Reply With QuoteIn general: better over dress than under dress but watch wise I would be very conservative.
plenty of food for thought here. i did not speak to him yet. i think the best thing is leave off the gshock . i will report back the result ,thanks to everyone for your opinion
In general: better over dress than under dress but watch wise I would be very conservative.
Just tell him to get well presented. Riches aren't important, just a little attention to detail here and there. Tell him to stand up straight, carry a little (but not too much) confidence. If any (or no) watch matches after getting these bits right, then he'll be going in the right direction.
never had a watch affect any job interview
I work in Engineering and always notice what watch a candidate is wearing, but it bears no influence on the decision.
Got a fair few guys in G's in the office & I occasionally wear mine too.
If the G is in nice condition then tell him to wear it but if it's tatty he might be as well going watchless for the interview.
I am a senior manager responsible for around 100 Engineers and Technical staff
I do look, as I do around our car park for the other things I like and both up and down our organisation which is full of very successful and often as a result of that affluent Engineers and until this year had an Engineer as our company President, probably still very low level of interest in watches, I would say most don't consider watches a priority, they are more practical people and as such it is another tool they require.
It is at best a talking point later in the process and makes no real difference,
For a number of reasons most Engineers I interview have had very few interviews in their careers and as such as pretty poor interviewees, mostly looking rather uncomfortable in their suits and often need some coaxing to link their skills to our opportunity in the same way I have in choosing them as candidates
Your friend should concentrate on their technical competence and try to match their skills to whatever the Job ad said was required and what they can learn about the company goals and values of this prospective employer,
And showing that the CV was just a summary of what they are about and can deliver, as said, the CV got them the interview, worth referring back to examples from their career that help elaborate their answers.
Last edited by de30m; 2nd August 2018 at 08:18.
There are also degrees. A regular, non-massive G-Shock will fit under a cuff and may never be seen. A huge 50mm one with the tail end of the rubber strap that sticks out and is on show the whole time... well, may or may not be appropriate. But if that candidate is otherwise exemplary and shows an excellent match with culture, attitude, experience, etc then it's just part of the package. If they have a very large, expensive and ostentatious watch that they point towards everyone all the time so they can notice it as much as possible, that would be slightly odder behaviour - deliberately talking about or showing off your wealth is not usually appropriate.Originally Posted by chester
People who think that everyone should share their narrow-minded passion for watches and are willing to write off entire candidates because they wear a watch that doesn't pass some random, unidentified test are bad interviewers, and probably bad managers too, and frankly the problem fixes itself because who would want to work for an asshat like that.
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
How do you know?
As others have said, he's gone to the effort of wearing a suit and tie (hopefully), wearing the horological equivalent of flip flops is a little out of place :)
No-one is suggesting an Ultra-thin Vacheron, but an anonymous 30 quid cheapie, white face, steel on leather from Argos will do the trick surely.
In other circumstances; I would be wary about wearing a watch better than the interviewer in case the interviewer cared about such things, no Bregeut or JLC then. I'd pick something slim and geeky... a quick look in the box suggests my Aerospace would appeal to an engineer :)
By the same token, arriving at a job interview wearing a point-collared shirt and being interviewed by a cutaway-collar fundamentalist may leave you in the lurch, no matter how beneficial you may be to the organisation. One just has to hope that people aren't that narrow-minded!
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
Wear what make you feel best about yourself.
Because the watch is always under my shirt cuff
I had the great pleasure of interviewing candidates for a rough-and-tumble position a couple of weeks ago, the only watch that jumped out at me was the fake Omega with the chrome worn off the pushers. Additionally, the pushers didn't appear functional, there were no subdials on the thing... Unless I'm mistaken and Omega did release some sort of base-metalled non-chrono.
Anyway, the chap didn't get the job. Not because of his watch though and he did interview well. His criminal record was the sticking point, the criminal record he didn't disclose. Now a fake Omega and the nondisclosure of a criminal record are forever linked in my head.
This.
Thank goodness none of the fashionistas on this thread ever interviewed me. I'm sure my watch, shoes, slacks, shirt, or jacket wouldn't have met their arbitrary fashion criteria.
I'm not sure what watch you are wearing bears too much weight at all, unless it looks like a decorator's radio. Scruffy is scruffy, whatever it is you're wearing and may cloud a prospective employer's opinion if presentation is part of the job.
My work is full of young men with more money than sense, yet the propensity of watches are F-91Ws and G-Shocks. The most common 'posh' watches are the ubiquitous Aerospace (and more often lately, the new LE Bremonts). All of them were selected from the very top of the pile (in their chosen field) and clearly their £9.99 specials from Argos did them no harm... (I don't count myself as one of them, I had a very different career path. Maybe my watch was too posh when I went for selection...)
