We have a suit & tie kind of culture: how do we attract designers to hire?
We're an enterprise services company and while there are no rules, everyone just automatically prefers to be dressed "old school".
This has created a problem for us to attract designers in the bay area. They come for an interview and automatically think we're "old farts".
How can I get past their false perception about us without forcing my executive staff to rip their pants on the bottom to seem more hip?
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Just a point of clarification: are these designers going to be required to dress up to this same level? If not, are they still going to feel a lot of pressure to dress nice like this anyway? Flexibility in dress is a nice perk, and some regions (like the US west coast) and some professions are more accustomed to it than others (e.g., they're more likely to expect the flexibility). Are you sure they're coming to the conclusion that you're "old farts" and not the conclusion that they'd have to dress in a way that they'd prefer not to? – rbwhitaker 10 years ago
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Yep, no requirement to dress a certain way, but I see why someone would just want to dress like everyone else to go with the flow. – Michael Nall 10 years ago
1 Answer
There are three ways you can attract good designers (or pretty much anyone else):
1. Vision
People rarely buy into what we do. What they really want to know is why you do it. Start with why.
2. Culture
Your team needs to have an identity that defines who you truly are. While the suits & ties might raise a few alarms for them at first glance, the way you explain your vision and culture should put those concerns to rest.
3. Creative control
This is especially true for designers. You hired them because they are the experts on the field. Let them own what they do.
