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Regardless of your age or field, a positive professional image is essential to a successful career. Whether you’re entering the professional workforce for the first time or a seasoned veteran, it’s a good idea to learn or brush up on the basics of creating a positive professional image. Not only does your professional image speak volumes about you, it also helps you develop and establish a positive reputation.
Here are a few tips:
1. Make a good first impression
This is crucial for those entering the workforce for the first time, interviewing, or starting a new position. Studies show that people form opinions of you within seconds of meeting you. Instantly, your peers are forming judgments about your personality, values, and competence. Once that first impression is formed, it’s often very difficult to change, so it’s important that your first impression says what you want it to say.
2. Dress the part
We’ve all heard the old saying, dress for the job you want, not the job you have. You want your fellow colleagues to see you not just in the role you’re currently in or interviewing for, but “running the show” someday. What you wear to work sends a number of signals including how you view the environment, how much respect you have for your work and yourself, and with which groups you identify. Take a look around your organization. Who are the most successful employees? How do they dress? What do their clothes say about them?
When shopping for office attire, look for staple pieces such as blazers, suits, and skirts in classic colors like black, grey, or navy blue. To mix up your look, pick out blouses in a variety of colors, patterns, and styles. Once you have the basics covered, pick out a few standout pieces that will help make your look pop against everyone else’s like a bold color skirt or handbag. Building a wardrobe can add up so to help stick to your budget, consider shopping sales or at online thrift stores like thredUP that allow you to buy designer clothes in like-new condition for a fraction of the cost.
3. Exhibit a positive, respectful attitude
Be authentic, polite, and positive. You want to come across as confident, not cocky. Be someone your peers can look up to and respect. Your body language is a very important element of your professional image. It has to inspire trust and approachability. You can create a positive professional image through body language by:
- Making eye contact when speaking
- Carrying yourself with confidence
- Smiling and greeting people
- Having good posture
- Offering a strong, assertive handshake
- Using open body language
4. Clean up your social media
Your professional image isn’t just how you appear in the office, it’s how you appear online as well. You may have created a terrific image at work, but if your online image is filled with inappropriate pictures or posts, it can have a negative impact on your professional image. Remember, everything you post online can be seen by your employer and co-workers.
Go through your social media accounts and take down anything that makes you look bad. Be sure to ask your friends to take down any pictures or posts involving you that you wouldn’t want your colleagues to see as well. Be proactive and regularly check your social media accounts for any negative images and posts. Don’t let how you appear on social media sabotage your hard-earned professional image.
Those are four ways to work on developing a positive professional image for success on the job!
