May 30, 2008

What not to wear (to work)

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Career handbook after career handbook tells us that there's truth in the old adage about dressing for success. Come to your starched-shirt corporate cubicle job a disheveled mess and you won't be getting a raise any time soon. Wear sweats on casual Friday and you're likely to be shown the door.

Image consultant Lesley Everett's recent book, Drop Dead Brilliant: Dazzle in the Workplace with Confidence and Panache, even goes so far as to insist that in the boardroom, make-up is a must, for women and men.

But what if you want the financial rewards of working for corporate America but can't be bothered dressing to the nines? What if your morale's highest in a T-shirt and your favorite pair of well-worn jeans? How can you find out if a company you're considering getting into bed with won't cramp your style and cost you a fortune in dry cleaning?

My favorite ways to sniff out a company's corporate culture (office attire included) before the interview:

1. Visit their website. An employer that knows its workers revel in the lack of corporate dress code won't keep quiet about it. Chances are you'll find it broadcast on their website's Jobs or Careers page. Witness Google's corporate philosophy page, which includes the mantra "You can be serious without a suit."

2. Play detective online. Don't stop at the company's website. See what the media has to say about your would-be employer too. Has the company you covet made any of those Fortune, Working Mother, or local "best places to work" lists? Are any bloggers dishing on the company culture?

3. Ask everyone you know. Someone's bound to know someone who's worked at the company at some point in the past decade. It's your job to track them down and set up a time to pick their brain for a few minutes about What It's Really Like to Work There.

4. Camp out in the employee parking lot. Check out what the majority of employees headed into the office at 8 or 9 a.m. (or headed home at 5 or 6 p.m.) are wearing. Flip-flops and shorts are a good sign. Ties and pantyhose are not.

Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com

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