Okay, I searched so if this has already been addressed just point me to it.

As many of you know I work for the NC Forest Service.
We wear uniforms (we look like game wardens or boy scouts).

I'm interviewing for another position within my office.
My first thought was to wear my uniform...but now I'm curious if this would be ok or if I should dress as if I don't work for the NCFS.

What're everyone's thoughts?

4/20/2010 4:00:03 PM

i'd wear my uniform

don't try to church it up

4/20/2010 4:01:23 PM

I'd dress up as a different member of the Village People just to throw them off.

4/20/2010 4:02:00 PM

Ok, cop or construction worker?

4/20/2010 4:02:42 PM

Don't forget the short-shorts.

4/20/2010 4:05:37 PM

I'd go with the uniform

4/20/2010 4:06:12 PM

Go with a suit, they already know you work for them.

4/20/2010 4:07:53 PM

Go with a suit

Lebron won't wear shorts and a tank top when he talks with the Knicks this summer

4/20/2010 4:09:07 PM

suit

4/20/2010 4:10:14 PM

Do they clean the uniforms for you? I assume that the uniforms are provided free of charge too right? If so, wear the uniform as it saves you from having to do as much laundry.

4/20/2010 4:10:32 PM

i feel like thats a bit presumptuous

i get your reasoning, but i feel something like that could give some people the wrong impression of you and your "confidence"

others would see it in a positive light and consider it as such.


Personally theres no way of knowing and I wouldnt risk it

im assuming you arent interviewing with someone you commonly work with. as in you are interviewing with a higher up or an admin that you dont normally interact with. Id wear normal interview attire just to be on the safe side and not risk lending the impression that you think you are a shoe in or that for some reason you didnt prepare like you would if your life depended on getting that job



If you are working that day then most likely there'd be no problem wearing your uniform if you were working in that uniform before the interview and are planning on assuming normal duty after the interview

if you are just going in for the interview on this day, or if you are not going to report for duty until afterwards, id go with suit and tie

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 4:20 PM. Reason : h]

4/20/2010 4:16:28 PM

ok, i'd like to make an addendum to my answer

i would wear the uniform if the new job would require the uniform (or a similar uniform)

if the job would require business attire or whatever, then wear that

i wore a suit to my interview for my internship and the guys interviewing me were in khakis and polos. it was kinda awkward.

4/20/2010 4:22:54 PM

Your Stupid. Lots of places of work don't require suits on a daily basis but you still wear a suit to the interview. No one wears khaki's and polos to interview just because thats what the people who work there wear.

4/20/2010 4:25:35 PM

HIS stupid

4/20/2010 4:28:43 PM

my stupid

4/20/2010 4:30:02 PM

Noose rolls up an interview for his plumbing gig in overalls and Wolverine boots

4/20/2010 4:32:55 PM

grammatically correct or not, I agree with Slave Famous' post.

Wear business attire

4/20/2010 4:33:01 PM

Ok...normally we wear uniforms but on office days we have the option of a forest service polo and khakis.

The interviewer will be my boss' boss, the district forester. He only wears the uniforms to work.
Also in on the interview will be the water quality forester who is basically on my level, may half a step up. He also only wears the uniform.

The vast majority of NCFS personnel have pretty low dress standards outside of work, so a non forest service polo in decent shape is considered dressy. I would be greatly out of place in a suit and tie.

I might just wear my uniform. idk...

4/20/2010 4:34:36 PM

You don't have to put on a jacket, but a button up shirt and tie is a must. You have to respect the interview process, and etiquette says that you dress up for that sort of thing. It shows respect to the interviewers, and your seriousness about wanting the job.

Wear a shirt and tie.

4/20/2010 4:46:04 PM

based on that id strongly recommend the polo

i wouldnt go with the uniform if you arent working before the interview

otherwise come as you dressed for work

4/20/2010 4:47:08 PM

^i agree with this

4/20/2010 4:54:32 PM

there is such a thing as overdressing for an interview, and since you already work there you should go with the khaki's and forest service polo. anyone why recommends a shirt and tie is wrong, that may be true for someone from outside but you should just wear your polo and khakis to show you fit in on that higher level.

4/20/2010 4:58:00 PM

Absolutely wrong. A shirt and tie is never over dressed for an interview, I don't care if you're applying to be a cashier at Food Lion or as an entry level engineer at a big corporation. I don't want you to put on the cuff links and stick a handkerchief in your double breasted suit pocket, but you need to dress like you belong at the next level up, not like you fit in where you are.

4/20/2010 5:03:44 PM

you should wear the uniform.

4/20/2010 5:07:22 PM

there is no real implication that he is applying for a "higher" position

sounds like a lateral movement to me

4/20/2010 5:08:24 PM

it's like any other uniformed service; if you're remaining in the same service or even switching uniformed services, you typically wear your uniform.

