Dress for the job you want: The IT edition

Dear Bob …

You’ve helped me with a few questions before, so I thought I’d run this by you —

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After a restructuring, a manager retired and I was hired in as a regional supervisor — not really taking the manager’s place, but serving as the sole management point of contact.

Most managers wear collared shirts (shirt and tie on occasion), the sales folks at minimum are in shirt and tie. Most employees dress business casual. I’m not manager level, so I’ve been dressing IT-style, namely polos. Should I be donning the full battle gear (suit), something close (shirt and tie), or something else?

– Neither Fish nor Fowl

Dear Other …

It depends on your goals. If you’re looking to retain the trust and affection of your former peers, continue to dress in polos. If, on the other hand, you’re thinking of this as a step on the road to higher positions of influence and authority, take a different tack. That is, identify the three individuals who are in the best position to help you move your career forward and are likely to do so if they decide you’re the right person for the next opportunity. Dress as they dress.

Or if you think doing that would be overkill for your current position, alienating you from people you have to lead (which very well might be the case), then I’d say an open-necked shirt, slacks (not jeans), and sports jacket are a very good general-purpose alternative these days — formal enough that you won’t stick out in a management meeting, informal enough that you won’t have turned into a “suit.”

– Bob

This story, “Dress for the job you want: The IT edition,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Bob Lewis’s Advice Line blog on InfoWorld.com.