I recently played golf with a VP of a large company in town. He was lamenting that he knows his IT staff is technically proficient and does there job very well, but, the other executives in the company have a poor view of IT. They think they are a dime a dozen. That the pay is too high. (The top developer is at 60k and the top Net Admin is at 50k, not that high in my book) As you can imagine his turnover is high and his productivity is down. Once they get a really good Net Admin he goes somewhere else for more money and they loose valuable time and money getting someone else. He was wanting to find a way to show the other execs that the IT staff is special and should have more consideration than the “normal” employee. The IT staff has the “keys to the kingdom” as we have all heard. They usually have access to anything they want on the network. You trust them so why do you treat them like a check out counter person? It is not that they think that they cannot do there job, they dont know what there job is really. It is just the perception they have of them when they see them. Being the top notch consultant I am I switched from tech mode to therapist. (a cool trick you need to learn, helps with the wife too!) I asked him, If your IT guys wore white shirts and ties for a month would the perception of them change. If the Net Admin looked better than the HR director in dress and personal hygiene would that make a difference. He thought for a moment and said “I think that would be worth 30 grand a year, wouldn’t it”…… “yes it would” I said knowingly
The time of the old sweat wearing, sandals with no socks IT guy is about over. I am sure it is live and well in some environments but I talk to enough people who spend the money and they associate that with.. they are a dime a dozen mentality. IT guy, Fast Food guy, they dress the same.. let’s pay them the same.
Here are my thoughts on that. Dress one better than the client/dress code. If they are wearing casual, you were the Dockers and Polo. If they are wearing shirts and ties, then you get the French cut shirts and use cuff links with a tie pin. Always look professional and clean. It helps out so much you could not imagine. It will get you the edge every time. I am not saying to go spend all your money on a new ward robe. Just learn to use an Iron, it is not that hard, really. You would look better in pressed sweats than wrinkly ones. And you will feel better to.