Is Comfort More Important Than Looking Professional?
Writer and Social Media Manager
There are thousands of articles on the internet that tell job seekers to dress professionally when going for a job interview. That same advice however does not seem to apply once you land the coveted job and somewhere down the line are sent out into the big, wide world of corporate events to represent your company.
I recently attended Inbound2016, the largest gathering of digital sales and marketing professionals worldwide. There were upwards of 18,000 attendees from 92 countries who made their way to the Boston Convention Center in Massachusetts, USA. Last year it was a mere 15,000.
Call me old school (I've been attending events internationally for over 25 years), but I was rather appalled on the whole by the way people were attired. If you are wearing a name tag which includes your company name and if you are handing out company business cards, should you not be appropriately dressed so as to be a brand ambassador for your company? It’s been drilled into us as professionals that appearance does matter – you have between three to five seconds to make a good first impression and what you’re wearing is part of that impression.
Donning legging with boots, super short miniskirts over leggings, jeggings, skinny jeans, woollen caps with pompoms, fuzzy, fleecy scarves, sweat/track pants, sneakers of all hues and styles, and heels that belong on the catwalk do not qualify as ‘business casual’. And yet that is what I observed en masse, regardless of age or gender.
Yes, Boston in November is cold and windy. Yes, the Boston Convention Center is massive and a lot of walking between breakout sessions was involved so comfortable shoes were certainly a need (I pitied those in stilettos). Yes, you had to lug your laptop and other stuff around the massive venue, so hello backpack, that schoolkids' accessory that has now become every adult’s prized possession. Sigh.
Is under-dressing, even slumming it, the American way I wondered? Maybe I’d forgotten, after having lived in Massachusetts for ten years and then moving back to Asia, where we still care about appearance. That could have been an explanation if not for the fact that there were people from 90 other countries at this event, some of those countries ranking among the best dressed in the world.
Comfort is important, I totally agree, but surely also is a sense of propriety? Attending a convention or conference is not a vacation, therefore why would you dress down? If the company is paying all your expenses shouldn’t you at least make an effort to look your best?
While we generally accept that techies and geeks are exempt from any sort of dress rules, surely marketers and sales folks are a bit more concerned about image. Would you seriously go and meet a potential new client dressed looking like you're off to the supermarket or the mall?
Conferences are as much about networking as they are about learning. Who knows, your next big client could be someone you met, say at Inbound2016. And you’ll be lucky if they remember you for your charm and wit rather than the unflattering skinny jeans and Ugg boots you were wearing.
So, don’t spend too much on that interview suit, you might not get much wear out of it once you secure the job. If the comfort factor continues to trump professionalism in the business world, you might soon be going to work in your pajamas and flipflops.
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