I don't need to tell you: the technical industry is incredibly competitive! Whether you're trying to get a job, win a contract, build your client b...
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are you suggesting i'm not going to be taken serious because i use a taco for an image? i mean come on everybody loves tacos :D
Haha! A taco is pretty memorable, mate. It works out pretty well on GH and DEV. Not sure it would fly on LinkedIn as the profile picture, though.
I agree in most of these points, however, why isn't LinkedIn or Twitter suggested as 2 main reachable channels? I mean, most of the job opportunities I had came from there and for example my Twitter is all about my professional profile. No memes around.
2nd, I'm so mad about the
I've been told a million times not to wear skirts or dresses to job interviews because "girls can dress up better easier because of that" or "it's inappropiate". And that's b^shit, honestly. We don't wear dresses or skirts to get a "romantic partner", we actually like a lot our clothes and we don't like being told to dress as a man would to get a job.
Hi Desiré,
I think you've misunderstood me. I never said not to wear dressers or skirts, nor did I imply that. I've known of several young aspiring professionals, men and women, who would dress in deliberately provocative ways — extremely short shorts or skin-tight pants, overly revealing shirts or blouses — for professional meetings. This is addressing that.
If you like dresses or skirts (assuming they're not deliberately provocative), by all means, wear them! Be you! Find your look.
I even said your outfit doesn't have to look like mine. I can't speak to dresses and skirts because I don't wear them. (And, ironically, if I'd suggested dresses and skirts outright in my article, someone else would be crawling down my throat because I was insinuating that women have to wear dresses.) That's why I described my outfit, and left everything else vague.
As to LinkedIn, I thought I included it! Maybe in the wrong place, though? Twitter can be good too. However, I have not needed either as much as I've needed email and phone for professional contacts, and in fact, got by without either being set up for professional correspondence for a number of years.
Hi Jason, thank you so much for replying my comment.
I was very shocked just by the way you used the expression 'seeking a romantic partner', maybe it's not the best expression since many women wear provocative clothes and aren't searching anything, they just want to wear them.
Also, I feel you're insinuating (maybe specifically) that women would use their outfit to get attention and that they should better 'show off their skills', and I don't think that's appropiate neither.
Indeed though, those clothes aren't mean for professional meetings, maybe the only important point here for boys and girls would be:
Don't dress up for an interview as if you were going in a date or to the club.
As per LinkedIn or Twitter, I think they're important if you actually want to grow a 'contacts community' around you, but I understand that's depending in your field/job.
Hi Desiré,
I think 'seeking a romantic partner' is not that different from 'going on a date or to the club', so I don't see how one is insulting and the other isn't? In any case, I was not implying that it was the goal.
My phasing was a reminder that we should be aware of what messages we send to others by how we dress. No one wants to be ogled during a business meeting, and while the decision to ogle is solely on the other person, we can do a lot ourselves not to encourage it. Again, this isn't just women I'm talking about. I think we can agree it wouldn't be appropriate for a guy to go shirtless to a board meeting, because it's distracting and unprofessional. The same goes for provocative outfits on either gender.
This doesn't just apply to interviews. It applies to networking events, client meetings, business conferences, and the list goes on.
Again, that is something I neither stated nor implied. I think you're expecting me to imply certain things, and so you may be reading those in. (Standard human glitch. We all do that.)
The point I made is literally just don't dress in a way that distracts from your skills. I don't know, or particularly care, what the intention is. The intention actually doesn't even factor in. The fact is, provocative dress does run the risk of distracting even the most well-meaning other person, simply because it was designed for that specific purpose. We need to be mindful of that effect on people.
This is NOT excusing jerks who ogle and hit on people in professional settings. One is never "asking to be hit on" — that is crap. With that said, one should pay attention to what effect their outfit is likely to have on the ability of others to pay attention to what they're saying.
That is all. Nothing to read into it.
With all that, Jason, I just wanted to do a reminder that many people see 'provocative' what it's just a normal outfit so we just must be careful when we talk about 'sending messages with our clothes' because even if we don't mean to, we don't know other's standards to what it's provocative or not. By previous messages I think we both share the same definition for it, but again, not everyone...
That's why I was trying to get attention since an expression like 'seeking for a romantic partner' feels out of place. Maybe it's because the language barrier (I'm not native english speaker) but for me it is a very vulgar expression (if I try to fit it in my native language), but something more neutral like 'going to the club/in a date' sounds better to me.
Thank you for the time and patience to answer me.
And refering my first message besides those 2 statements, the overall article was very good and I'm proudly taking some of your tips.
Hi Desiré,
Glad we're on the same page.
"Seeking a romantic partner" is not actually vulgar in English; I'm deliberately being vague about orientation, dating methods, etc, lest someone else get insulted for not being included. "Going to the club/on a date" would leave out many other scenarios. Being as vague and general as possible.
I agree that some people have weird ideas about what is "provocative", but you'll notice I never even used that term in the article! Again...
If your own culture would consider what you're wearing to be shockingly inappropriate, think twice. You can't cater to what everyone else thinks, but you can check yourself. (The reference to "Grandma Miller" is simply because grandmothers are often the ones who remind us of proper behavior in our own culture.)
I once interviewed for a developer job and was told right in the interview that I wasn’t getting considered further specifically because I was dressed too nicely and didn’t look like a developer.
That HR guy was eventually let go from that company so I take solace in that.
Yipes. Glad that person got let go, too. His statement certainly demonstrated his prejudices about what a developer is, and that those prejudices probably came from watching too much Silicon Valley and Mr. Robot.
