Job Hunter, Observed

Waiting for the L train today I saw a guy in a very dark suit, white shirt, red tie with diagonal red and white stripes. Something odd about his outfit -- so very severe, formal and self-conscious. He had opened a black leather folder to reveal a list, handwritten on yellow legal paper. Tell about... Tell about your... I presumed they were interview questions he was going over. His outfit was too perfect and plain. He did not seem proud of his suit. It was not ill-fitting but didn't seem tailor-made, either. He seemed to be in his late 20s. Maybe this was his only go-downtowntown suit. Who wears white shirts any more, and who wears a black suit when it's 80 degrees? I don't see many people in suits on the L, but that's because I don't ride much during rush hour, especially in the morning. Tom Wolfe said in an interview that he wears a white suit because he's not trying to fit in. He used to try to dress like his interview subjects but he couldn't look authentic. So he decided to look out of place. If you use that line of reasoning, then a person interviewing for a job shouldn't look like an employee because he's an outsider. Perhaps it is right and proper that he should dress differently from them as a sign of respect and a nod to the artificiality of the interview process. At the same time, he wants to communicate the message that he'd fit in. He wants the interviewers to imagine him working with them. When they offer him the job they should grab his jacket and fling it across the room and tell him to loosen his tie, roll up his sleeves and tear up his practice questions.

If he is smart, he will keep the list of questions.