit]

Ours is pretty simple. No t-shirts or shorts. Jeans OK. No flipflops. Dress shirt & pants when meeting with a customer; if the customer is known to wear a tie, you wear a tie. Plain one-color t-shirts technically aren't allowed but nobody says anything if someone wears one. The t-shirt ban is really to eliminate t-shirts with printing on them.

I wish we could get that sort of policy. Instead we have business casual with shoe nazi's roaming the halls leaving nasty grams in your mailbox if you wear tennis shoes one day. 95% of my day is spent at a desk on a phone or behind a computer screen.

 

[Kaido]

One of the main reasons I took my current position was because I didn't have to wear a tie (seriously). Collared shirt, yes. I would prefer jeans because I have to crawl in dirty spaces to get to wiring & computer equipment sometimes, but I wear slacks. Black sneakers because I walk a lot, but have to be semi-formal.

 

[slsmnaz]

my preferred dress would be business casual and was for the first 10yrs I was here (jeans on Fridays- no t-shirts). Now it has changed to jeans/collared shirt every day and it just feels like that makes it much easier to look unprofessional. Our building contains almost the entire IT dept for our wholesale dist company (support and dev)

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I work in IT Business - I prefer formal for the sake of it. If you work on a server or something all day, I would go for the less formal business casual - I say that because a lot of times you have to move around more - bend over to pick stuff up - etc... My previous job was the largest IT company in the World that I'm sure anyone can guess. Their attire at work? Whatever you wanted - everyone wore jeans and a t-shirt or I even saw people come in with shorts/sandals. Yeah, that company is down the shitter, never to return.

However - I do not think Formal needs to include a tie. You can wear a suit/slacks/dress-shirt and look just as slick without a tie. That is still not business casual. Business casual is stuff like Polo shirts, khaki's (not slacks, but more like dockers), and less formal dress shoes.

I'm not going to get all "HR-ey" - but - You should want to represent your company - and your company looks like shit when you're a pimple faced socialy retarded nerdy looking fellow with a male pony tail and clothes that resemble street-wear.

 

[Zargon]

jeans polo and tennis shoes

 

[rivan]

Casual. Unless you're in a potentially customer facing position, I see little harm in letting guys wear nice jeans and polos.

This, for sure.

If you don't work with the client in person, professional dress doesn't matter.

(We're not IT, but our dress code is the same for our IT people)

 

[tfinch2]

Shorts, t-shirt, and sneakers

 

[PenguinPower]

Appreciate all the feedback.

 

[blackdogdeek]

I prefer no shorts, no sneakers, no t-shirts; so a mix of your business casual and plain casual. We have business casual. I'm a software developer at an investment bank.

 

[Gunslinger08]

I wear shorts, sandals, and a polo/button up shirt everyday. Obviously when I go on site I dress to or slightly above the client's dress code.

I don't see a need to make office workers who aren't client facing dress up beyond what they wear in everyday life. The color, material or length of my pants do not affect my productivity. The openness of my shoes does not reduce my output. The lack of a necktie does not prevent me from doing my job. If anything, having more restrictive dress demotivates me.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Sports industry. Prefer casual or business casual.

 

[Chess]

our company policy is this....

shirt and tie with slacks every day... .doesnt matter if you are on client site or at the main office....
I work for a large consulting firm 30k+ people... it sucks and gets damn old.....

 

[HardcoreRobot]

i go business casual, but i work with the client/customer daily

 

[Wyndru]

our company policy is this....

shirt and tie with slacks every day... .doesnt matter if you are on client site or at the main office....
I work for a large consulting firm 30k+ people... it sucks and gets damn old.....

But you get to feel like Don Draper when you are getting ready every morning!

 

[Chapbass]

Our company policy is casual. Jeans, sweaters, collared shirts, polos, no problem. The only no-nos are shorts and no flipflops. Even though some people take their shoes off and walk around in their socks most of the day :\.

When a client comes in an email usually goes around saying please clean up your areas and dress a bit nicer (then its usually business casual). I typically dress up a little more (I'm in an oxford, nice dress slacks, and some dress shoes today), but it totally isn't needed.

 

[Chess]

But you get to feel like Don Draper when you are getting ready every morning!

Oh you know it... it fucking gets so old... granted Ive been with this consulting firm for 8 years now.... but god damn it sucks

 

[CraigRT]

Business casual here, not in IT but dress code is same company wide.. Shirts are provided, pants are not.