These days, scores of young workers are seeking answers to the age-old question: What do I wear to work? So many workers and workplaces are in such a muddle over this that a growing band of consultants has appeared to help them clean up.There is more in the article. It is fairly long but worth a look.
"It has gotten so crazy, a major pharmaceutical company called up and said, 'Help! People are wearing spandex to work!' " says Gail Madison, a Philadelphia-area etiquette and protocol consultant who regularly advises students at prestigious colleges that it won't kill them to take out their nose rings before a job interview.
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It's fair to say it was ever thus: Cranky oldsters have always harrumphed about "those kids" who show up for work dressed like slobs or sluts. Yet these days it really does seem to many - young, old and not all cranky - that a lot of newcomers to the workforce are either completely unaware or outright defiant about what is appropriate attire for the office.
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"Look at guys in college - they've got pierced ears, gel-spiked hair, goatees, urban, flashy clothes, baggy jeans, big boots, unironed shirts, lint, stains, nothing matches," says Jared Shapiro, co-author of Going Corporate: Moving Up Without Screwing Up, a survival manual for the young and clueless. "In the corporate world, you have to dress like your boss, or the people above your boss."
At Wingate (N.C.) University, a 1,500-student Christian school outside Charlotte, career counselors are discussing hooking up with a local department store to help graduating students make smart investments in their first wardrobes.
Yahoo! News - How NOT to dress for work
Some of our chapters have invited consultants in to give pointers to the seniors. A great idea.
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