The job market gets increasingly competitive as people who have years of experience and qualifications are finding it increasingly difficult to find work and accepting job which are below their skillset. For someone who has recently graduated or in an entry level position, this can become frustrating with chances of promotion often going to people with ‘experience’.
There are many ways to get noticed by your boss, but this post will focus on the psychology of the way you dress, how to do it well and if it is really possible to affect your job prospects.
Dress for your industry
With the digital and creative sector booming in the current economy, dressing for your industry is very important. If you are working for a design company, the dress code is often relaxed. On the other hand, this doesn’t mean that you should wear what you would on a Saturday. Wearing smart casual jumpers with shirts and smart jeans or trousers will set you apart in front of management.
If your firm has a client who is visiting, they are likely to want to portray a smart appearance even though you are working in a creative sector. If you give this impression with what you wear, they are more likely to call on you to sit in client meetings and hand you more responsibility.
Coordination
Style is not a mysterious state of existence that is only possible for celebrities and fashion designers. It is relatively simple if you follow two key rules:
• If you are wearing different colours, make sure they complement each other using a colour wheel. A simple way to make sure you are doing this: when buying new work outfits, buy two or 3 complimentary colours, and where possible keep them dark and block colours.
• Make sure your clothes fit. This one simple step will really make you look a lot more presentable at work. If you wear a suit, ensuring it fits on the arms and around the chest is vital to make you look sharp. The same goes with t-shirts and trousers, the better they fit; the better they look.
This is as simple as it sounds…honestly! Next time you buy cheap essentials, maybe spend a little more and get something which will look better and ultimately last longer too.
Casual Fridays
Casual Fridays exist in many industries, primarily to relieve the sometimes uncomfortable nature of wearing a suit in the office all day. This is a good opportunity to use your common sense and choose something that is smart casual to keep a level of professionalism. Blue denim is usually not ideal, but smart jeans are fine. At the end of the day it is important to use your own judgement, and keep bright colours at home.
Another important thing that a lot of people forget about is shoes. There is nothing more important than a good pair of shoes. They are often the first thing that people notice about you, and getting it right can make a good impression. There are many varieties available; a good solid brogue is a good choice, make sure that if you have a brown shoe, it goes with your suit or work wear, as sometimes you can attract the wrong kind of impression!
Do Colours Affect Moods?
There is a lot written about if colours really do affect moods and what people think of you. Studies exist which show the colour tie someone wears can statistically alter their chances of closing a sale. The colour blue soothes certain individuals as it affects your heart rate, slowing down your breathing and can even stop you sweating.
Red on the other hand, is the polar opposite, by stimulating a faster heart rate and therefore increases breathing. Wearing a red suit wouldn’t be a good idea in even the most daring work fashion icon, it symbolises the devil to some people and is a very angry colour. However, a red tie is proven to make people look for another red thing in their vision, and more often than not, this is your lips, so could make people pay more attention to what you are saying.
Can That Affect My Promotion?
There is evidence on either side to suggest the way you dress and the colour could allow you to have more control in certain situations and make you a more dominant figure in a crowd. This goes for bright and vibrant colours; however, you may want to offset these vibrancies with a more conservative blue suit or jumper.
As a rule of thumb, look at what your boss wears; If they are relatively casual and wear washed out colours, consider wearing similar clothes with a bit more vitality or slightly smarter. Don’t overdo it, you don’t want them to start thinking you are overdressed. Just use your common sense and keep casual, it will have a bigger affect than you think.
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