From tie to pink shorts
There is a stark contrast between the work place etiquette in the east coast and the west coast [software industry]. Hence, it was shocking to find myself being the only one dressed in a suit and tie at a job interview in San Jose, Ca. Before I had a chance to get over my initial reaction, I was put in a conference room where I was met by my first interviewer who came into the room skating on his roller skate bike. I have heard of fairy tale stories of dot com employees coming to work in shorts etc but never had I expected that such attitude outlived the boom days of the dot com. Surprisingly this general sense of freedom was encouraged by the company via extremely flexible working hours, making sports/entertainment facilities available etc
This is a far cry from the work place etiquette at the company I currently work for. The hundreds of silly rules coupled with the regular indoctrination that remind me of the “politika classes” of the derg era Ethiopia, leaves one with very little sense of loyalty or respect to the objective of the work. It took me few months just to get over the fact that I would have to shave every day.
There is not a logical reason why employees should be forced to shave, dress in suit and tie, and, act like Robots when they work in an environment where their interaction with clients is minimal. I have realized that the freedom to work the way I like is much more important than monetary rewards (not that I would work for nothn’). I am now seriously considering moving to the west…. besides who can beat the Cali weather.
