Personal presentation at work includes your physical presentation, personal hygiene, how you speak, get along with others and deal with issues that come up at work.
Appropriate personal presentation to a particular workplace or type of work will assist in both obtaining and maintaining employment.
Workplace solutions and adjustments
What is required to maintain personal presentation at work depends on the job. Personal presentation will be different in positions of responsibility, such as a manager compared to a junior trainee and also the type of work that is done. For instance a manager may have to wear a suit or formal clothing to work whilst an employee within an office may require only smart attire.
For people with disability who may have difficulty understanding or deciding what is appropriate work wear, talking with them about some ideas and giving clear guidelines on what to wear, in a respectful manner may help. Some ideas in relation to what to wear might include exactly what is or isn’t considered appropriate in your workplace, including:
- is there a uniform available?
- can jeans or denim clothing be worn?
- do shirts need to have collars or sleeves?
- are pants required or can skirts or shorts be worn?
- is there specific clothing or footwear required for safety reasons?
- are closed in shoes required?
- can thongs be worn to the workplace?
- does hair have to be worn tied back?
- is it safe to wear jewellery in the workplace and what type of jewellery is allowed?
On all occasions at work, even if you can’t afford the latest clothing or shoes, what you do wear should be neat and clean, including your shoes. If you wear make-up or perfume, it should be applied appropriate to the workplace and fingernails should be clean and cut to the appropriate length for the type of work undertaken. Hair should be neat. Consider what others around you at work are wearing as a guide.
Maintaining personal hygiene is also important within the workplace. More information is available at:
A variety of independent living products are available to assist people with a variety of disabilities to maintain personal presentation at work such as:
Relavent links
Equal Opportunity Commission (SA): Dress codes in the workplace http://www.eoc.sa.gov.au/site/eo_for_you/workers/at_work/dress_codes_in_the_workplace.jsp
References
Equal Opportunity Commission of South Australia 2009, Dress Codes in the Workplace, Government of South Australia, Adelaide, viewed 29 March 2010, <http://www.eoc.sa.gov.au/site/eo_for_you/workers/at_work/dress_codes_in_the_workplace.jsp>
Independent Living Centres Australia Inc 2007, Review of Products, Independent Living Centres Australia Inc, Sydney, viewed 29 March 2010, http://www.ilcaustralia.org/.