First impressions matter. How you look and carry yourself can automatically give off a picture of how you’ll be as an employee. Appearing professional and reliable is the ultimate goal, but how exactly do you get there?
Professionalism in the workplace comes in many shapes and sizes. Most people think it’s all about your attire, but you can also leave a great impression with your attitude and energy. If you want to appear professional and reliable at work, you may want to think about changing up some of your habits. A business casual wardrobe is step one. Feeling confident, making genuine connections, staying organized and punctual, and showcasing integrity are also critical to proving that you’re reliable and capable of doing any job put in front of you. If your work matters to you, you should take it seriously. Prove that you’re an asset to any team by always showing up with a great attitude and a professional appearance. Here are just a few tips to guarantee you will make a great and lasting first impression in any room you walk into.
Dress to impress.
While your wardrobe isn’t everything, it definitely is still important. How you dress for work instantly tells people how much you care and how invested you are in certain projects. Take pride in your appearance and the work you’re doing. Don’t show up in sweats, wrinkled dress shirts, ill-fitting suits, or mismatched outfits. Take time to plan your office wardrobe and find pieces that fit your energy and attitude.
As you’re shopping for your work accessories and attire, follow the trends without getting too eccentric. Find basic pieces like a great pair of skinny jeans, ankle length pants, professional skirts, a blazer with a great inseam, and other jackets that fit your workplace dress code. Great promotions will help you build a wardrobe that is professional, well-fitted, crisp, and clean. Find clothes that make you look and feel confident, so you can enter any room with style and positive energy.
Do your research.
It’s one thing to appear professional, but once you open your mouth, can you back it up? If you truly want to excel in your profession and be a reliable employee, you need to know what you’re talking about and be an expert in your field. Dedicate yourself to your studies and research the issues at hand or projects you’re involved in. Your interests and expertise don’t have to stay in one area either. You can be a renowned lawyer and mineral enthusiast like Howard Fensterman, who can consult on both subjects. Investigate the things that interest you. You never know when they could come up in a professional setting. Always coming forward with relevant, helpful information will help you stand out as a reliable member of any team.
Keep up with your grooming.
Nothing ruins a great power suit or fabulous outfits like an unkempt haircut or scraggly beard. Keeping up with your general hygiene and grooming shows that you mean business and care about the details of your own appearance. This requires simple steps from you to guarantee you’re always looking your best beyond just your wardrobe.
A big area of your personal grooming is your oral health and having clean, natural teeth. Your smile is your money-maker, so if you have experienced tooth loss, issues with your gum tissue, or problems with your lower jaw, it may be a good idea to seek a treatment plan or dental implants. A form of dental implants can help improve your smile and look just like natural teeth. Having a replacement tooth will increase your professionalism at work. Don’t let a personal defect hold you back from success. Instead, invest in your oral health with a dentist who excels at dental implants and can keep you feeling confident at work and beyond.
Focus on good posture.
How you carry yourself impacts how people see you. If you’re constantly hunching your shoulders and looking to the floor, your coworkers and clients may not take you as seriously. Focus on maintaining good posture. If you ask for attention and respect with the way you carry yourself, you are more likely to get it.
Always stay punctual.
Always running late is a big indicator that you may not be a reliable employee, so stay punctual at all costs. Remember the old saying that to be early is to be on time and to be on time is to be late. Punctuality shows that you are professional and eager to get started with your work. Your coworkers and boss can rely on you to show up when they need you, so they’ll start relying on you more and more.
Be organized and precise.
In addition to punctuality, you can show off your professionalism by always staying organized and precise. If someone walked into a meeting with notes all over the place while ruffling through everything to find answers to simple questions, you may not think that person is the most trustworthy with your personal information. But if someone has organized spreadsheets, color-coded notes, and easy to follow presentations, that is an employee who takes pride in their work. The more organized and precise you can be, the more your boss will start to trust you and give you more responsibility.
Hold yourself accountable.
Sometimes the most professional thing isn’t always the easiest. In the event that something goes awry or a slip-up was made, own up to your mistakes. Throwing blame on others or avoiding responsibility looks childish and won’t bode well for your future with the company or your coworkers. Hold yourself accountable to do the best work you can do and own up to mistakes when they happen. This will make you appear more professional and show your team that you can be trusted to always make the right choice.
Stay positive and respectful.
You’ve been in the office before when everyone is gossiping about another employee or complaining about the workload. It’s a bad look, isn’t it? Maintaining a positive attitude while respecting your team shows that you are above the petty gossip and dedicated to your department. Complaining, avoiding work, and talking about others are unprofessional and childish things to do. Stay above those temptations to prove that you are professional, reliable, and trustworthy.
Invest in your conversations.
Sometimes the most professional thing you can do is truly be interested in other people. When your boss is speaking to you, engage with the conversation. Putting in the simple effort to make direct eye contact and showcase active listening body language will make your team excited to speak with you and confident that you’re actually hearing what they’re saying. Ask questions to better understand them or the problem at hand. By showing people you truly care, they will trust you and respect you more.
Take feedback well.
Work doesn’t always go exactly the way you want, and sometimes, you may get constructive criticism or negative feedback. How you take those comments says a lot about your character. When you can respect your boss, take negative feedback with grace, and work to improve, that shows you can adjust in a professional manner and help the company continue to grow.