I find it funny that as I read your reply I'm literally wearing a Pied Piper T-shirt.
You seem to have swapped 'professional' for 'productive' and gone off on a tangent about that.
Good writing skills benefit almost everyone. Ironically this paragraph was clunky to parse because of how it's written!
agree, sorry should stop writing stuff at 6AM in the morning :)
Consider Your Look -- I've only recently come around to how important this is. It made a huge difference for me, particularly in terms of confidence when talking to non-developers. I think the first step -- as is so often the case -- is awareness.
Thanks for the excellent article, Jason!
Professional Email (and Portfolio websites) are important, but I just keep procrastinating creating mine. 😕
I'm curious why? Is it a time constraint, not sure how to get started, lack of confidence?
I know I put mine off because I had too much else going on. Glad I finally did it, though!
I don't know everytime I start working on it, I feel like my time would be utilized better if I spent it on learning something new or building something more useful.
Ehh, but it is important to, I guess.
It certainly since, since it serves as a public showcase for all the other things you learn and build!
Calendar and speak well and spell well! I have seen far too many not know how to time manage themselves and lose potential clients over not being prepared to arrive early to their first meetings!
when to work and write actual code ? 😂😂😂
Most of the time! These are just additional habits that help with those non-code things you can't avoid in a career: formal meetings, interviews, yada yada. They don't take much time, relatively speaking.
Great article, great points. Thanks for putting this all down Jason.
Good stuff, man. Thanks so much!
I rather dislike the term "professional".
You know what they difference is between professional and amateur? The former gets paid, that's is the only thing.
Often "professional" is attached to other words to imply it is better. For example "professional quality". It is nothing but an elitist attitude.
That being said. This list is in overal good. I think it also applied outside of work.
I am quite opposed to the concept of "dress for the job you want" as that is generally confirming to bad standards which need to change. To me somebody is a suit is somebody who is going to lie to be for personal benefit. You should dress in the way you feel comfortable in while working. But as Jason says, it should be clean and appropriate. The latter is obvious open to interpretation. But there is a major difference between a T-shirt with the text "there is no place like ~" and a t-shirt with the text "fuck the world".
I would like the extend this list with the following entries:
Be reliable
It sort of replaces the "be on time" entry as it is more broad. When you say you are going to do something, e.g. be at a certain place at a certain time. Then also do it. Commit to your promises. If you see you cannot hold up to you commitment, notify the people you committed to as soon as possible. So if you foresee you will be delayed, give a heads up. If you think you cannot finish your work because of anything, speak up right away.
Treat others the way you want to be treated
This does not mean you must be nice to jerks and let them get away with it.
Good additions.
A few clarifications I believe are in order:
If only that were true of me, or indeed, a few professionals I know. The difference is not pay but intent. How serious are you? The professional software developer puts in the time and effort to build a career, while the amateur isn't that invested. Neither is inherently wrong, but it's the professional who will be taken seriously in job interviews, in networking events, in client meetings, etc.
Not in my experience, and you have to be careful about applying blanket labels like that. Again, the professional is the one who is serious about building a career.
Once again, that depends! There are many tech jobs where showing up in that "There's No Place Like ~" t-shirt would probably score you some points. If that's the job you want, that's the job you should dress for!
That said, it does help to have some business formal wear handy, as it does have a place in some situations. It expresses that you're taking this situation seriously enough to dress well for it. I studied intercultural communication in college, by the way, and this is true the world over. The actual outfits change, but the intent is the same.
I'm not going to lie, I'm actually a bit insulted by that statement, and rightly so. I've made honesty one of the core hallmarks, turning down paying jobs and many opportunities rather than compromise. And I dress in suits when the need arises. Your statement is unvarnished prejudice, and it's no more appropriate than judging someone by their accent or skin color.
I agree mostly. Again, tailor the apparel choices to the situation. An important client meeting may call for something less casual than a graphic T-shirt.
It absolutely is, and that's exactly the problem. Jeans and a T-Shirts are not less than a suit. It is not the clothes that makes a person.
Is the person in a suit the person you are, or the person you pretend to be. I've never seen anybody in a suit (matching pants and jacket, etc.) during their own time. So when I see somebody in a suit, I know something is up, they probably want to sell me something.
Note, with suit I do not mean business/smart casual.
As I said, it shows a number of things, including how seriously you take the situation. I also didn't specify you had to wear a suit, but something decent that expresses that you're taking the situation seriously is often called for.
Clothing is a form of non-verbal communication, like it or not. You don't have to agree with it, it's just the way humans have operated for thousands of years. Wearing business apparel instead of a graphic T-shirt is no different from saying "Good morning, Mr. Smith" instead of "What's the haps, duuude?"
That's rude. Is the person in the blue jeans the person you are or who you pretend to be? Or is clothing just a form of self-expression and non-verbal communication?
You're presuming a lot about why people wear suits, and insinuating they couldn't possibly have a personality to match, and you're being amazingly insulting in the process.
Doesn't mean they don't exist. I've known two. As to myself, I often enjoy wearing a button-down shirt with suspenders and a bow tie on my own time. I wear that because I want to.
I'm sorry you've had that experience, but I cannot say that, in over ten years as a software developer or internship supervisor, I've known that correlation to be true. Don't confuse your limited experience and careless conclusions with definitive reality. That's the exact same cognitive bias that fuels racism and sexism.
So, it's only one form of clothing that warrants your prejudice? All due respect, but I think the problem is your viewpoint, not reality.