4 Grooming Tips for Millennials Starting their First Professional Job

Starting your first professional job can be both exciting and scary. Millennials often don’t know what to wear at their first professional job. Here are some grooming tips that will help you make a great impression on your boss on new coworkers.

1. Choose Clothes That Make You Look Older

In the workforce, people tend to equate age with experience and expertise. This can put millennial professionals at a disadvantage, regardless of how qualified they are.

It is a good idea to choose a wardrobe that makes you look older. Even if your company lets you get away with wearing jeans, you may want to at least wear khakis.

Young male professionals may also want to try growing a little bit of a beard. It can add a few years to your face, which will make you seem a little wiser and more mature.

2. Take Care of Your Facial Hair

Young men need to know how to deal with their facial hair. On the one hand, it makes them look older. However, it’s also important to keep your beard trimmed and tidy.

Learn how to use beard balm to trim your beard properly. You need to take care of it regularly to truly fit in at your first professional job. If you can’t, it’s better to shave it.

3. Customize Your Wardrobe for Your Profession

Most people think that dressing professionally requires wearing a suit. That may be the case in many industries, but it isn’t necessary or even appropriate in many professional jobs. For some jobs, a multi-threaded suit is perfect. In other jobs, such as tech startups, everyone is expected to wear jeans and a plaid shirt.

“You don’t want to show up in a suit if everyone wears jeans,” Rosemary Haefner, the vice president of human resources at Careerbuilder.com, told Forbes contributor Jacquelyn Smith. “One size doesn’t fit all. People assume ‘professional’ means a suit, but it depends on the company or industry.”

You need to know the company’s dress code. Some companies have both a formal and unspoken dress code. The dress code may not technically require you to wear a tie, but it may still be an expectation.

If you are unsure what to wear, it is best to speak to either your supervisor or a trusted, more experienced coworker. They will be happy to give you some advice.

4. Women Should Downplay Their Attractiveness

Attractive young women have to work harder to be taken seriously. They should generally choose an outfit that downplays their attractiveness, without hiding it entirely.

Shellie Karabell recently wrote an article discussing the challenges women face as they dress to impress their new employers. Karabell pointed out that they must meet conflicting expectations – trying to be conservative and still trying to look attractive.

In particular, attractive women in their 20’s have to work harder and dress wisely to earn respect. It is recommended to wear outfits that hide their curves and avoid anything that is too low-cut or tight.

Of course, there are always exceptions. Women working in the fashion industry need to look attractive to succeed, so they need to play by a different set of rules.

Have Some Essential Clothes in Your Wardrobe

There are a number of clothes that you will need to wear regularly. Of course, these accessories depend on your company’s dress code. Melissa Suzuno, a writer of After College, says that her wardrobe includes the following:

• A few blazers
• Several pairs of fitted, non-jean pants
• Cropped, black pants
• Appropriate heels
• Sleeveless blouses with the appropriate length

Your own wardrobe may be a little different, but these are some good staples for women in most workplaces. An appropriate wardrobe for men may look similar, except they should have loafer shoes and a dress shirt instead of heels and a blouse.

Conclusion

Transitioning from college to the workforce is never easy, but it can be made less intimidating if you know how to dress like a professional. Things will go smoothly if you follow these tips.

Featured photo credit: Pexels via pexels.com

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Source: Lifehack.org