The Millennial Interviewee Is A Terribly Dressed Creature

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So, I had a thought, and this is Thought Catalog.

I suppose I should give you a little bit of background before telling you what this thought was.

I work in New York City, Rockefeller Center to be exact. Each morning I wake up, get dressed in the clothes I laid out the night before, play with my puppy, and do the usual commute from NJ to NYC. It’s about a 1.5 mile walk to the station, and then another 1.5 miles from Penn to my job. It saves money and it’s the closest thing I can get to a morning run anymore.  God I’m a lazy bastard when I’m not training for match.

This is my puppy. His sweater game is rock solid. I like to think if he were human he would drink Pumpkin Spice Latte’s and flirt with French girls.

Every day, I see a variety of people commuting into the city: Wall Street bankers, consultants, artists, students, recruiters, etc. Most of the time they all just meld together and fade into the background while I listen to the Night Vale Radio podcast; however, the one type of person that always stands out to me is the millennial applying for their first job. Their anxiety is plain as day for everyone to see and honestly it’s completely understandable – the economy is a mess and getting a job isn’t as easy as people with jobs would tell you. If I’m mentally present, I’ll tell them good luck or ask them about the job they’re going for. If I’m completely awake, I’ll ask them for their resume if it’s in a field I’m related to and pass it along when appropriate.

I’ve noticed something troubling about these interview applicants – a majority of them wear attire that is never just ‘right’. A lot of applicants are wearing suits that are too big, or too small. Sometimes shoes are dirty, or there is an obvious stain. I see the same thing on the subway – people going to interviews without a proper business suit. My initial reaction to seeing this was akin to “Didn’t yer mum teach you how to dress properly?”  My subsequent thought was usually “Whoah there Fred, check your style privilege. These people might not be able to afford some sweet business threads or have no one to teach them interview outfit etiquette.” (This is not the thought in question).

So, Thought Catalog readers, here is my thought.

How would you feel about a donation fund that collects money in order to give people a tailored business suit for their interview? The suits would go to people either applying to their first job, or people looking to re-enter the workforce and above all, these must be people who can’t afford a tailored outfit. The donation fund wouldn’t be limited to any gender or age group. Students out of college as well as mothers/fathers looking to start working again could benefit from something like this. Each suit/dress/outfit given out could come with video instructions on how to act/react in interviews as well as how to mix and match outfits for the work week. It seems pretty basic, but not everyone has parents or are in a socioeconomic situation that would have prepared them properly for the interview and business interactions.  I figure it is probably hard for people who need a job, to afford the attire for the job; that is money that could be spent on rent, gas, insurance, and a multitude of more important and life sustaining things.

I know it sounds a little vapid that employers actually take what a person is wearing into consideration when evaluating their hireability, but I think this is a getting-a-job wall that can be easily broken through with an idea like this.

That’s about where my thought ends. I haven’t worked out the logistics of the idea since I can’t do any actual resource research while I’m working, so I’ll have to table this till I get home.

Since this is Thought Catalog, I’d like to hear your thoughts and ideas about what you just read. Is this viable? How would you do it? Would you run it under a non-profit? Would you work with a preferred clothing retailer/tailor?

I appreciate anyone who took the time to read this.