I don’t think there is such thing as business casual anymore…just wear a suit, and not one from men’s warehouse.
Turkish Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don’t think there is such thing as business > casual anymore…just wear a suit, and not one > from men’s warehouse. No such thing as business casual? Are you kidding me? Maybe you meant business casual just for interviews…
numi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > black shirt, black pants AND allen edmonds shoes? > you sound unsure as to whether you want to dress > conservatively or look like a club bouncer in > chelsea (or maybe even the guy who moves props > around between scenes in a broadway show) haha. No, I wasn’t actually planning on wearing the black pants and the black shirt, just that I was in the mood for getting some more black into the wardrobe. Don’t want it to seem as if I’m headed to a funeral. I will be shaving my goatee/beard though, for the first time in about 10 years. Screw the interview, I think this will be the most stressful thing this week.
TPain88 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > SomewhatDamaged Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Hmm. Sounds good. I’m in the mood to get myself > a > > sweet black dress shirt and another pair of > black > > dress pants. I’ve already got a nice pair of > Allen > > Edmonds. > > > > As for the tie, it’ll depend on my mood that > day. > > 
> > > > …or should i wear a full suit. > > > > Dammit. > > > Man I hope you’re joking with some of these > follow-up posts. “Should I bring my resume?” Are > you serious? Kind of. I was going to take a copy anyways, but I seriously have no clue how it works when meeting with a staffing agency, which is what the purpose of this thread is. Of course it’s common knowledge to bring a copy of your CV to an ‘actual’ interview, but again, this is my first time with a recruiter. She had also requested I email her a copy, but again I’ll end up taking a copy of my own anyways just so it gives me a reason to take a portfolio and look important. 
“No such thing as business casual? Are you kidding me? Maybe you meant business casual just for interviews…” No, I’m not kidding. I say you either way jeans/shorts and a t-shirt to work or a quality suit. Save the khakis and dress pants for church.
Turkish Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > “No such thing as business casual? Are you kidding > me? Maybe you meant business casual just for > interviews…” > > No, I’m not kidding. I say you either way > jeans/shorts and a t-shirt to work or a quality > suit. Save the khakis and dress pants for church. That’s insane…the majority of companies now are business casual. EVERYONE in suits is kind of a 80’s/90’s thing- there has been a complete shift in culture. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0D61F3AF931A15750C0A9669C8B63&n=Top%2FNews%2FBusiness%2FCompanies%2FMorgan%20Stanley And that’s from seven years ago.
I guess things are different in Canada…we’re always a bit behind.
Turkish Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I guess things are different in Canada…we’re > always a bit behind. Ha ahhh, I thought you were in the US. I was about to say, how can a guy near a major US city not see this everyday.
Taking headhunter meeting seriously is amateurish. If the headhunter is confident that the candidate will clear the interview, or don’t have a better alternative, they will go on to present him to the client, even if the candidate came into the office in pajamas. They are the pimp, the candidate is the the prostitute and client needs bodies.
“They are the pimp, the candidate is the the prostitute and client needs bodies.” Profound.
> I think it really depends what type of recruiter > that you are working with – there are ones that > are retained by the firms themeslves, and others > that act on a contingency basis. There are > recruiters that act on a retainer basis (i.e. > generally ones that do hiring for investment > banking, private equity, mega funds, etc.) and > most people there wear business attire, including > the recruiters themselves. The ones that are > retained tend to be very knowledgeable about the > industry and the positions, and many of them have > previously worked in the industry. They also deal > with the most qualified candidates and won’t > bother meeting with you unless you fit into a > certain candidate mold. If you dress sloppily to > these interviews, they will not work with you as > all candidates take these interviews seriously and > they are also very particular about who they > present to the firms that retain them (i.e. think > of yourself as a hiring liability if you are not > completely on point when meeting with these > recruiters - they get plenty of candidates from > the top sell-side firms that they wouldn’t want to > risk the reputational damage of presenting a > candidate who can’t present themselves properly). > Also, recruiters that act on a retained basis tend > to be given a lot of credibility by the hiring > firms, as it is their job to screen out sub-par > candidates rather than deluge the firm’s HR with > tons of resumes (remember that there are quite a > few firms out there that do their hiring > exclusively through retained recruiters alone). > > The more “casual” recruiters act on a contingency > basis, and rather than representing firms > directly, they take your resume and just cold-call > places. There are a couple of firms like this that > are good but others that are annoying and not very > knowledgeable. They might also try to pitch you > for positions that are below your competency > level, but I guess it’s really up to you to > determine whether or not an opportunity is > suitable or not. i’m with numi. it would be very difficult for me to take a [finance] recruiter seriously if he/she wasnt dressed in business attire. the best recruiter i worked with wore a suit everyday. His clients are high profile HFs and endowment funds (exactly like numi pointed out). a lot of face to face time w/ his clients = a lot of suit wearing. if the recruiter is wearing a suit, i would feel silly wearing business casual unless i was waaaay over qualified for the job. actually, i wouldnt even risk it then. if i’m taking time to go to an interview, its because i want the job. and i’m not going to lower my chances of getting a job i want, because i couldnt get myself together enough to dress appropriately when i met w/ the recruiter.
Well, that was a complete waste of my time.
Why, what happened?
Interview with the staffing consultant went well but the bitch tells me that the firm that’s hiring for the position requires someone who has 2-3 years of securities industry experience. Furthermore, she tried telling me about this other job that has nothing to do with my career path, but that the position would be reporting directly to the president/CEO of this big financial company. I told her that I probably wouldn’t be interested just because it veers off from what I want to do, then she goes “If i told you the name of the company you would jump at it” She then brought in a co-worker who knew more about this other position, who then looked at my resume and asked what I was looking for, and said that what I was looking for and this other position are two COMPLETELY different things. I’m actually not too surprised considering some of the things you guys said. She wants me to keep in touch with her and fix my resume up a bit, but I have absolutely no faith in her judgement at this point and have no intentions of keeping in touch. When I first walked in she mumbled something about feeling under dressed with me looking so professional and started covering herself up with her shawl. It was pretty funny. She seemed impressed on the whole, but what good does that do?
I met with one before and I got to final round with the first firm she sent me too. I was not made offer. no big deal I then got offer next week but sending online ap on my own and she was pissed at me. Like I was not suppose to do any work on my own. The she tells me she works with them all the time. I was like sure…