Friday, 7 September 2018

Be a Professional : Dress for Success



Corporate dressing helps you develop a magnetic personality which attracts other individuals. You need to have that charisma and dressing formally helps you in the same. Corporate dressing helps you create that first impression. Remember, first impressions are important and they help you throughout your life. If you fail to impress someone in the first meeting, you will never get a second chance.

The importance of a dressing for professionalism varies somewhat by industry. However, the correlation between the two is generally strong. Appearance ranked second only to communication skills when respondents named qualities most often associated with professionalism, according to a 2010 national poll conducted by the Center for Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania.

The professional sense of dressing as a step by step learning and it takes time to develop a business sense so it makes sense to start it when you are perusing your professional courses. so that once you start the professional journey you are already ready to excel.

Matthew Randall, executive director of the CPE, said, "How an individual dresses for work can be a powerful extension of his personal brand. Clothes, accessories and even the footwear an employee chooses to wear help to reinforce or diminish his skills and qualities in the eyes of his employer, co-workers and clients."

The "Dress Code" Debate
Business attire has changed significantly over the years, especially in the last 20 years. Too many people have forgotten why proper business attire is important.

Some Institutions/companies prefer to allow and even encourage students or employees to dress freely or casually for comfort. This tends to work well in more creative work environments.

However, others will typically encourage and/or require a more defined and professional dress code to maintain a professional image of themselves and the business, where employees routinely interact on a daily basis with prospects, clients and business partners or students who are going to be a future business leaders and interact with them.

Conflicts arise when people prefer to dress comfortably or in the most recent styles rather than realize the importance for them to present themselves in a more professional or conservative manner. The major reason why dressing in proper business attire is important for every business professional is because it presents a visual image and sends a message that the people are professional.


How to choose a suitable business Attire

Although a one-size-fits-all or universal dress code may not be achievable or realistic, some universal guidelines are possible and could include the following:

Modest:
It is most important to get attention for great work rather than gaining attention for wearing the latest fashion fad or in appropriate leisure wear or sportswear found outside the office at a sports event, party or beach.

Comfortable: 
Wearing ill-fitting clothes – whether too tight or too loose or unsuitable for your body type – should always be avoided. If you are uncomfortable, it will make your work day truly awful. Find something that fits the outer and inner you. This applies to the fit of your attire and the comfort of the shoes you wear. Comfort needs to trump fashion in the choices made.

Outline Appropriateness:
You may have one Student or employee showing up in short gym shorts and another girl showing up in a dress that looks more appropriate for a Friday night out on the town, so in this case an appropriate dress should be chosen, which can serve to outline appropriateness.

Be mindful that basic etiquette must accompany appropriate attire. Appropriate attire must be combined with basic business and professional etiquette. The two are intertwined and integrated when presenting a professional image of yourself and your company. First impressions and overall judgments about people are formed by the way they dress. Since the way someone dresses affects the perception of a company's customers or business partners, it is important to maintain a standard of dress that creates a positive impression.