ERIC Number: EJ851121
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1080-5699
EISSN: N/A
Recent Trends in Business Casual Attire and Their Effects on Student Job Seekers
Kiddie, Thomas
Business Communication Quarterly, v72 n3 p350-354 2009
When the author introduces the unit on job hunting in his business communication course, he begins by relating his experiences searching for his first "real" job. He points out that the deciding factor for him in accepting a position at Bell Labs, instead of IBM, was Bell Lab's casual dress code. When he decided to retire from the former Bell system and return to academia, most businesses were still casual at least one day a week. So when he and his class studied the unit on job hunting, he told his students that researching dress codes was not necessary anymore since just about all companies have embraced business casual. While doing some reading for a new semester, however, he became aware of the trend back to business formal. The author believes now that teaching students about trends in business attire is essential as well as teaching them how to determine if a company they are considering for employment matches their preferences for business attire. Given the current mix of policies that companies have adopted for business attire, job seekers who have strong preferences should research a prospective employer's corporate culture. This article presents suggestions that the author uses in his business communication course to discover how companies communicate their corporate culture.
Descriptors: Job Applicants, Business Communication, Organizational Culture, Dress Codes, Sociocultural Patterns, Clothing, Standards, Adjustment (to Environment)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A