Ties, man

[knuckleduster]

What is with ties? I was gussying myself up for a job interview today, going with the rich guy look (blazer, gold buttons; white shirt; gray pants; red tie), and I could not for the life of me get my red tie to tie properly! I tied the bastard 6 times, and each time, it was either too long or too short! So, I angrily removed the red tie, grabbed my blue/silver tie, and *boom* first try, it was perfect. A cocaine-addled businessman couldn't have done it better! A handsome full Windsor, in a silky blue, accentuated over the antique white of my shirt. Simply smashing, if I must say so.

So, what gives? Why does my red tie in particular (not my blue one, nor my green one, nor my stars-and-stripes one) give me so much trouble?

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

So how’d the interview go?

 

[knuckleduster]

So how’d the interview go?

Great, except I looked like a buffoon with a blue tie and a blue jacket

The first interview was with a real estate agency, and the guy was very impressed with my prior experience at a homebuilder. The second was with an HVAC testing company, and they were impressed with the experience I've built up in my current position as a maintenance technician, dealing (somewhat) with HVAC systems.

 

[JRA]

they were probably all impressed that you could tie a tie...just get a clip-on for the red one.

congrats on impressing the job market! hope things work the way you want. good luck with the interviews!

 

[Alkali Ike]

I’ve had the exact same problem with certain specific ties.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

You want to tie me up with some of your ties... Ty?

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Great, except I looked like a buffoon with a blue tie and a blue jacket

The first interview was with a real estate agency, and the guy was very impressed with my prior experience at a homebuilder. The second was with an HVAC testing company, and they were impressed with the experience I've built up in my current position as a maintenance technician, dealing (somewhat) with HVAC systems.

Cool! or hot, or just air flow.
Sounds like you’ve got a pretty solid background.
Best of luck to ya.

 

[mikeoso]

Jeez. I have not owned a tie since...1967. Wow.

 

[knuckleduster]

Cool! or hot, or just air flow.
Sounds like you’ve got a pretty solid background.
Best of luck to ya.

Yeah, I've got quite a diverse work history stretching across several work environments; from factories and road construction, to office and administrative work, to hospitality and customer service...So, I really like to (and try my best to) present my rather scattered work background through the lens of being adaptable and ready and willing to learn in all kinds of situations.

 

[two fingers]

Too floppy. I don't wear one much these days, but I used to wear them for work. If the material is too floppy it won't tie well. Cheap silk ties are the worst. Nice ones have some sort of core material that makes them more stiff. They tie like a champ.

These days, if I'm in a tie, I'm going to court or a funeral.

Best if luck with the job hunt!

By the way, second hand shops can score you some nice ones. I bought one at a charity based second hand store a few years ago (when prepping for the interview for my current job). It seemed well made. The price was a few bucks and I think I gave them a five and told them to keep the change.

I looked it up on the interwebz later and it was several hundred dollars. I don't remember the exact figure but it was well over $200.

I wore it to a funeral and somebody even asked me why I payed so much for a tie.

I replied "It was for charity so I figured I would splurge five bucks."

 

[ahc]

If I could travel back in time I would strangle the Earl de Cravatt with his infernal creation. Why would anyone willingly put a noose around their neck??? And yes, I wore ties for years at work. And hated it.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Too floppy I don't wear one much these days, but I used to wear them for work. If the material is too floppy it won't tie well. Cheap silk ties are the worst. Nice ones have some sort of core material that makes them more stiff. They tie like a champ.

These days, if I'm in a tie, I'm going to court or a funeral.

Best if luck with the job hunt!

By the way, second hand shops can score you some nice ones. I bought one at a charity based second hand store a few years ago (when prepping for the interview for my current job). It seemed well made. The price was a few bucks and I think I gave them a five and told them to keep the change.

I looked it up on the interwebz later and it was several hundred dollars. I don't remember the exact figure but it was well over $200.

I wore it to a funeral and somebody even asked me why I payed so much for a tie.

I replied "It was for charity so I figured I would splurge five bucks."

I haven’t even worn a tie to a funeral in over 15 years.
Probably the next time I do, I won’t care.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

I wear one once a week on average, which keeps me in practice. But I do still have days where the thing does not want to come out right, and it does not seem to actually associate with any particular tie, just some sort of free-floating tie gremlin, or else it's the influence of the bolo tie sitting there on the rack trying to make me choose it - hard to get that one wrong.

If the neck size on the shirt is right, I don't actually mind them much. Trying to wear a pencil-neck shirt buttoned all the way up on my side-walk-chalk neck is not any fun, and it's a real pain to find a shirt that has a correct-size neck without being oversized everywhere else.

