Looks Don't Land the Job: Why We Need to Hire for Potential

Before we got here, mankind was living peacefully in the Garden but then my gender decided to go and eat an apple. If that apple had not been eaten , we wouldn’t be here discussing this in the first place.

Clothing has become an essential part of our lives as humans. Aside mad people, you don’t see people walking around naked. For most of us, we take our mode of dressing very seriously and for others, it’s the other way round.

As they say, there’s a time for everything but also, there’s a clothing for every occasion. Have you ever seen someone wearing a bikini to the bank? Obviously not. Everyone has their way of dressing based on so many factors and I respect that.

When we talk about dressing in the work setting, I think it depends on the kind of work. As we all know, people who work in the bank are required to dress officially due to the nature of their work. But then, I believe that physical appearance at some work places is not really necessary.

There’s this colleague of mine at work who loves wearing jeans and sneakers. That’s her way of dressing and that’s what she feels comfortable in. One of our bosses noticed and started questioning her. He even stared calling her school girl. So, she had to start dressing in an official way just to avoid him talking.

As they say, first impressions matter. But then I feel we Africans have a mentality that anyone with a job is supposed to dress officially everyday which I don’t agree with. There’s this NGO I know of, anytime you go in there, the workers there dress how they want to but in a decent way. It’s a free place to wear what ever you want. They’re not limited to suit and tie.

Take a look at Elon Musk and those rich people all over the word. You don’t see them dressed in suit all the time even with the amount of money they have. For the whites, I feel it’s a normal thing for them to dress casually but for we block people it’s a whole new story.

I was asking my work mates about their take on this issue and one of them said that in Ghana, if you go for an interview dressed casually you have automatically lost the job and that’s true. In Ghana, most people judge others by their mode of dressing . Anyone who is seen wearing short and revealing clothes is termed to be a slay queen, and anyone who’s seen dressed fully covered is an ‘osofo maame’ (pastors wife).

During an interview, I think employers should look beyond physical appearance. The person doesn’t need to dress like they’re going for their own wedding. If they are dressed decently then that’s okay. We need to look beyond the appearance sometimes and focus on what they have to offer. Sometimes we loose good people because we judge them by their dressing.

I don’t mean to mention names but some guys have terrible way of dressing. How can you wear red, blue and green at the same time. The worst part is they’re funny looking slippers. Back in the university, the ladies used to always fight with some of the guys cos they would wear bathroom slippers with soap all over it to class.

If I had the power to change things, I’d obviously make a rule that everyone should dress how ever they want but it should be decent. No one wants indecent dressing at their workplace because your employees represent you. But you as the employer should also go easy on your employees when it comes to their dressing. Physical appearance is important but skills is more important if you ask me.

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all images belong to me.

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