4/20/2010 5:12:07 PM

I have never seen or heard of that being the case.

4/20/2010 5:15:01 PM

fwiw, the FS polo is of the cotton mesh type w/ banded arms, not the slick/shiny smooth cotton dressier variety. imo the uniform is more formal than the polo.

i think if he wears a suit he'll be laughed at (having met the people he works with multiple times). they're mostly backwoods rednecks. of course i don't know them as well as Fumbler does...

he is a service forester. the district ranger position is up one and over to a different department, kinda, iirc. he won't be a forester anymore. he'll be a ranger instead. still working in the same office building here in RM. the job will require the uniform too. he'll be in charge of some people, whereas his current position doesn't have an managerial duties, but i think he said the people of whom he would be in charge are not in his office. they're scattered across the district and he won't even seem them on a daily basis.

i agree w/ the others, if you're at home for the day, wear the polo...but i know you'll be at work so wear your uniform.

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 5:18 PM. Reason : ]

4/20/2010 5:18:24 PM

Do you have a 'dress' uniform?

4/20/2010 5:22:02 PM

I concede.

Wear the uniform

4/20/2010 5:22:33 PM

no. he has a short sleeve shirt and a long sleeve one. they're identical in every other way.

4/20/2010 5:22:57 PM

I'd probably wear the uniform.

Warm up the iron. Make it nice.

4/20/2010 5:37:08 PM

4/20/2010 6:15:04 PM

call his secretary and ask. Id say uniform, wear your best one, get it cleaned and starched.

4/20/2010 6:50:36 PM

Wear a shirt and tie.

Its an interview.

4/20/2010 7:56:01 PM

show up in a fucking BEAR costume

you will be a shoe in for the job

4/20/2010 8:15:25 PM

^this!

4/20/2010 9:03:26 PM

dress up like a lumber jack or smokey the bear. better yet, wear a suit to show them you take the interview seriously.

4/20/2010 9:12:19 PM

Quote :

"The interviewer will be my boss' boss, the district forester. He only wears the uniforms to work. Also in on the interview will be the water quality forester who is basically on my level, may half a step up. He also only wears the uniform. "

Then you should wear the uniform.

4/20/2010 9:29:45 PM

nvm.

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 9:33 PM. Reason : ]

4/20/2010 9:32:56 PM

this IS fumbler


oh, and it's just "smokey bear". not smokey the bear. first name smokey, last name bear.

hahaha unfortunately they keep that costume locked up

the ironing thing is a good idea.

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 9:39 PM. Reason : ]

4/20/2010 9:38:50 PM

dress for the job you want, not the job you have

4/21/2010 1:03:02 AM

haha well that would be wearing the same uniform. everybody has the same one. they don't have stars for rank or anything lol. same patch, name tag, badge.

4/21/2010 8:36:55 AM

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4/21/2010 8:39:15 AM

What kind of stuff do the water quality foresters do? Any stream assessment stuff?

4/21/2010 8:40:33 AM

i'd say church it up...it doesn't sound like they're this judgmental, but wearing your uniform could be like saying, "i didn't plan ahead or care enough to dress up for this interview"

*shrug*

4/21/2010 9:01:45 AM

wear the bear

4/21/2010 10:20:14 AM

Quote :

"it's like any other uniformed service; if you're remaining in the same service or even switching uniformed services, you typically wear your uniform."

That sounds good.

The job I'm applying for is district ranger. I am currently a service forester, which is half way between a county ranger and an assistant county ranger. A district ranger is above a county ranger, so I guess the job is about 1.5 steps up from a service forester.

Quote :

"Do you have a 'dress' uniform?"

We actually do have dress uniforms...but I don't have one. Few people in the forest service have them.
The only time anyone wears a dress uniform is when someone in the forest service dies.
The dress uniform looks almost identical to the field uniform.

Quote :

"What kind of stuff do the water quality foresters do? Any stream assessment stuff?"

They check logging jobs for water quality issues (stream obstructions/impediment, sedimentation, contamination directly due to logging, presence of buffers).
The only thing we "assess" with streams is whether or not they're ephemeral or intermittent or whether they're real streams or manmade drainages.

[Edited on April 21, 2010 at 11:12 AM. Reason : ]

4/21/2010 11:11:13 AM

from what I remember about the culture when I worked at the forest service (this was like 1998), I think you'd be fine either way. Given that the folks that'll be interviewing you always weir the uniform, it won't hurt you to wear the uniform as well.

Do you work out of the salisbury building? If so, does louise coats still work there? She was my old boss, and is one of those hilarious older redneck women.

4/21/2010 11:20:47 AM

he works in rocky mount

4/21/2010 11:28:39 AM