Isenberg HTM Professor Melissa Baker joined us this week to share her thoughts on dressing for success. She started off the meeting by noting that, “you don’t get a second chance for first impressions”. That’s why dressing to represent your personal brand is so important.

Melissa walked us through an exercise to identify what each of our personal brands is. She had everyone write down three words or short phrases that set you apart from others. This is a great way to think about the qualities you can bring to an organization that differentiate you from any other candidates. Another takeaway from this exercise was thinking about how you can reflect these qualities through fashion, while also keeping it professional.

For men, it is easy to dress professionally, a suit does the job. But for women, there are often many possibilities when it comes to casual, business casual, and business professional attire. Melissa’s recommendation is to always play it safe if you are unsure of the expectation, it’s always better to be overdressed than underdressed.

You wouldn’t wear a perfectly tailored pantsuit to a Google interview! It is widely known that their culture is extremely relaxed, you’d stand out, and not in a good way. Remember that dressing for success is all about wearing fashion that compliments the person you are and the characteristics that make you stand out.