Clothes maketh the man, so the saying goes, and fortunately it’s fairly easy to define the correct business clothing for a man in any business situation. Although some might say that the limited choices available for men are a restriction rather than an advantage. The question of what to wear to work is far more complex for a woman trying to project a business-like, professional image.
The question was brought to my attention last weekend when Kate Hoey, 72, the Labour MP for Vauxhall lamented in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that she had witnessed a steady decline in the standard of clothing choices made by her fellow female Members of Parliament.
Kate Hoey has been a Member of Parliament since winning a by-election in 1989, she was also a Minister in the Tony Blair government, so it’s probably reasonable to conclude that after working in the same place for almost thirty years, she might know a thing or two about how to do dress appropriately for the job.
Ms Hoey was reported as saying that she had never worn trousers in the House of Commons or a constituency event. She advised women that they should dress to generate respect rather than to impress. After all in order to be respected it is important to first show respect to other people, in the first place. That means dressing appropriately to the role and place.
The veracity of Ms Hoey’s comments was brought home to me quite starkly last week. I have been helping a client to recruit a new finance manager. I had reviewed the candidate applications, and then compiled a long-list of candidates, that I then interviewed on the telephone. The next stage was a face to face interview with the hiring managers.
From the telephone interviews and my reports, the hiring managers agreed on a candidate who was their favourite. You could say, in many ways, the job was hers to lose, which is what she did, arriving in stiletto heels, a short black mini skirt and a halter-neck sleeve-less blouse.
You can argue that how someone dresses should not matter, it’s the individual you are hiring after all, not their wardrobe. But, clothing is the first thing that we see when we first clap our eyes on them. How they have chosen to dress is an indication of their personality and making a judgement about them on that basis has to be, not only acceptable but also, the sensible thing to do.
On this occasion the clothing choices that this female candidate made may have shown off her gym toned physique, but her choice did not enhance her candidature for a senior management role.
This is one of the reasons why I say in careers talks to school-leavers that when they go for a job interview they must not dress in the clothes that they wear when they go out with their mates, no matter how ‘cool’ they might think they look. They should always select clothes that someone who is already doing the job would be wearing. If you look like you belong, you are more likely to convince people that you do.
It’s a strategy that works. Movie folklore has it that when Madonna heard that Andrew Lloyd Webber was planning to make a film version of his hit stage musical Evita the pop superstar decided that she was the only person to play the part of Eva Peron. She arranged to meet Lloyd Webber to discuss the opportunity. She arrived in full Evita era hair, make-up and costume, and potentially attitude as well! The impression created fulfilled Madonna’s conviction that only she could play the part. A performance for which she was nominated for several prestigious awards.
For many people, especially women looking like you belong can be more difficult than you might think. For women returning to work after a period way from work caring for a child or other relative, or an extended period of sickness the difference between getting a job and not can be having the confidence to like Madonna know that you are dressed for the role.
Often women who have been out of the work place for a while do not know what passes for the acceptable way to dress in a particular work environment or organisation. Even if they do know the problem might be that they can’t work out how to create that look in a way that flatters their figure. Perhaps the biggest challenge is when they do understand how they should dress and how to create that look they simply don’t have the funds to purchase the right clothes.
For some women the solution is a consultation with Smart Works the charity that puts female job seekers in the right clothes for job interviews.
Smart Works provides a female interviewee with a couple of dressers, just like the personal shoppers you find in posh department stores and designer boutiques. It is their job to find the sort of outfit that the woman will feel most confident in and able to perform at their best in a job interview.
Once the interview outfit has been agreed the woman is then given interview training.
After the woman has secured a role they are able to return to Smart Works and select a working wardrobe of five complete outfits.
Where I hear you shout do they get the clothes from, surely it must just be one big charity shop. Well yes and no! You can donate to Smart Works on an individual basis or as a group, but many of the clothes that the charity uses have come direct from the big high street names and several designers who donate clothing to the charity.
So how can people benefit? Well you have to be referred by Job Centre Plus and you have to have at least one interview arranged for which you do not have a suitable outfit to wear.
How can you as a HR professional get involved? Well you can volunteer with the charity helping their clients to develop their interview skills, or you can host a clothing collection in your work place.
It all seems amazingly simple, get a woman in to the right clothes and you can get her into the right career.
You can find out more about Smart Works at this link.
For more information about helping displaced employees obtain alternative employment please visit the Work Place Learning Centre
Comments