Presentation is Key
November 2, 2007 by Jonathan
One of my new favorite sites (as I begin the arduous journey of a legal career) is brazen careerist. It is a blog by a professional job seeker/Career advancer. One of her recent posts was about how your image at work often connotes alot about your quality of work, especially to those who don’t know you personally.
If you doubt that your image can inhibit your career, think about this: According to a 2005 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, good-looking people make more money than average-looking people for doing exactly the same work.
Before you get up in arms over how unfair it is to discriminate against people who are overweight, consider that there may be some rationale behind it. If you’re overweight, you’re probably not exercising every day. But regular exercise increases peoples’ ability to cope with difficult situations in the workplace and, according to University of Illinois kinesiology professor Charles Hillman, might even make people smarter.
And the same self-discipline we use to make ourselves exercise regularly and eat in moderation carries over into other aspects of our lives. This is probably why, in a study from Leeds Metropolitan University, people who exercise regularly were found to be better at time-management and more productive than those who don’t.
So don’t kid yourself that if you do good work it won’t matter if you’re overweight. It’s sort of like people who have messy desks: The perception is that they’re low-performers, poor time-managers, and not clear thinkers. This might not be true at all, but the only thing they can do to overcome the perceptions of their coworkers is clean their desks.
So, the advice: Even if you don’t think it is fair. Make sure your image looks good to your coworkers. Everyone likes being around likeable people. And people like good looking people. Think celebrities. Sure the truly good artists don’t HAVE to be great looking. But the less attractive ones stand out simply because they are in a sea of other gorgeous actors. Make sure your outside reflects what you want your inside to be: neat, streamlined, organized, lean and hungry for more work and challenge.
haha funny story about the brazen careerist:
I went to a one-day conference for women interns at firms like Goldman Sachs, E&Y, Citi, etc., and women at big name MBA schools. Basically, all very high-achieving, aspiring career-moms.
The Brazen Careerist herself was there to give the key-note speech at lunch. After she gave a short speech, the floor was opened up for Q&As. The inevitable question arose: “So what do you think, can we women have it all? A family and a successful career?”
And to the expectant crowd, each woman holding her breath expectantly, she firmly replied, “No.”
The crowd was shocked into silence, but not for long. I believe there was a collective gasp, and then bewilderment, and then all hell broke loose.
I don’t really remember what happened after that, other than her trying to explain herself amidst the chaos…