Dressing up professionally (tips especially for women who work in USA in IT). People will take you seriously if you are dressed professionally .It is your way of Presenting your self which makes the first impact on any one .Your work and skills make impact after some time . (Believe me or not I have seen many Indian women wearing these so I thought of writing it here .With no offence to any one Please .I thought may be sometimes we are ignorant of the work culture in other countries ) 1. Always wear Clean and well ironed clothes. Try to look clean and professional. 2. Avoid wearing bright colors like magenta, bright green etc 3. Absolutely no kurtis (NO BRIGHT KURTIS WITH EMBROIDERY AND ZARIS), unless it is a casual work environment or dress down Fridays. 4. No “dinchak” jewelry .This includes (Bangles especially of glass, metal), highly beaded jewelry which are meant to be worn for parties,Beaded Earrings which look like bunch of Grapes hanging from your ears, long chandeliers earrings, long diamond earrings, Yellow gold necklaces (haars), chokers etc. The rule of thumb for jewelry is it should be classy and minimally distracting. 5.Shoes should be clean and polished .no flipflops, no sandals ,and NO SANDALS WITH CONTRAST SOCKS PLEASE . 6.NO HAIR OIL please ,You may not realize but people in USA are very sensitive to odours and even if you put 2 drops of oil it has odour. 7.No slouchy bags or purses 8. For women who wear bindis ,put uni-colour bindis and absouletly NO DECORATIVE bindis with diamond and beads . 9 If you are wearing a skirt Please wear a sheer panty hose . 10 .Dont wear too loose shirt or trousers ,I have seen women with size medium wearing large shirts it really looks bad .
Well said Mahika!! Being in this industry for 10 years and in a profession where I recruit IT people every other day, I do feel irritated when I see indian women wearing indian costumes when attending interviews. I mean,yes we understand that you dont want to leave your culture, but shouldnt the workplace me like a culture-free-zone? There was a time once when a girl (south indian) came in a chuidhar for an interview. I waslike mg:mg: Nand
Dear Mahika, Well said and guess a lot would benefit from your tips. Woould like to add some more . Hope you dont mind: 1.Do not wear very high heels. Apart from the fact that it wears your knees completely by the end of the day.,it also restricts a fast movement. Do wear heels but not exceeding a inch and a half to two inches since it adds a lot of style to your walk and if your comfy. 2. Keep stark dark clothes for the evening. In office wear pleasant colours and try to team a white or pastel shades with an attractive tie or scarf. If Stoles are allowed they to make a dull dress look lively. 3. Keep make up to the minimum. Less is more in the office. Save all your make up for a evening out. 4. Very importantly wear colours that suit your complexion. The colours that look good on the western people doesnt necessariy suit the Indian skin. I would recommend nude shades . They look good and not gross. 5. Horizontal stripes make you look heavy , so if youre trying to camouflage something ,stay away from horizontals. Vertical stripes make you appear taller , so make the most of it. Well thats all I can think of right now but shall be back if I have something more to share. Regards Devika
Hi Devika, I do not agree with ur high heels point. Actually wearing heels if you are comfortable is actually good. In fact if you see around most people here wear smart heels. So wearing heels shouldnt be a no-no in work environment. If you are comfortable and feel you can carry them off then definitely go for it as it gives a neat and chic appearance -priya
Hi Priya, I havent said DO NOT wear high heels . I hav mentioned that you can wear a heel upto 2-- 2 1/2 inc. long and i guess thats quite some. Anything more than that and a lot of girls tend to suffer from knee problems and back aches. A lot of my students do complain about it!! Devika
Well said Mam. Wearing heels causes back pain and also it is not good for the uterus. So our health is important than anything else.
Here are somethings I've seen at my workplace that looked totally odd. No offense to anyone. 1. The shoes one girl was wearing was a men's shoe with laces and the socks were mens socks too. 2. Another girl who had very long hair till her hips had a plait which looked obvious that she hadn't brushed her hair at all that morning. I am not against long hair but it needs better maintenance and the hair style should be chosen wisely. I personally don't think long plaits are suitable for a work-place.
Good points from all of you. One more point, please don't marinate in perfumes...there are many people here who are allergic to even mild scents. Please please try to blend in with the rest of the world. I work in a multicultural environment and I couldn't help noticing that our women are among the worst-dressers(myself included, though I have picked up myself since) Most of us, especially South Indians, have ample hips and thighs and please choose dresses that don't make you look like a Christmas tree. I hope I didn't offend anyone, will add more points later Cheers Bee
