Dress for the Role you want, Not the one you have!

Have you ever wondered why some people command the room as soon as they walk in or when they want to speak they are always given a chance or their points are given more weightage than their peers? This week’s article in my series on Campus to Corporate will talk about the need for dressing up right to make a mark in Corporate.

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a)??????Take Yourself Seriously Else No One Will:?Many a times we feel that what we are wearing doesn’t make a difference. “What’s in my clothes? My work speaks for itself” is an oft heard phrase in office.?While that may be partially true, it has never hurt anyone to dress up smartly for a presentation or a client meeting. A sharp dresser is making a statement that he/she can put the extra effort or go the extra mile to make an impression. It is a symbol of the dedication for the finer things that are not necessary to the work at hand but will still improve the output if done. If you were a client, would you give your marketing campaign to an agency whose employees don’t have clean shoes? The first impression is that the person is shoddy and cant be trusted from impeccable delivery standpoint. Such impressions, even if they are wrong, can be detrimental to your career. If you are sharply dressed, it makes a statement that you take yourself seriously which gives others the confidence to do the same.

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b)??????Know Your Audience:?Your dress is a communication about you and therefore follows the principles of communication process. You need to customize the dressing according to your audience and what you want to communicate with them. Always research your audience and dress according to their personality and what impression you want them to carry. A boss who himself wears tshirts will find it difficult to own the career of a formal dresser as he might consider it pretentious. A customer’s CEO might find it odd that you turned up in tshirt where she is in a formal suit. Dressing is the first step to make a person talk to you or feel close enough to you to help you achieve your objectives.

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c)??????Align to the culture:?Dressing is a great way to show that you understand your audience and will have no problem to help them solve their problem.?If you are meeting a client who is known to be a stickler for processes, wearing a formal suit would be a great idea to show that you will align with their need for conformation to their processes. If you are meeting a startup known for its cool culture, it may serve you well to turn up in a smart Tshirt and jeans signalling to them that you are capable of gelling into their new age thinking. A Mark Zuckerburg wears a tshirt and jeans to signal that Meta is a cool company with products for the youth. Informal dressing is also a dressing. Understanding the Organizational Culture whether that of your client or your own, plays a huge role in determining your career path.?

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d)??????Carrying What You Wear:?Having said the above,?dressing is like package of the product and the packaging cant be such that it communicates the wrong thing about the product i.e. You. It is better to go with what suits your personality than look awkward in other clothes. See yourself in the mirror to gain confidence on how you look to others as well as what fits/doesn’t fit you. Practice wearing the clothes you feel are required for your aspired direction of career growth and make sure you look comfortable while wearing the same.?

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Like a product doesn’t work owing to only its packaging, dressing up alone wont take you far. You need to work on yourself as I have shared in my previous articles. However, this is a parallel area of focus which magnifies the results from working on yourself and is the secret sauce which makes you more successful. Always remember “Dress for the role you want, not the one you have” and take control of your own professional destiny!

This article was published by?Sakal Media Group ?in their daily newspaper in Marathi on 6th August 2023. Link for the same is given below: