Dress like you mean it!!!
- Sara Garcia
- Feb 15, 2018
- 3 min read
One of the first panels of the day was about looking professional while on a job. The panel hosted by Jessica Vick, Full Sail faculty member, had Michael LaPlante as a guest.
Michael LaPlante is a senior web engineer who has worked with companies such as Google, Facebook and Apple. He is currently working in his own design and web development company by the name of LePlante Web Development.
LaPlante talked about his career, experience and had some advice on maintaining one’s appearance in professional environment. He shared some tips and tricks about dressing for the job you want, or the important meeting you have been planning for or the presentation upon which your project depends.
During the 45 minutes session, Jessica stayed straight to the point; she asked, “what does dressing for success look like in different companies? Michael explained that the companies he has worked for did not demand their employees to use a suit or to dress formal everyday, however, having certain pieces of clothing in your wardrobe is important because there is always an occasion when you will have to look sharp.
To dive deeper into Michael’s experience and get to know him better, Jessica asked him if his attire had ever helped him in his career. LaPlante explained that your clothes are not what determines whether you succeed or not, but your appearance definitely is a big help when you are presenting to someone and also makes or breaks your impression. Michael also added that when presenting to investors in older demographic, it is important to dress accordingly to the occasion. It is not necessary to use a tie but using a jacket and maybe tailored pants is a good option.
"Michael LaPlante also shared some of his tricks to facilitate the process of dressing according to the job you want."
The first tip that he gave was to choose two or three colors that can be easy to combine, he suggested black, white and beige. He also had some advice for budget clothings, especially useful for students; he advised that Goodwill or the Salvation Army could be a good place to find clothes without blowing a hole in the pockets, he said that he always found good deals when he was a student.
Michael advised the audience to use their day-to-day style and try to match it with your personality; “dressing up is not about changing your style”, he said and added, “you need to feel comfortable and represent your personality. For example, if you are a colorful person then you could use pop of colors or a colorful piece so that your clothes show your personality.”
The session ended with two questions, one from a student in the audience and one from the online audience. A student asked “Do you think we need to dress formal in the music industry?” to which Michael explained that dressing for the job you want does not mean that you have to wear a suit everyday, but choosing an outfit that looks nice and clean is enough to give a good impression. The other student asked, “What do you think of different hair colors and tattoos?”
Michael said that in this industry there are no restrictions with that, but that we should know how to present ourselves in an appropriate way and we should have a clear idea on how we want people to look at us.
Overall the session had a nice flow and the audience was engaged, despite it being an early morning session. The students left the panel with a better idea on how to work on their appearance to set a great first impression.
Tags: Hof9, panel, session, dress, attire, professional, impress, dress to impress
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