My boss once told me he didn't like someone he was interviewing because he was wearing an orange strapped (I assume omega) watch and orange socks to an interview! Too ostentatious for him!
Oh and he was a cocky wide boy as well which didn't help............
I would wear none. You don't want them to give you any reason not too like you.
If you get the job, you're going to end up working with them and they can easily get rid of you during the probation period of they 'don't like you'.
So the most effective approach is to be the best version of yourself. It still has to be clear you are making an effort to impress and that you actually want the job, hence all the valid advice about smart clothes, shoes and yes a watch that does not stick out, either for being too casual or too ostentatious.
+1 for this view.
A
Quite simple for me. The watch itself is not an issue, but if it fits with the 'being at my smartest' for an interview. If he's otherwise very smart but wearing a ratty old G, that looks icongruous, and any interviewer may make an adverse inference. The same would go for wearing inappropriate shoes (trainers for example). On the other hand, a smart, discrete smaller G would be fine.
If the watch remains under your cuff when you sit down and bend or extend your arms, I would speak to your shirtmaker. Your sleeves are far too long.
Thanks for coming, don't call us we'll call you... :)
If he was going for a job as a Counselor for Alcoholics Anonymous, the G Shock would probably be perfect.
Last time I went to a job interview I just wore the classic Mondaine quartz. Figured it wasn't too expensive/flashy, goes well with a suit and shirt, not big enough to be too obvious so not many people would notice it. However, people who are into watches probably would spot it and could be a potential talking point etc. Seemed to work OK!
Jodi Kidd, Mark Weber and plenty of other down to earth, well healed types wear G-Shocks.mso be very careful how and why you judge. I personally can't stand them but then I didn't judge.
Wear a some fake or wannabe fashion tat, now that is a different story.
These sort of threads crop up from time to time. A large amount of the advice is useless nonsense.
I have interviewed literally hundreds of people over the many years of my career, for jobs or promotion, mainly to executive positions and not once have I ever noticed what watch they were wearing.
The fact is no one can tell what watch you are wearing. You are normally sat quite a few feet away from the panel and you had better be wearing a long sleeved shirt for an executive position. It is nonsense to suggest anyone can tell what watch you are wearing from just a few peaks at that distance.
What watch am I wearing to work here?
Can you tell? It is the largest watch I own and is absolutely huge at over 56mm wide.
Nope!
How about now and this is a view you will never see in an interview. You will not be this close and the shirt will be masking at least a proportion of it and you will not be able to stare at it but just get a fleeting look at best.
Well with this uninterrupted, fairly close, view which you can study at your leisure some might recognise it, most wont and this is a forum of WIS, not some random person who likely couldn't care less about watches.
The message is....wear what you want, nobody will notice.
Mitch
Well you want to get to the probation stage first and if the interviewer has preconceived notions and is judgemental then you don't want to make yourself and easy target. You don't need a watch at an interview. If you read any interview skills book Or talk to any HR expert then they all sing the same song. As little jewelerry as possible, neutral colours, no strong smelling scents etc.
Echo that - recently I heard someone say "Can someone remind me when it's eight o'clock - I have forgotten my phone".
Oddly enough I too have loaned a watch to a friend for a job interview as a software tester - he is approaching forty and has simply never owned a watch.
I also had to reminded him how to tie a necktie - he had forgotten.
I feel old.
Of course, where will these 'Titan' wearing, FAIRLY BACKWARD CULTURE, folks be without the benevolent enlightenment of the renaissance man.
Oh dear.
Right, so it's bad to judge if the watch is something geek-WISsy like a G-Shock, but ok if it's a Michael Kors? How is that "not judging"?
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
Hmmm had interview on Weds evening....wore my 1972 Red sub on a nato.
They just made me an offer. I am sure no-one saw my watch.
I have another interview this afternoon....different company...wearing same watch...wish me luck :)
I have worked in a fair amount of chemists, my uncles friends own a chain and i sometimes be present whilst they're interviewing a potential pharmacy manager to look after one of their shops. Never have any pharmacists i have seen wear a Rolex to a interview, i have seen some omega seamasters but thats the best I've seen.
I've never been in a interview apart from a university application interview and i naturally wore my 16610LV.
It seems to be that most assume its not a hands on Engineering role (there are still Engineers that get their hands dirty)
There does seem to be a fear especially in middle management/supervisory positions that the candidate will be reluctant to 'get stuck in' if the situation arose
If this is the case wearing a very expensive pristine watch could do more harm than good
Personally i have interviewed many times for this type of position and i would rate myself as extremely poor if i couldn't gauge a candidates eligibility through the structure of the interview processes and relied upon things like watches to make my decision
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