I have come to realize that when I was told not to dress for the job that I had, but for the job that I wanted to have, this could also mean dressing to feel powerful for your job search as well. How you dress impacts how you feel, and if you are doing everything in slippers and your jammies what are you saying to yourself about how important your task is? If you dress for success when you are applying for work, even if you’re doing it from the comfort of your own home, how you feel can come across in the jobs you select and the words you include in your application materials.
Personally when I heard about dressing for the job I wanted, I changed from wearing sweatshirts and jeans to suits even though I was working an overnight shift and few people saw me (or cared). More recently I noticed a trend. While I was at Microsoft it was a rare treat to be able to wear jeans to work, so once I left I wore them ALL the time! I realize now even if I dressed them up, others had to know I was wearing jeans again. When I needed to get unstuck in my own networking approach, what did I do? I changed what I wore. In three years I’ve gone from logoed t-shirts to logoed polo shirts and I feel better and I get attention; the right kind of attention.
Not seeing the results that you want? Are you dressing for success?
