Dressed Dreams

Dear lovely people,

Peterson waited for two solid hours at the reception to be called in. he wondered why it took so long for the first candidate to come out of the interview room. Most disturbing to him was the unexplained reason why the receptionist gave him a special chair to sit on. Then the doors flew open and he was called in. he bypassed the first candidate coming out incapable of determining from his facial expression whether he was happy or not.

When Peterson stepped into the room, he could sense some tension, the expression on the faces of the five-man jury were not friendly at all. He sensed that something about him pissed them off. Then the lady in the middle smiled, greeted him and showed him to a chair other than the one at the center of which to him that was the right position. It was a confused Peterson who came out of the interview room wondering why he was in there just for five minutes. He had been asked some few general questions about him that had nothing to do with mechanics.

OK as a flashback, Peterson was dressed like an old-school mechanic that morning. He had on an over-sized worn-out tee-shirt under an over-sized white overalls that had evidently gone brown and greasy with age. To make his dressing the more horrible, Peterson had on a faded jeans trouser streaked with grease. He consoled himself that he was set for work should he be taken. Peterson did not know that when you’re invited to a job interview, one wrong move can blow your chances. Even wearing the wrong thing can distract an employer from your polished resume and outstanding experience. Before you say a single word to the interviewer, you have already made an impression based on how you’re dressed.

If you were going for a job as a mechanic, you wouldn't go in there in dirty overalls, even though that's how you would dress for that kind of work. You would still go in there and show respect. You would go in with an open-collar shirt, clean pants and maybe a jacket. For always, you should dress in a manner that is professionally appropriate to the position for which you are applying. In almost all cases, this means wearing a suit. It is rarely appropriate to “dress down” for an interview, regardless of company dress code policy. Chances are good that by dressing on the conservative side, you won't unintentionally disqualify yourself. But trying to demonstrate how hip you are with your exposed lower back tattoos or laid-back Juicy bum could backfire.

That’s what should equally happen with dreaming and chasing your dreams. You should be cut out for your success. Nobody wants to become a celebrated an aeronautic engineer by moving around dressed like an artisan fisherman. Successful people know the secret in dressing for success. Wear great clothes, you never know whom you’ll meet. Gone are those days when “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Book jacket and product packaging designers around the world today know so well that people do judge and purchase products based on how they look.

The way you cloth yourself and your dreams make a strong visual statement about how you see yourself. Comfort may aid productivity but, in this era of “Me, Inc.” and “the Brand Called You,” are flip-flops, sweats, jeans, and flashy or revealing clothing part of how you want to be judged? You might think you are expressing your individuality, but you could also be sending the message that you’re not a serious professional. Nobody would want to do business with anybody who is not a serious professional.

Trust me, everything you do makes some kind of statement. Re-brand yourself and your dreams today! That is the way to go if you are serious about making progress.