What do you think, how long it takes for anyone meeting you to form a whole list of impressions about your abilities and character? Social psychologists enlist the following characteristics of the impact that you make: Career competence, educational level, trustworthiness, personality, level of sophistication, sense of humor and social heritage.
You name it, thirty seconds. They are not enough to pull out the college transcript, show your CV, or character references. You do not have the time to explain that you are talented, skilled, trained, and have a vast list of satisfied employers and clients.
In this short half a minute people form all kinds of impressions according to what they see, i.e. clothes, carriage, smile, hairstyle and nonverbal communications. What really matters is your appearance.
And, you bet, those quick impressions may be there to stay for years. Usually it is called the halo effect by psychologists. If your visual image is positive, your vis-a-vis will likely assume that other aspects about your personality are positive to the same extent. But if your image is negative, though, then your customer or coworker may not want to discover your true talent inside, even if you have a great GPA.
Jon Stewart, from The Daily Show, once said that “College is something you complete. Life is something you experience”.
In modern world it is one’s appearance that counts, maybe even more than in former decades. Strict success dressing rules created new guidelines that describe casual business looks and traditional power suits. Now that the speed of business deals accelerates, the importance of making a great first impression increases as well. And even though technology made real-world meeting rare, they are nevertheless even more critical and influential.
One college’s planning and placement center made a survey of more than one hundred employers, and they found out that the most important reason for rejecting an applicant after the first interview was his or her poor personal appearance.
And it is interesting to note that employers ranked weak outside appearance as even more crucial than being a hostile or overbearing, or late for interviews without any reason.
Your appearance is what really counts, often in hard cash. Dr. Walters from Fairleigh Dickinson University made a research on impact of an effective business appearance on a starting salary. She sent identical resumes with mediocre and polished dress style. Amazing results showed that starting salaries ranged from 8 to 20 percent higher for better outlook. Employers are willing to pay for people who look better.
Alexander Radich is an author writing on a bunch of both fictional and scientific fields. One of his main themes is fashion style, and he writes about English Cufflinks in his blog.
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