Sep 16 2008
Careermysteries solved by Ms. Therese on What to Wear to the Office
One of the big mistakes employees make is going to the office in attire that is too casual. I worked at a place where people showed up to work at the office in the “valley” (southwestern CT) dressed in work out clothes, shorts, sneakers and sometimes slippers. I was joking around with the General Manager about setting up some sort of dress code, before things got so lax and they started to come to work in their pajamas.
The serious point of all this is that if you want to be taken seriously, you have to wear serious clothes: not a Mickey Mouse tee shirt or one with a picture of a marijuana plant on it; nor moccasins that could be mistaken for slippers or scuffy, furry things with bunny ears that are slippers; not jeans, or sweat pants or anything with writing blazing across the front if it.
Recruitment experts say that you should dress about 10% better than the population you work with. You should always dress as well as your boss or the people at the level above your level. When you are not sure how to dress, dress better than you think you should. If big shots are coming in to tour the plant, dress your best. If you are interviewing applicants, dress well to represent the company in the best possible light.
A hiring manager asks me this question – How do I deal with someone who has the right credentials but who doesn’t dress appropriately for the interview (too casual and unkempt)? I would say that you should keep looking for a better fit. If they don’t care enough to dress properly for the interview, that is a solid indication that they lack good judgement skills and could be a problem employee in other ways where good judgement is important on the job.
