“Decoding the Dress Code”

Ok – You’ve nailed the interview and you’ve landed your dream job.

You want to make a good impression, but you’re a little bit (ok a lot a bit) lost when it comes to figuring out what dress codes mean in 2019.

Fear not!  We’re going to take a look at the different dress codes and discuss sure fire ways to make a great impression in your first week, first month, and your first year!

Business Formal

Ok, Business Formal is more or less the “black tie” of business attire.  Seen in very corporate environments, this attire will typically be reserved for high level meetings with executives or clients.  Here is what you need to know on this one:

• Dark Full Suit
• Neutral undershirt
• Understated accessories, makeup, and hair
• Hosiery if wearing something like a dress or skirt
• Polished neutral colored dress shoes (closed toe)

Business Professional

While Business Formal will be seen more so for client meetings, Business Professional would be the typical “every day” dress code for a corporate office environment.  A full suit will still be required, but with more opportunity to include color or pattern.  For example – you may opt to wear a window pane checkered button up vs. the ultra-conservative crisp white button up.

• Dark Full suit
• Undershirt (can include subtle pattern or color)
• Simple accessories
• Hosiery if wearing something like a dress or skirt
• Polished neutral colored dress shoes (peep toe acceptable)

Business Casual

You will see the dress code frequently in offices Today.  While a professional look is still required here, a suit is not!  You should feel comfortable wearing things like separates, but should stay away from true casual wear like jeans.

• Khakis, dress slacks, dress, or skirt
• Blazer (optional)
• Long sleeved button up or blouse, sweater/cardigan (can include subtle pattern or color)
• Closed toe, or peep toe shoes (no sneakers)

Smart Business Casual

Still in the same category of Business Casual, “Smart” Business Casual allows for you to let your creativity and personality shine through a bit more.  This will offer the opportunity to mix in a printed blazer vs. the traditional black, or maybe a printed tie!

• Khakis, dress slacks
• Patterned/colorful top or blazer
• Statement accessories
• Closed toe, or peep toes shoes (still no sneakers)

Smart Casual/Dressy Casual

This will be very similar style wise to Smart Business Casual, but allows for even MORE flexibility – and yes, that means JEANS!

• Jeans OK (dark in color – avoid light washes, distressed denim)
• Patterned/colorful top or blazer
• Foot wear can vary – best to keep it to closed toe to start!

Now that we’ve broken down the dress codes, let’s talk tips and tricks.

1. Dress like your boss.

• When you start a new job, you want to air on the side of caution with what you wear. A great place to take your cues from would be to model what you wear after what your boss wears.

2. Understand your department/role.

• Are you in a client facing role? Working within the creative department? Maybe a back office accounting role? This can help shape what your daily attire should be. A Sales Executive will likely wear a suit daily or make sure to have a suit jacket handy, while an accounting professional may opt for more business casual attire.

3. Understand the industry.

• Certain industries will carry with them different standards. A tech startup will likely offer a much more flexible dress code than a legal office.  Do your research!

4. No matter your dress code – be neat, clean, and tidy

• Even if your dress code is on the more casual side, you should always make sure that your look is well thought out and put together. Iron that shirt!  Shine those shoes!  Tuck in that blouse!

P.S – You can check out our story over on Instagram to get a look at real life examples of some of the above! Here’s a quick look.

1. It shows general courtesy and social grace. If you ask someone to meet you for dinner at 9:30 and they show up at 10:10, you might be a bit angry or at least annoyed. Turn that around, a Company invites you into their space, their metaphorical home, for a 9:30 interview and you show up at 10:10, they might be a bit turned off as well!
2. Practice makes perfect as the saying goes. Interviewers can view you actions at the Interview as practice for when you are with the company. If you show up late on the big day, what’s going to happen 6 months in?
3. Showing up too early is a problem too! The ideal time to show up for an interview is 10 minutes early, give a minute or two either way. If you show up to an interview 45 minutes early you might be interrupting someone’s lunch, breakfast, important meeting, or they just simply may not ready for you. That’s never the impression you want to start with.
4. People run their days on schedules, by arriving late or too early you could be throwing a wrench into a finely tuned system meant to maximize the day. Again, not something you want to be remembered for.
5. 10 Minutes really becomes the “sweet spot” when factoring in balancing between two early or too late. It’s early enough where you are able to show promptness and diligence, but not enough were you are inconveniencing anyone. It allows the perfect amount of time to introduce yourself to the front desk, get offered water, sit down for 5 minutes and then get greeted by your Interviewer to get things underway!

So how do you make this happen?

1. Know where you are going! All directions and mapping should be secure and laid out the day before. You should not be Google mapping things that morning or an hour before the interview!
2. Do a test run if you can, actually going to the office location or taking the drive will take out a lot of guess work and make for a less stressful day of commute!
3. Pick your outfit the night before and have it laid out. Trying to pick out what tie or shoes to wear that morning is just asking for undue stress.
4. Account for traffic and delays. Train delays or highway traffic can happen when you least expect it, account for it! Leave 15-20 minutes earlier than needed.
5. Ok so you did the above you’re early….but really early. Take a walk, listen to your favorite pump up song in your car, grab a coffee, go over your notes, or browse cute cat photos on Instagram. Anything to occupy your time before you hit the magic 10 minute mark. Showing up 30 minutes early can be just as detrimental as showing up a minute late.

To Summary or Not to Summary, that is the question! Summaries and Objective Statements on a resume can be a flash point for contention and debate. Many are left wondering; “Should I write one? Do I need one? Are they important?”

The short answer is No, and here are the top reasons why!

1. Objective statements tend to be too general. If the recruiter has your resume they know your objective, to get the job you applied too.

2. Summary Statements tend to written in such a general manner that they lose effectiveness. When they all read the same, they blend together.

3. Recruiters only have a limited time to look at your resume, and they will mostly default to looking at your last few positions and educational history. Objectives and Summaries tend to be skipped over.

4. Anything in a Summary or Objective statement can be better conveyed in a cover letter if one is required. If the position does not require a cover letter then they are probably not concerned with seeing a brief one on a resume

5. They take up valuable Space. Think of your resume as Real Estate, you want to make sure you can maximize value! You also want a clean and crisp presentation. A bulky statement up top takes eyes away from your most immediate and relevant experience.

6. Actions speak louder than words. People do not want to see that your “hard working” in a sentence, they want to see you have “exceeded or meet quotas 13 months straight” in a bullet point underneath a job you had.

For more Resume tips, tricks and tactics, email me! Michael Conte at mconte@psgstaffing.com