Dress to Impress: Why Dressing Well Can Make You More Successful
by Triple V Team
You’ve likely heard the phrase, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” There are a lot of professional and personal benefits to dressing well and putting effort into your appearance.
This is especially true in regards to first impressions, as some believe it takes as little as 2-3 seconds for someone to form their first impression of you. So, even if you’re well qualified for an opportunity and perform well in an interview, your appearance could work against you when it’s time for the hiring manager to make a decision.
You don’t need to spend a million to look a like a million, so let’s go over some simple ways to feel and look more put together without breaking the bank or spending hours in front of the mirror.
Simple Ways to Look Your Best
Personal Hygiene: One of the easiest ways to look more put together is maintaining good personal hygiene. This means ensuring you look and smell clean, your clothes don’t have stains or wrinkles, your hair is well kept, and any facial hair is groomed.
If you don’t have access to a shower and you’re in the San Diego area, click here.
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Clothing Choices: What you wear does have an impact on how others perceive you. While how you dress can be an excellent way to express your personal identity, it’s best to opt for a more neutral outfit and let your skills and experience shine through in a professional interview. Different opportunities will require different levels of dress, but you should refrain from wearing casual clothes such as a t-shirt and sweatpants. If you’re unsure, overdressing is always better than underdressing. Choose a professional outfit that makes you feel comfortable and confident.
If you don’t have access to professional clothing, visit this national directory to find resources near you.
Accessories: If you choose to wear jewelry, it’s often better to opt for more simple pieces to allow the focus to remain on your skills and experience. The same can be said for makeup, the safer choice is often to do more neutral colors and shades.
Just like clothes, jewelry and makeup can be a way that you express your personal identity and personality. While this is a powerful tool in your personal life, many companies may prefer the focus to remain on the product or service they are providing, leading them to require their employees to dress in a neutral way or even in a company-issued uniform. Not all companies feel this way, so it can be beneficial to research their dress code prior to interviewing with them.
Body Language: Looking your best isn’t just about what you wear, it’s how you present yourself. Great posture, a firm handshake, eye contact, and smiling are just some of the nonverbal cues that can allow you to look your best in an interview. Try setting up mock interviews with peers and ask for direct feedback on your body language to help identify areas for improvement before your interview.
When You Look Good, You Feel Good
Dressing well does have an impact on how others perceive you, but it also changes how you perceive yourself. Putting effort into your appearance can boost your self-confidence, make you more productive, and be enjoyable! We have different clothing for different activities, and dressing for the occasion can put you in the mindset to perform well in the task at hand. When you go to the gym, putting on the appropriate outfit can help you perform well in your workout. The same theory can be applied to professional settings as well.
Focus on quality over quantity when picking out items to build a closet full of pieces you love. Avoid fast fashion items that go out of style after one season and instead opt for high quality items that you love. Focus on finding pieces that can be paired together to form multiple outfits and use accessories to tailor your look to your mood and occasion. Before shopping, it can be helpful to create a vision board on a platform like Pinterest to visualize the pieces you need for the look you want.
Stay True to Yourself
While dressing for the occasion is important, you should always remain true to yourself. There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to dressing professionally, so making sure your outfit makes you feel comfortable and confident is just as important as ensuring it’s appropriate. At the end of the day, you want the way you present yourself to be an asset to the skillset you possess, not a hinderance.