In college, instructors always demonstrated the need of carrying yourself in a certain way when you walk in for interviews. From hairstyle to nail color to the hand gestures, every trivial detail was taught.
Today they say that your dressing style changes according to your career stage as well. Thanks to Cox Internet plans and my laptop, I am a work from home woman. However, I am a good observer and learner too. So I recommend these dressing styles that you should go for according to your position.
Entry Level till Early Career
Your attire plays a crucial part in deciding whether the company will hire you or not. No doubt, that this is not the only factor that your selection depends on but it is one of those most considered ones. Having said this, an individual must make the best (he can) possible impression.
Well, many designers and fashion instructors have a contradicting thought in this matter. For example, Alexandra Howell (who is an Assistant Professor of Fashion and Design) says that the old age saying ‘dress for the job you want’ does not fit in this era. According to her, a company that hires you will teach you what is expected of you when it comes to the dress code. Howell recommends wearing business casual for the first meeting, considering it as the safest of all the options.
However, Dana Goren of Hibob suggests dressing in a very appropriate and formal manner to convey a message to your employer that you can take up any challenge that comes your way. If you try to squeeze the juice out of all the recommendations by various people related to the fashion industry, they agree to dress formally as the safest option for the first interview.
As You Move Up the Ranks
Your dress code will change when you get a promotion. But it won’t change a great deal. There will be a slight and subtle change in the way you dress after your promotion. You will have to modify your attire in a way that establishes your authority over your peers. Because you will no longer be working with them. Instead, you will a position higher than them. So, if the attire fro your team was a t-shirt with jeans, you can switch to polo shirts.
The senior authority always keeps you under their eyes. And they consistently access your ability to perform better by interacting with not just the team members but investors, vendors, and clients as well. And if you continue to dress in the same way that your team did, you will probably convey a negative message to your seniors. They might think that you align better with your workers than senior management.
Some people related to the fashion and merchandising industry think otherwise. They believe that reevaluating the way you dress is essential but it can also happen by just adding new collections to the same type of dressing style. Whatever the case may be, one should consider what his relationship with the clients and upper management is. And the dress accordingly.
Second or Third Act
Young from CultureIQ believes that whatever advice you get regarding your dressing when you work for the first time should go with you for t your remaining career as well. He thinks that no matter what stage of your career you are at, your dressing choice should not change much. According to him, if you are comfortable wearing jeans, do so. Many Americans agree that they feel the most comfortable when they wear jeans and sneakers.
However, one cannot always dress in casual attire. Your dressing choice depends a lot on your hierarchical position as well as the company’s dress code that you are working for. But some people also believe that dressing up in a very formal attire may also convey to the team members that you want to show your authority over them. Again, varying sets of thoughts.
Mary Lou Andre who happens to be a speaker and a coach suggests that if you get to this point in your career, it is high time that you reassess your closet. She also says that you should up your dressing game at this stage by adding accessories and clothes to your wardrobe that are age-appropriate. However, keeping up with the trends is also crucial.
While the experts have varying views on how one should dress when climbing up the ladder of success, I believe an individual should have the liberty of dressing up in whatever way they want. When I recently visited the Cox office to enquire something about the Cox services, the dress code of the employees was way different from what I saw the workers wearing in the bank. It was as if I had entered two different cultures.
