My dad was telling me it’s important to learn to tie a tie because a job or an internship may require it. He says he had to wear a tie everyday for his internship. How common is that? Are there internships that still require the intern to wear a tie? Has anybody worked a job or internship like that?

20 comments
  1. Depends on the industry. In the legal field, while you probably wouldn’t be expected to wear one every day these days, you’d still definitely want to wear one to your interview and on days where particularly formal things (receptions, court dates, etc.) are occurring. But in tech, you’d probably never need one. So it really depends on what type of internship.

  2. Maybe in a traditional firm in a high end field like finance or law. An interior design or physical therapy internship certainly won’t require a tie.

  3. I mean, the answer is absolutely yes. Is it common these days? No. But certainly wearing a suit and/or tie is still expected in some environments.

  4. I interned 10 years ago in a famously conservative industry and never saw the interns wear a tie. My husband works in that industry and only wears a tie occasionally for formal presentations. So it is good for that. But I doubt you’ll run into a place where it’s needed daily.

    That said, it takes 5 minutes to learn a basic knot and like 20 to learn a complicated one, so why not learn? I learned off of a how to draw book, so you’ll have a leg up in that someone is actually *teaching* you.

  5. Some (not all) law firms require toes and jackets even for interns.

    Clerkships for judges are usually that formal.

    Outside of that it depends a lot on the company.

    In college I worked in labs. Basically as long as you had pants and close toed shoes and nothing really dangly or flowing you were fine (those are for safety and sterile technique).

    Even if you don’t need to wear a tie daily it is good to know for job interviews, formal events, big presentations, personal events like weddings and funerals.

    It should only take you like 15 minutes on YouTube to learn a double Windsor and if your dad is showing you then you probably won’t even take that long. The only thing that is kind of a pain is getting the length right when you start so that when you are done the tie hangs with the point right near your belt buckle.

  6. Generally, in any industry or company that requires it’s normal employees to wear a tie, interns will be expected to do so as well. Some fields where this might be most prevalent are legal, banking, finance, and consulting.

  7. Wearing ties is still very common in the workforce, yes. All of the men in my office wear either a suit jacket or a tie, and most often both (yes, even the interns)

    Also, it’s just a good thing to know in general.

  8. Regardless of whether you’ll end up needing it, it’s nice to know. [This is the website that I used to learn.](https://www.tie-a-tie.net/).

    The four-in-hand is the easiest and will get you by for just about anything. You can’t go wrong with the half Windsor either.

  9. Absolutely. I interned with the mayor’s office and wore a suit to the initial interview. People who didn’t wear suits and ties got sent home on the spot. I have had many jobs requiring them since. A suit and tie is the uniform in many industries that deal with people and require expertise.

  10. It definitely depends on the industry and the area. Generally, no, I don’t see many people in ties nowadays, but I strongly suggest taking the time with your dad to let him teach you how to tie one so that when you do need it (whether it’s for this potential internship or a wedding or a court appointment, etc) you’ll know how to. And you won’t be like me and my husband a week ago, frantically searching for a better youtube tutorial because we couldn’t figure out what we were doing wrong, already running late to the Daddy-Daughter Dance…

  11. I had to wear a tie every day for an internship I had during summers of 1996 and 1997. That’s only jobs I’ve ever needed to wear a tie for. Internship the following summer didn’t require it, that became my first regular job and was khakis and polo or button down. Every job since had been like jeans and polo, button down, sweater for past 20 years (web design and marketing jobs).

  12. The interns at the prosecutors office I worked a few years ago had to dress in suit and tie on the daily. You could be expect to be in court on any given day so yeah.

  13. A full suit and tie on the daily is pretty rare in most industries now. But there are exceptions. Just learn how to tie a tie. It’s not rocket science. Learn everything you can learn 🤷‍♂️

  14. In engineering we usually wear suits with ties to career fairs and interviews but not on the job anymore.

    Bro just let your dad teach you how to tie a tie. If you ever need it, you’ll have the skill. If you never need it, you wasted what, fifteen minutes of quality time with your dad?

  15. I can think of a slew of jobs that still require ties, like finance or politicians or judges, waiters at a fancy restaurant, doctors etc. even my husbands tech job where they are normally in the most casual of casual wear still wear a tie on occasion.

    Regardless if you need one for a job, it’s a skill you should learn, it’s easy to do so and there will be occasions in life, life going to a wedding, where it will be needed.

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