It never hurts to slightly overdress, especially on your first days.

Consultants hired for their special skills – whether technical or management – should keep the above advice in mind.  The client is paying a substantial rate for your services primarily because you can provide expertise that is not available within their organization.  Dressing as a professional – especially for the first several days or weeks – helps to reassure the client that they’re getting the highly skilled professional they paid for.

If the work environment is essentially casual, but there’s some possibility that you would need somewhat more formal clothes at some point, consider keeping a change of clothing either on site or in your car.  That way if you have to meet with a vendor, client partner or other professionals, you’ll have the option of dressing up a bit.

The above tip comes with an added benefit:  You’ll always have a backup for those times when someone spills mustard on you.

Finally:  Regardless of your area of specialization, if you’re going to come in contact with the public, make it a point to look your best.  The client will appreciate it, and you’ll be glad you made that little extra effort.

You’ll find some guidelines in our Interview Tips section.  In general, though, you will never lose points by dressing up for an interview.  Taking care of your appearance communicates your respect for the interviewer and your seriousness about the position.

• Avoid or at least minimize your wearing of pink, baby blue and other pastels
• Don’t wear skirts that are more than about three inches above the knee
• Slips should not be visible through any slit in the skirt
• Don’t wear anything sheer, low-cut or suggestive
• Avoid very high heels and platforms
• Stay away from stockings with seams, lace or obvious patterns
• Minimize your use of large and/or dangly jewelry

• Stay away from dark shirts, and be sure that patterned shirts will fit the environment
• Generally speaking, avoid light ties, especially with darker shirts
• Ties should stop right about at the waist:  Neither much above or below your belt
• Avoid alligator shoes or other eye-catching footwear
• With your conservative shoes, don’t wear white or brightly colored or patterned socks

• Don’t try to get by with wrinkled or un-pressed clothing
• Avoid clothes that are too tight or too baggy.  Go for classic, not trendy
• Avoid extremes in colors or style, especially in conservative environments
• Wear a conservative, decent quality watch
• Avoid strong after-shave, perfume or scents
• Don’t smell like smoke!
• Men should keep any facial hair very carefully groomed
• Men should consider removing earrings, at least at first
• Women should keep makeup simple and natural looking.
• Keep nails clean and relatively short.  Women, avoid flashy nail designs and colors

If the organization where you’ll be working has an annual report, find it and take a look at the pictures.  These represent the image the organization seeks to present.  Management professionals can fit in right from the start by dressing like the people shown in the report.  Technical specialists won’t need to worry quite so much about this, but the more you know about your new work environment (and what they expect from people), the better.

No annual report?  Look for articles and other information on the internet that might be accompanied by photos.  The text of articles can be helpful, too.  If a company is described as laid back and informal, you’ve got a good clue about how the employees dress.

Every day you get a chance to make a visual statement about your value to the client, through your choice of clothes.  What message do you want to communicate?