It’s such a relieve to know that the tech career (depending on the company and industry) has some of the more favorable dress code in all professional fields. As someone who spent a good bit of time wearing uniforms, I was happy to wear business casual to work. I didn’t have to change before going to any after work activity.
That being said, depending on your specific niche, you have to be mindful of what you wear. Your outfit sells your role. If you don’t dress like the typical person in your role (or above) you’ll find yourself having to prove your mettle a lot. Below is a guide to help you.
Business Analysts, Scrum Master
Business casual is the appropriate attire for BAs and Scrum Masters. Feel free to add your unique flair but keep it fundamentally formal as you want to be taken seriously.
Suggestions: Work dress, button down shirts and pants, occasional sports coat or blazer
Project Manager, Product Owner
Regardless of your organization’s culture. You want to dress business casual as a Project Manager or Product Owner. If your organization gives out polo shirts with logos, get as many as you can and wear them as often as you can.
Suggestions: Blazer or sports coat, business shirts, dark pants, khakis, comfortable work shoes, Casual suits (skirt or pants)
Developer, Tester Operations, Networking, Security, Infrastructure, Database, Systems Administrators
Engineers like to look like engineers. They take pride in their appearance believe it or not. A lot of them like to dress down and look technical. You should adopt this policy, unless your particular company is generally business casual/formal. Your team members may become less agreeable if you keep dressing like their boss’s boss even after you’ve been with them for a while. That has happened to me before. I kept wearing fashionable suits when most of the engineers were dressed down. My appearance gave the impression that I was either overcompensating or grandstanding even though neither was true.
Suggestions: company logo shirts (if provided), collared button down shirts, dark pants, khakis, polos, regular jeans (if allowed)
You’ll notice a culture and a dress code in the organization your work for. Try to adapt with your own personal twist, and also be mindful of the dress code of your role in particular. Ensure a consistency with your appearance. Try to buy outfits that can work in multiple combinations and don’t particularly stand out in color and design. For example, dark colored clothing, grey, black, and navy blue. Dry clean your work clothes if you can, or just have them washed and pressed on the weekends, ahead of the week. This will save you time and having to think about what to wear during the week. These are a few suggestions I’ve found that work in my experience.