 

[Oddly]

I have one black tie, which only comes out for funerals.
Happily it doesn't get much use.

 

[knuckleduster]

Too floppy I don't wear one much these days, but I used to wear them for work. If the material is too floppy it won't tie well. Cheap silk ties are the worst. Nice ones have some sort of core material that makes them more stiff. They tie like a champ.

These days, if I'm in a tie, I'm going to court or a funeral.

Best if luck with the job hunt!

By the way, second hand shops can score you some nice ones. I bought one at a charity based second hand store a few years ago (when prepping for the interview for my current job). It seemed well made. The price was a few bucks and I think I gave them a five and told them to keep the change.

I looked it up on the interwebz later and it was several hundred dollars. I don't remember the exact figure but it was well over $200.

I wore it to a funeral and somebody even asked me why I payed so much for a tie.

I replied "It was for charity so I figured I would splurge five bucks."

That's exactly where the red tie in question came from! I looked it up online and it retails for like $65 or $70.

I'll never forget...I bought the red tie in question at the behest of a college professor, who required that we dress up in a suit and tie for our final semester presentation. I, being a broke-ass kollidge stoodint, couldn't swing much money for a suit and tie, so I hit up the local Salvation Army and St. Vinny's stores. Since the ol' Professor didn't specify that it had to match, I wound up with a tweed jacket, a black button down shirt, a red tie, and some khaki colored pants.

And that presentation was a company profile on Starbucks, so I learned WAY too much about the inner workings of Sbux...

 

[Yools]

I went to Catholic school for 12 years, and at the end of it I swore I'd never have a job that required wearing a tie. I'm about 30 years into my adult life, and so far other than a handful of weddings, funerals, and job interviews I've never had to wear one in my professional career. Pretty sure I haven't owned a tie for many years.

Although I have to say those 12 years internalized the process so much that, as I discovered at my mother's funeral a few years ago, I can still tie one of those things in my sleep and pretty much get it right the first time.

-Y

 

[bolophonic]

Yeah, I've got quite a diverse work history stretching across several work environments; from factories and road construction, to office and administrative work, to hospitality and customer service...So, I really like to (and try my best to) present my rather scattered work background through the lens of being adaptable and ready and willing to learn in all kinds of situations.

Yes!! The last interview I had was with the planning department of the county planning commission, where I had to explain how my recent experience as a prosthetic fabrication technician related to their requirements. I was one of two finalists. Adaptability and diversification have provided me with so many interesting job opportunities throughout my life.

(Being part of the good-ol-boys network would have most likely provided me with the actual job with the county, but that’s not a “skill,” per se.)

 

[knuckleduster]

Yes!! The last interview I had was with the planning department of the county planning commission, where I had to explain how my recent experience as a prosthetic fabrication technician related to their requirements. I was one of two finalists. Adaptability and diversification have provided me with so many interesting job opportunities throughout my life.

(Being part of the good-ol-boys network would have most likely provided me with the actual job with the county, but that’s not a “skill,” per se.)

It ain't who you are.
It ain't who you know.
It's who knows you.

One prior job was offered to me because the company president knew my dad. The next job was offered to me because the boss's wife and my mom were good friends. The next job after that was offered to me because I went to high school with the boss's little brother. My current job was offered to me specifically for the fact that nobody in the organization knew me; same concept, but the complete opposite approach.

 

[slobake]

I have a clip on fish tie, but then I suppose that wouldn't work for a job interview. It is good when Mrs. slobake is bugging to wear a tie. I just pull out that little number and all talk of tie wearing disapearrs.
Seriously though, good luck with you job hunting. I pray you get the job that is perfect for your situation right now.

 

[fhm555]

...Trying to wear a pencil-neck shirt buttoned all the way up on my side-walk-chalk neck is not any fun, and it's a real pain to find a shirt that has a correct-size neck without being oversized everywhere else.

As someone with no actual neck, my shoulders just taper up the base of my skull, i have never had an off the rack shirt i could button the top button on that didn’t look like a tent with my head sticking out the top. Even moving the top button over as far as possible didn’t work. Since my late teens, any time a tie was required i had to buy shirts that fit my neck and have them taken in to fit the rest of me. Fortunately i no longer own any fitted shirts (or ties) and if i’m lucky that will not change between now and the day my corpse gets tossed out on the ground at the body farm. If i’m not welcome without a tie i’m in the wrong place.
I do keep a blazer, khaki trousers, and a pair of penny loafers should formal attire be required. But a tie is simply no longer a feature of my reality.