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First Day SA Attire
Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 7:07 pm
by Imaginary_Chef
My first day as a 2L SA at a big firm is tomorrow. I was planning on wearing a suit and tie, but recruiting sent an email last week saying that business casual is "fine attire" for the first day. The firm is generally business casual, and I likely won't even be seeing many attorneys from my assigned practice group (we're scheduled for orientation, lunch with our mentors, and then more orientation on the first day). Should I still wear the suit and tie? Or would dressing it down slightly, perhaps to suit with no tie, be the better play? How about for when I have my first day with my practice group? Should I break out the suit and tie then, even though that will likely be later in the week?
Sorry if this is a stupid question. I wasn't concerned about dress code at all until I received that email. I just want to make sure I'm not standing out by dressing too far in either direction. Thanks in advance for your responses!
Re: First Day SA Attire
Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 1:27 pm
by JHP
Re: First Day SA Attire
Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 2:04 pm
by Auxilio
If they say business casual is fine, then just wear business casual. You can dress up a bit (like a blazer/tie) but I wouldn't go full suit (although first day doesn't matter too much).
Re: First Day SA Attire
Posted: Tue May 21, 2019 2:40 pm
by QContinuum
If the email specifically said business casual is fine for day one, then that means business casual is fine for day one.
I'd err on the dressy side of business casual, though. From your post it appears you're male, so I'd recommend doing either a tie or a jacket, but not both. (And of course dress shirt/dress pants/dress shoes, which should go without saying.) Later on, you can dress in line with the associates. If they generally err on the dressy side, then stay on the dressy side; if they generally go sans tie and sans jacket, then you're also fine doing that.
Re: First Day SA Attire
Posted: Tue May 21, 2019 2:42 pm
by Auxilio
The best thing about a tie in these situations is you can just have it in your bag and whip it out if you decide at the last minute it would be better.
Re: First Day SA Attire
Posted: Tue May 21, 2019 2:45 pm
by QContinuum
Auxilio wrote:The best thing about a tie in these situations is you can just have it in your bag and whip it out if you decide at the last minute it would be better.
I've also found it convenient to simply keep a jacket in my office - easy to slip on as needed, and makes it so I don't need to wear a jacket to/from the office.