Dress to Impress
31 Aug
So you’ve established that you want to make more money. For most people, that’s going to mean getting some sort of change in job, whether it be a promotion, or moving to an entirely new company and work situation as a whole. Getting this promotion or new job is going to involve a variety of factors. If you ask ten people what they think the biggest factor is in this situation, you’ll likely get ten answers.
While there may be no easy button when it comes to getting that fancy new job, there are several things you can easily do to increase your odds. One of the most important, in my opinion, is changing the way you dress.
Your appearance is one of the most critical factors when it comes to developing professional relationships. The way a person dresses and takes care of their body says a lot about the person as a whole. A smart employer takes into account what a person wears to an interview, and a boss looking for an employee to promote will no doubt take notice of appearance as well.
The reasoning behind this is simple, and quite obvious. If a person invests the time, energy, and money into dressing well, then they are likely to have a number of other features that will help as well, which employers look for. Here are some examples:
- If they take the time every morning to dress well, they are much more likely to put time and energy into even the smallest projects at work.
- A person who dresses well also shows that they have motivation and ambition, key components of an employer’s search for a person to promote.
- Investing in yourself is a good indication that you will also invest in the people and organizations (like your company) around you.
Appearance is a critical aspect for you to focus on if you are looking to increase your importance or position in your company (or start with a new one). Besides the way that the way you dress can positively affect the way others think of you, it can also boost the way you think of yourself. When you know that you look good, your self esteem instantly increases. More self esteem, more confidence, and if you display confidence, employers will tend to like that (unless its in huge excess).
I personally started wearing suits whenever there was even the slightest of occasions to do so a couple years back. I can tell you, it is well worth doing. The amount of people that have taken interest in what I have to say that otherwise wouldn’t have is something that you have to experience first hand to believe. People do take you substantially more seriously when you show them that you care about the way you look.
So how exactly do you go about looking better? Well it totally depends on your situation. The idea is that you are one of the best dressed during pretty much any occasion. If only a small amount of people at your office wear a tie to work, then wear a tie. If almost everyone on your college campus (yes, even students should dress slightly sharper) wears t-shirts and ripped jeans, then wear a polo and slacks.
The topic of dressing to impressing is very different depending on situation, so that is why this post is the first in a short series of posts focusing on helping you to dress your best. The next two will be for men, and one will be about how to dress well on a limited budget, and the other on a not so limited budget.
Seeing as I am rather unqualified to talk about the female side of this discussion, I am going to be asking around for two ladies to do guest posts on this subject. If you are interested, please contact me with the contact page.
So here we go, the beginning of a great new series. Be sure to read the sections of it that is applicable to you when they comes out. Take this seriously, I guarantee you, you’ll be surprised with the results.
UPDATE:
Several more posts in this series have gone live, here they are:
