Blending in is the BEST RULE of workplace dress
Perhaps you heard about the 43-page dress code at Swiss bank UBS AG.
Yes, 43 pages.
The human resource community was all atwitter about the codes excruciating depth, exposed on the internet.
Jewelry and metal eyeglass frames should match Jacket shoulders should have natural proportions Jacket pockets mustnt bulge with stuff.
And one of the biggest doozies: Underwear should be esh-colored.
Pity the boss assigned to check that.
After worldwide derision, the Swiss bank backpedaled from the code and said guidelines were under revision.
Meanwhile, in comments posted to a LegalWorkplace com blog, someone suggested a far simpler dress code:
If you can see up it, down it or through it, dont wear it. Brilliant!
But that may not be enough guidance for those who stumble in matters of taste, propriety and suitability So guidelines are handy.
Others simply want to t in whether having a job interview, starting a new job or trying to advance in the ranks.
The best advice in those cases: Look around.
Notice what the people who do the job you want to do are wearing Usually, it behooves you to blend in.
Tattoos, piercings, cleavage, oddly dyed hair, baggy pants, illustrated t-shirts anything that distracts attention because its not the workplace norm may work against you.
We can champion self-expression and individuality, but human nature gravitates toward sameness.
People tend to prefer doing business with those who make them feel comfortable And in this judge a book by its cover employment world, appearances count.
Studies have shown that its not just apparel that makes a difference in job offers and pay levels Height, weight, skin color and accents sadly have been shown to matter, too.
Diversity is a valued goal We need it in the workplace But we have to acknowledge that those who t the appearance code have an edge.
Diane Stafford, McClatchy Newspapers
Where the JOBS ARE in 2011
Agood job is still hard to nd, though recent labormarket data indicate the employment situation is slowly improving.
While the economy is adding jobs at lower levels than workers would like, analysts expect some growth in a wide range of service jobs this year including retail, information technology, professional, scientic and technical jobs and continuing growth in health care.
Primary job generation will be across a wide range of private service areas, said Nigel Gault, chief US economist at IHS Global Insight, an economic consulting rm in Massachusetts.
With the aging population, health care remains a primary eld for job growth, experts say Health care is always adding jobs That will clearly continue, said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington think tank.
Among the positions expected to have greater demand in coming years: nurses, medical scientists, physician assistants, skin-care specialists and dental hygienists.
Information-technology also will add jobs, because companies that have been sitting on cash will upgrade their technology to gain a competitive edge as the economy emerges from the recession, said John Challenger, chief executive of outplacement rm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in Chicago.
A lot of companies over the last couple of years have cut down their spending on IT, Challenger said But, as we know, technology takes quantum leaps every few years So there is technology that companies are buying, and they will need people who can come in and implement it, customize it, teach people how to use it, provide technical support.
Among rms that expect to increase full-time, permanent workers in 2011, here are the top areas, by function, according to the survey: sales, information technology, customer service, engineering, technology, administrative, business development, marketing, research/development and accounting/nance.
Workers in sales and marketing positions help drive top-line growth for an organization, said Jennifer Grasz, a spokeswoman for CareerBuilder com.
Still, many companies remain cautious about taking on more full-time staff, so analysts expect to see continued growth in the hiring of temporary workers Temp workers allow companies to ll needed positions without taking on the cost of a full-time worker.
Employers dont want to pick up costs like health care, they dont want to pick up overhead costs, Baker said According to CareerBuilder. com, many companies in health care, nancial services, and professional and business services plan to hire temporary or contract workers.
Among the positions expected to have greater demand in coming years: nurses, medical scientists, physician assistants, skin-care specialists and dental hygienists.
Gault said there also could be room for growth in nancial-services jobs Lending activity should pick up, he said There will be more deal-making Companies will be raising more capital, and they will need more assistance from the nancial sector.
He added that professional, scientic and technical jobs could pick up as well Companies will want to start to pick up research and development spending, Gault said, so their need for more highly skilled workers will increase.
Another area expected to get a hiring boost: Any positions that represent revenue generators for a company, according to a survey of more than 2,400 hiring managers and human-resource professionals conducted in November and December for jobs website CareerBuilder com.
And it may be a while before companies turn temp positions into permanent ones The labor market is still going to be very, very weak, so theres not a huge incentive for companies to convert these workers into full-time workers, Gault said.
According to the CareerBuilder com survey, 34 percent of hiring managers said they will hire contract or temporary workers in 2011, up from 30 percent in 2010 and 28 percent in 2009.
One place you wont nd job growth: the public sector.
Cities and states are expected to cut staff in 2011, Challenger said Many municipal and state budgets face the axe as federal aid dwindles And, Baker said, there wont be much hiring on the federal level, either.
The public sector is going into recession from a jobs standpoint, Challenger said It will lose jobs in 2011 as the country comes to terms with the decits that are out there There will be some places where they have no choice but to cut workers, library personnel, teachers. Cuts could also affect nonprots that do business with the government, said Timothy Bartik, senior economist at the W E Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Michigan.
We expect to see some weakening in state and local government, Bartik said A lot of state and local areas will have to make cutbacks, and that will have an impact on nonprot agencies that contract with state and local governments.
Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
ScottAustin makes a living arguing lawsuits over online privacy matters He understands why his former law rm has a strict policy forbidding social networking in the workplace ButAustin saw rsthand the dilemma a business faces when young associates came to him frustrated: They were saying we need it because its the way our potential clients communicate.
While most companies understand the value of connecting with customers online in social networks, some also fear employees will waste work time or worse, reveal condential information or offend a customer or co-worker.
With social networking exploding, at some point this year, every business will have to confront the challenge and answer this question: Embrace it or ban it?
As a boss, Max Borges chose to embrace it
His Miami agency provides marketing to consumer electronics and personal technology manufacturers It is ush with young account executives whom Borges trusts to use social networking productively, even at the ofce They work hard and get their job done I know they might be posting during the day, but if they were slacking, it wouldnt go unnoticed.
Borges says hes wise enough to know his employees are going to be on Facebook or LinkedIn or blogs whether or not he bans them So instead he held a meeting and taught his workers about privacy settings and etiquette around social networks I think the way to go is to talk openly about expectations, respectful conduct and productivity.
At the other extreme, nancial rms like JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley or traditional
SOCIAL MEDIA & THE WORKPLACE
Cindy Krischer Goodman McClatchy Newspapers
companies like FPL chose to block or forbid employees from going to external sites at work Indeed, one in four companies blocks access to social networks because they view them as a productivity-killer, according to a 2008 survey of 200 human resource professionals by Challenger Gray & Christmas, an outplacement consulting rm.
Technology innovation expert Scott Klososky calls corporate attitude toward social networking a replay of their original response to the internet. They blocked the internet, but it was so powerful they had to quit blocking and change to monitoring.
Banning it outright might not work anyway
According to a study by Ruder Finn, a public relations agency, most people are using their handheld devices to connect to the internet, with 91 percent of mobile phone users going online to
socialize compared to only 79 percent of desktop users And, as experts note, if workers are forced onto their handhelds, employers cant monitor their usage.
In most workplaces, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter checks have replaced daydreaming or walking to the break room For the most part, companies are okay with that
Klososky says companies are just beginning to understand how big an issue this will become Their young workers [have] grown up with social networks and see them as tools When those tools are blocked, they dont want to work for that company. By going a step further and building their own social networks, companies can benet He says: It is not a fad anymore Its a powerful trend Strategic companies wont ban its use, theyll integrate it.
