{"id":225,"date":"2010-06-28T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-28T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/career-advice\/dress-up\/"},"modified":"2019-10-19T05:43:38","modified_gmt":"2019-10-19T12:43:38","slug":"dress-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/dress-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Dress UP!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard King – McNeill Nakamoto<\/a><\/p>\n

\"dress_up\"This past month, there\u2019s been a lot of online chatter about corporate dress<\/a> codes and what (or what not) to wear to work. (Surely initiated by the recent, salacious news that Citigroup is being sued by a former employee who claims she was fired for dressing too provocatively- details here<\/a>). It reminds me of a message my late uncle passed on to me early in my professional career.<\/p>\n

I was 22 years old, recently graduated from UBC, working as a \u201ckey-op\u201d for a print and copy centre in Richmond. My duties included greeting walk-in customers and running all the Xerox photocopy equipment. It was a very, very casual work environment and I often wore shorts and a T-shirt during my shift. I was making $35K (good dough at the time) and my colleagues and I goofed off all day long. It was a blast!<\/p>\n

After a few months at my new, \u201cfun\u201d job, I traveled to Toronto to visit my uncle and his family. At the time, he was a National Account Manager for a Fortune 100 international technology firm. A few days into my visit he asked me, \u201cWhat do you wear to work?\u201d\u00a0 Not, what do you do, tell me about your job, do you like your boss, etc\u2026.but, what do you wear to work? I told him and he responded, \u201cSo, where do you see that going\u2026shorts and a T-shirt?\u201d I shrugged my shoulders\u2026\u201dI dunno\u201d. He smiled and said, \u201cRichard, if you dress like a clown, the world sees you as a clown\u2026is that the impression you want your boss to have of you?\u201d He shared more of his thoughts with me and then challenged me to \u201cdress up\u201d for the next job I wanted in my life. It\u2019s a message I\u2019ll never forget.<\/div>\n

The following week I showed up at work wearing a new pair of chinos and a crisp, white shirt. My colleagues laughed at me and my boss said, \u201cWhat\u2019s with the new get up?\u201d I said, \u201cI want more out of this job.\u201d Within six months I was promoted<\/a> to inside sales rep and the following year I was their number one account manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cDress up\u201d for the next role you want in your career\u2026.you\u2019ll get noticed!<\/p>\n

Related to Dress UP!<\/b><\/p>\n