Do First Impressions Count? Yes, all the research suggest that yes, first impressions do count. And it’s an absolute minefield for women. It’s fraught with all sorts of inequalities, baggage and just plain nonsense. Women are judged much more on their appearance than their male counterparts are. And judged harshly.
I’d like to ignore the whole thing and say wear just what the hell you want. Which of course, you can decide to do. Or, you can decide to use this nonsense to your advantage in getting ahead at work and once you’re the CEO, wear whatever you want. It’s tricky.
First Impressions Count
It is a very old cliché (yawn) but you never get a second chance to make a first impression. But you do get a chance to revitalise your image and confound people’s expectations of you. I’ve worked with many women who have used this to their advantage. They have consciously played the game to help them advance their careers. It’s a trade off, isn’t it? Playing the game to get yourself into a position where you can influence changing the wretched game.
How You Dress Can Increase Confidence
Almost all the people I work with tell me that changing how they dressed actually had a significant impact on how they felt. Feeling more confident than caused them to behave differently. When they behaved differently, ie more confidently, they got different reactions from others. Imagine turning up at an event severely under dressed i.e. jeans and a sloppy sweatshirt when everyone else is in evening attire. Most of us might want to slink into the background and feel out of place. You will certainly stand out from the crowd and get noticed but it may not be the impression you want to create.
(If you’re thinking, I’d love that, bring it on, I’m not talking to you as you obviously have bags of confidence and will go very far without my help.)
If you dress differently but making sure it is appropriate, you can actually give your confidence a boost and cause people to behave towards you in a different way. There is now some significant research to show that feeling good about how you look can also have a very positive effect on your mental well being. You need to be comfortable in your skin, and your clothes. It has to be the authentic you, but maybe adapted to reach an end you have identified as important.
The Halo Effect
Much research has been done into how long it takes someone to sum you up based on what image you present. It varies slightly but an average is about 90 seconds. One and a half minutes. That is particularly important when it comes to job interviews.
Having interviewed many, many people and despite always telling myself it’s the person that counts, you just can’t help yourself being influenced by that first impression – which is invariably what they look like, how they speak and their body language. Do they look like they’ve made an effort? Are they dressed appropriately? Do they stand, smile and offer you a firm hand shake as they introduce themselves?
It all contributes to the final package. It’s called the ‘halo effect’ and will influence how all other information is received, including answers to interview questions, or whether they choose to buy your service. It can give you a head start or mean you are running to catch up throughout your interview.
Just a Cliché?
Some of us find it really difficult to accept that how you look can have such an impact which invariably brings out another old cliché – Never judge a book by its cover. But if we’re honest we all do, don’t we? How many of us will pick up a book in a plain brown cover with a dull coloured small type if we are looking for a light holiday read? Most of us are drawn to the brightly coloured and striking covers.
But if we’re looking for a text book on say, contract law, we would be very suspicious of that brightly coloured striking cover fearing it would not have the right gravitas, we wouldn’t trust the content. Similarly, we need to dress for the market, or the customers, or the next job we want.
People receive messages about us in many ways and how we choose to present ourselves gives one piece of information about us. Even if we say we don’t care about how we look then that is the message we are giving others.
First Impressions Count? – A Story
I used to manage a team of social workers in a large hospital. We’d never actually discussed a dress code but there was one. We didn’t really think about it until someone broke it rather spectacularly. Our job was to work with people in distress, often elderly. Conversations usually had to take place on an open ward and very quickly we had to earn trust and respect. We were one of the few professions not in uniform, which is an interesting topic in itself.
We had a young man in our team for a short while. He was a good worker but his appearance belied this; he was incredibly scruffy and dressed as if just back from a student party. I gently took him to task for his appearance (which he resented), explaining why it mattered. Perhaps I should mention that he was also ‘on probation’ because of complaints made about him elsewhere. I’d taken him on to see if I could tap into his undoubted talents.
Unfair Criticism
I think it’s fair to say that he was not happy with my comments. However, he knew he had to comply. So he went out and got himself a very smart modern suit, way above the usual standard of dress in the team. He did it originally to give me a message and thought it would be funny. However, it was fascinating to watch the effect it had on both him and the other professionals he worked with.
When he went onto the wards staff gave him more attention and respect than he had previously received. He actually said he was treated like a consultant. (Hierarchy is alive and well in health settings.) His confidence improved, his standard of work went up and he certainly raised his own profile. He was the same person as before but then patients had had to overcome their feelings about his appearance before they could trust him.
But in a busy hopsital setting he did not have the luxury of time to demonstrate he was a competent worker. He had to give that ‘I’m a professional, you can trust me’ message very quickly and he learned that his personal image both helped and hindered him.
With women the effect is even more marked. Research shows that people will always assume a woman in a tailored jacket is in a senior position. Unless she’s accompanied by a man when they assume the man is in charge. However he is dressed. Give me strength…
First Impressions Count? – Quick Questions
Take a few minutes to think about what you (and your whole business if appropriate) are wearing now and what this says about you and the service you offer. If you are in your workplace is it a professional and competent look? On line does your top half look as you want? Is that the image you want to convey or does your business call for a more approachable look? What is the dress code? Are you in a field where it matters? Would changing your work image boost your confidence?
Top Photo: by Kier… in Sight on Unsplash
RenewYou, My Tried and Tested Career Booster!
RenewYou has helped thousands of women make positive and lasting change in their lives. I deliver it one-to-one as part of a bespoke coaching package for women looking to move into leadership, to progress their career, or who wish to be the absolute best version of themselves.
Posted on February 20th, 2023 by Jane
