Personal Image and the Dress Code: Why It Matters
Your skilled picture is surely an vital element of your respective military to civilian transition job search - as well as your subsequent career. Even just in an era of largely casual business options - coffee shop meetings and video conferences - and casual business dress codes - "business casual" and casual Friday - a professional image is still expected. So if it's not the dress code, what forms the basis of a professional image?
Harvard Business School professor, Laura Morgan Roberts, defines professional image as: the collection of traits and characteristics that represent perceptions of your competence and character as judged by your key constituents (i.e., clients, superiors, subordinates, colleagues). Simply put, Ms. Roberts is describing an ability to exceed expectations, hit deadlines, and be an overall positive contribution to your office. In some ways, it's more challenging to build and maintain a professional image today, but there are also more opportunities to shape your image. In fact, your professional image is the entire collection of impressions that people in the office have about you, so you can handle most interactions as an opportunity to build on your reputation.
In a world of billionaires in jeans, is it still important to dress for success? It may all seem a little outdated. After all, we've all seen pictures of corporate CEOs in "business casual" and even jeans. And if it's good enough for them, why not for you? Here's a rule of thumb: whenever your net worth exceeds the combined value of 200 or so of the wealthiest people you know personally, you probably can relax about what you wear. In other words, regular mortals need to dress appropriately. But what does it really mean: to dress for success?
Well, it depends—but it doesn’t depend entirely—on the tradition and standards of your workplace, or, if you're changing jobs, those of the company or industry you hope will hire you. However, there's more to it than meets the eye, and for every genuine mover and shaker who looks like they earn their living driving trucks, there are a dozen well-dressed losers. It’s about you, not the clothes.
When you dress for success, you make a powerful statement about who you are and where you're going. Putting together this part of your professional image is crucial. Consider it carefully and judge everything you should start doing, stop doing, or do differently to put your best foot forward.
There's a famous story about Carol Burnett, the popular comedienne, who could never fully enter her character until she found the right shoes. The way you dress affects how you feel and how you conduct yourself. For this reason, it also has a significant impact on how others treat you. It's human nature that we tend to respect those who naturally regard themselves highly.
Dress for Where You’re Going, Not Where You Are
So much of dressing for success has to do with "state of mind." It's about how you think and feel about yourself and (let’s be honest) manipulating how others perceive you the same way. Help them see you as someone who's clearly on the move, ready for new and broader responsibilities. Clearly, you can't achieve this solely with clothing, but stellar on-the-job performance combined with a successful professional style positively invites opportunity and success.
Always Be a Little Better Dressed Than Anyone Else in the Room
With the potential exception of your boss, try to dress with a bit more class than those around you. Don't go overboard or you might cause resentment, but someone should look sharper than everyone else, and it might as well be you. Dress for where you're going, not where you are.
In a world of billionaires in jeans, maintaining a professional image through appropriate dress remains relevant. It reflects your commitment to professionalism and readiness for advancement.