No, T-shirts still not for interviews
DEAR MISS MANNERS:
I am a lawyer in D.C., and I just completed a relatively prestigious yearlong fellowship/clerkship. I have had two job interviews thus far — one for a government position and one for a nonprofit job — and both times, I was surprised to find the interviewers wearing T-shirts, whereas I was wearing a suit.
Is it normal to wear T-shirts for interviews and meetings during the pandemic?
GENTLE READER:
After European monarchies discovered the New World, there was a massive land grab as each country tried to annex as much territory as possible.
The pandemic has caused a similar, and equally unjustifiable, etiquette grab.
The logic runs thus: Universal work-from-home is uncharted territory. Therefore, old etiquette does not apply. Therefore, I can conduct business meetings in my pajamas.
You will not be surprised to hear that Miss Manners disagrees. If you feel silly wearing a shirt and tie in your kitchen, remind yourself how silly the representative of a serious enterprise should feel conducting interviews in a T-shirt. And then keep doing what you are doing.
DEAR MISS MANNERS:
A former supervisor introduced me to her friend, Entrepreneurial Emily, who was developing a product with my company in mind. Emily and I had a nice lunch, where I made it clear there was not an appetite or budget for her product for the foreseeable future. I also pointed her in the direction of resources to continue her product development.
Emily has continued to reach out to me every few months, and every time, I politely tell her there is simply no demand for her product in my company.
I want to put a stop to any of Emily’s future solicitations, and do not want to hand her off to anyone else, as I feel my former supervisor did to me. How can I politely end this less-thanfriends friendship?
GENTLE READER: You do not have to end any friendships because the only friendship Miss Manners sees is between Emily and your former supervisor. Your relationship with Emily was a professional obligation.
Your current relationship with Emily is roughly that between a mosquito and the person on whose arm it has landed, looking for another meal. The analogy is not perfect, as you do not have permission to squash Emily. But it is time to cut her loose, which in this case means ceasing to answer any further communications.