Summer Business Attire
It is summer and most companies implement “summer hours” for their employees. For those of you who may not be familiar with summer hours, they usually begin on Memorial Day weekend and end after Labor Day and allow corporate employees to leave early on Friday to maximize summer weekends. Further, at some companies employee can Fridays off as long as they put in their requisite 40 hours before leaving on Fridays. Generally speaking, companies kick back during the summer and the work environment is much less formal than in non-summer months. Consequently, many employees are in “casual mode” and sometimes they forget how to dress at work during the summer!
Like it or not, most companies have business dress codes that must be followed all year long regardless of whether or not summer hours are in effect. With this in mind, I came across an article from Monster.com that provides guidance on how to dress at the office during the summer to avoid running a foul of workplace fashion police!
Until next time...
Good Luck and Good Dressing!!!!
Last month, while I was presenting my seminar “Interviewing Insights and Tips: Winning That Next Job” at the Experimental Biology Meeting in New Orleans, LA, I realized that I hadn’t covered what to wear to a job interview. Until the meeting, I didn’t think I had to mention— that while interviewing men—must wear suits (and appropriately-colored, professional-looking shoes) and women should wear suits with pants (or a skirt with an appropriate length) and shoes with reasonable heels (usually less than 3 inches). I saw more cleavage, bare thighs and high heels, not to mention men with atrocious footwear choices at the meeting than I care to admit. Not that I am a prude or complaining about the cleavage, thighs or high heels that I observed—what red-blooded American male would? That said, it is vitally important to remember that there are professional dress codes that everyone is expected to adhere to while on the job or at national, regional or local professional meetings.
When I was working as a recruiter, I always called my candidates a day before a scheduled face-to-face job interview. I did this to reassure them, build confidence and provide them with any insights that I may have had regarding the hiring manager or the job. But, more importantly, I called to insure that they were adequately prepared to go on the interview. I typically talked with them about dress, interview etiquette, cell phone usage, body language etc. Sometimes, when I was concerned about particular candidates, I even sent (via fax or e-mail) an interview preparation checklist. .gif)
When the job market gets tough, it is the “little things” that can make the difference between a job offer and a rejection letter. As you all know by now, face-to-face interviews are the “make or break” event in any job search. To that end, any edge that you can get may make the difference between being employed or receiving unemployment benefits in today’s job market. Although I am not a big fan of quizzes or surveys, it may be worth the time to take an 