The workplace dress code debate has reignited on TikTok following a post shared by Tyreshia Morgan, a 28-year-old Californian who revealed that a job recruiter “dress-picked” her when she showed up to an interview in shorts.
However, Morgan was not immediately rejected for the position — in fact, she was given the opportunity to go home, change, and postpone the interview for another day. Despite being offered a second chance, she turned it down.
During an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Morgan opened up about her experience with a job recruiter that day and explained her reasons for sticking with her outfit choices, which were called into question when a “last-minute” job interview arose.
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Tyreshia Morgan.
Tyreshia Morgan
“I was job hunting that day… I saw a recruiter email me around 10 a.m.,” Morgan tells PEOPLE exclusively. “We sat on the phone for 30 minutes and then scheduled an interview the same day.”
Morgan says she was considered for the position at a tech company, an industry and office culture she was familiar with because she had “worked in tech before” elsewhere.
The interaction with the job recruiter went like this: “We sat down and did an intake, like a briefing. She asked me a few questions. I told her my background and experience. She really wanted me to meet the manager so we could get an offer on the table,” Morgan explains. .
“She went back and spoke to the manager and the manager said, ‘I’d like to walk her through the building, go through more details in the interview – but she’s in shorts so I can’t do that, so I’ll have to go back,'” she continues .
Morgan was given the opportunity to go home, change and reschedule the interview – but chose not to. “The recruiter simply rejected me because I was wearing this… In the end, I canceled the second interview. I wasn’t feeling it,” she says of why she didn’t return.
Meanwhile, Morgan says she “didn’t think” her outfit was “outside of any professional dress code.” She recalls: “I thought I looked neat. I said in mine [TikTok] I would come to an interview like this. I felt like shorts were appropriate. The internet kind of exploded after that.”
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Tyreshia Morgan.
Tyreshia Morgan
The viral TikTok – which has amassed 5.8 million views since it was posted on August 14 – shows Morgan showing off her interview outfit at home. She wore a white jumper over a plain white top which was tucked into black shorts, accessorised with black rimmed glasses and her hair pulled back into a sleek bun.
“I showered, got dressed, just finished doing laundry, and I saw those pieces sitting there,” Morgan recalls of her outfit selection process. “I almost put on a blazer, but it was so hot that day. I took off my blazer and put on a cardigan and I said, ‘I look very neat. I looked demure.’ I literally went through all of TikTok and I felt confident,” she says, referencing Jools LeBron’s now popular catchphrase.
Did Morgan have any qualms about choosing shorts before the interview? “No,” she admits. And despite being asked to go home and change, she says she “wasn’t offended”.
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Tyreshia Morgan.
Tyreshia Morgan
“I stood by my clothes,” Morgan says. “I thought I looked very professional. Even though the shorts were a little above the fingertips… They weren’t shorts. So I just felt I looked good for a professional environment.”
Morgan tells PEOPLE that commenters on her TikTok video are divided on whether her outfit is professional attire for the workplace. “Some people say it’s considered inappropriate, but there’s about 20% or more people who say [they] he sees nothing wrong with that [my] equip.”
She also notes that some commentators are criticizing her decision to pass up a second chance to interview for the position. But “I feel no regret,” says Morgan.
However, when asked if she would opt for shorts for another job interview in the future, she says “probably not.”
“I don’t like being rejected and wasting my time and other people’s time,” she explains.
Morgan — who notes that she’s currently in the process of training for a new job — adds, “I would definitely respect the company and their dress code and make sure I’m dressed appropriately.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education