Literally saw this as I’m preparing to go get printed for a background check for my first gov job. I’ve been debating how dressed-down I wanna be since this isn’t an actual “work” thing. This just persuaded me to ditch the polo shirt and wear a tshirt. I’ll have plenty of other days when I “need” to wear a colored shirt.
So, just a caution. The folks in the area of the department you’re working for may be chill and following the norms of leadership. But bureaucrats are cautious and traditional to a fault. Many still see formal wear from subordinates as a sign of respect for the hierarchy and office, and changes like those from Schumer as a temporary stunt that may or may not stick around. Further, the folks who are printing you are likely law and order types and are even more likely to make judgements based on appearance. Unless you know they are chill, caution may be best. In general, government work is highly context dependent, with lots of unwritten rules and judgements based on perception and relationships. Caution is best if there aren’t written rules to follow.
A note to programmers: don’t “dress up” for any important business or government meeting. I got yelled at once because I was supposed to “look like a programmer” in a sales meeting but I dressed nice
Moral of the story, ask your manager how you should dress for that important meeting.
Even better, try to work for managers that give proper direction to the people they supervise, rather than expecting people to be mind-readers.
Well, to be fair, unless you work in very specific industries, a manager usually won’t tell you how to dress, but will expect you to know the policy as laid down by HR.
My point was, on a specific meeting-by-meeting basis, if a meeting has particular business importance to it you might want to check with your direct report as to how you should present yourself overall, and not just how you should dress.
But yeah, managers that communicate well to their staff is always a good thing, generally speaking.
Unless you know they are chill, caution may be best.
A good piece of advice for every day in your life, when dealing with others that may have power over you.
