Bring Your A Game to Work: Appearance

How do you know what you should wear to work?

•  Always wear what you would wear to a fancy dinner party.
• Wear whatever will make you stand out and be noticeable.
• Wear what is comfortable for you.
• See what other people at the company wear, especially those who have jobs that you would like to have someday.

Which of the following tips is essential if you have to wear a work uniform and you must work several days in a row?

• Make sure you arrive at work at least 15 minutes early.
• Wear an apron to keep your uniform as clean as possible.
• Make sure you have several uniforms that you can rotate.
• Wear black clothing so stains won't show up as much.

Other people can make a lasting judgment of you based on the first two seconds of meeting you.

• True
• False

When you are an employee of a company, you represent that company's image.

• True
• False

What you decide to wear to work is a critical decision that sends your employer a strong message.

• True
• False

Maintaining facial hair is a part of personal hygiene.

• True
• False

People can form a first impression of you before even meeting you in person.

• True
• False

The image of an employee is ________________________.

• more important to the employer than to the customer
• more important to the customer than to the employer
• only important for the first impression
• important to the customer and to the employer

Manny really wants to keep his job in the mail room of a large office because he just moved in to a new apartment and must make the rent; however, his employer is not pleased with his long, tangled hair and has asked him to get a hair cut so that he looks more presentable. Manny is upset because he likes having long hair and feels that men should be able to grow their hair long just as women can. What should Manny do?

• Point out that no customers actually see him because he works in the mail room.
• Offer to tie up his hair or wear a hat.
• Get his hair cut, even though he doesn’t want to.
• Argue that requiring men have short hair is discrimination.

Focus on appearance is a fairly recent thing that has been imposed on the last few generations.

• True
• False