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Shary Raske

Look the part
Keep your job...

Need a guide to get you where you want to be in career?  Call for details!

Congratulations to Robert who after he was promoted into Senior Management, hired Courage to Change to preserve his competitive advantage.  He loves his new responsibilities and is looking forward to many years of success with his current employer.  Yet he also realizes that to stop networking would put him at a serious disadvantage should he lose his job.  As he said, “The higher you rise, the faster you fall.”   He’s hired me to create a strategy for greater visibility outside of his industry, as part of his Plan B contingency plan. 

Look the Part, Be the Part

I remember listening to a comedian who lamented that he couldn’t wait to get into a committed relationship so he could let himself go!   What if you’ve already let yourself go at work?

I’ve worked with hundreds of wrong-fit clients who are resentful and depressed about their current work situation.  The first thing I challenge them to do is to come up with three things they can do immediately to improve job satisfaction.  Operating out of dread will actually slow you down from finding new work.  It takes too much energy to work in a state of dread.   Plus, if you can shift the way you are perceived at your current job, you might be able to buy more time to make a transition.  That includes how you look and feel.

Take an inventory on how you visually look at work.  Are you hunched over into the letter “C”?  You’ve heard that a mugger always sizes up his victims by the visual clues they leave.  What if your employer is sizing you up the same way?  This is not the way you want to look to your current employer, and you certainly don’t want to look that way for a future employer.

Take an honest look at your grooming and your clothing.  Are you shoes polished?  Clothes clean and pressed?  If not, why not?  We all can get complacent about how we look; yet a case could even be made that it’s disrespectful to your employer.   How you dress is important.  For those of you who are looking for work, if you are still in your pajamas at 2:00 in the afternoon, you are not looking the part, nor playing the part of an active job hunter. 

For those of you who are employed and want to stay that way while you are looking,  consistently looking the part is an easy correction to make, but can go a long way to you maintaining control of your career.  Look the part, be the part.
Complacency doesn’t work in most relationships. If you act as if you are still in courtship mode, then your working relationship will be more vibrant, satisfying, and most of all – more secure.

On the other hand, sometimes image isn’t the real issue.  Once there was an out-of-work woman named Madge (story is true, but the name is fictionalized) who came to my office dressed in an ancient pants suit filled with snags, two mismatched earrings, a pop bead necklace, and hair that was greasy at the scalp.  She did not wear makeup.  When I first met her, I made a mental note to eventually give her image consulting tips before she activated her job search.  Yet the more I got to know her, the more convinced I became that this in fact was her authentic image.  She was a total non-conformist.  My conclusion was instead of changing her image to be more socially acceptable, it would be better for Madge to help her find work where her appearance didn’t matter.  However, I did urge her to take better care of her hair., which she agreed to do.  Madge did indeed make a successful career transition and she continued to look as she did as the day she walked into my office.
 
Madge would never fit into the status quo yet her decision to dress the way she did limit her options.  So what?  The fact is she got to where she wanted to be.  If you are a Madge and work in an environment that expects a certain attire and you do not conform, then you are setting yourself up to be disliked and undervalued.  People who are perceived as undervalued are the first to be laid off.   Looking the part is a small price to pay if you want to shift that perception.

Does your career need a CPR diagnostic session?  Are you stuck or confused about what’s next for you? Well, I fix that.  I work with career changers who want to get to where they want to be faster and easier!  A Career Planning Readiness meeting will immediately identify ways to get back on track.  Leave with a preliminary plan on how to fix your career situation.  Available nationally through tell-coaching or one-on-one in the St. Louis region.  Call today for details (314) 560-1088.

If you know of events, that might help people in transition, let me know.  Here’s one:
Friday, October 30th at 7:30 p.m., Dr. Michael Beckwith, who appeared in the movie The Secret, and has been a frequent speaker on Oprah, is coming to St. Louis.  Friday evening event is at Washington University, 560 Music Center.   Fee $40 Advance / $50 at the Door.  There is a workshop Saturday morning for an additional fee.   VIP Package for Friday $85 night includes Reception with Michael and Rickie Beckwith, copy of Spiritual Liberation and reserved seating for the evening lecture. For details email Stacy.hunsicker@gmail.com St. Louis Event Coordinator for Bella Spark Productions. Or call her at  (314) 610-6042.

Next Issue:  Dreaming Bigger in a Tough Economy     (for November 2009)

Shary Raske, Career Strategist, Courage to Change Enterprises
(314) 560-1088

We offer career transition coaching, to get you where you want to be.  We help you figure out where you want to be, too!.  Enjoy reading, and  please forward to others,  particularly those who are job searching.  If you received this in error, our apologies; see column on your left for options.