Dress For the Job You Want Next

Not the job you have now.

Repeatedly throughout the time that I’ve known him, my step-dad has thrown out the statement: “Dress for the job you want next, not the job you have now.”

I’m a student blogger. Most of the time, this job consists of sitting in my PJ’s on a Sunday night and drafting a post about my past week. Rarely do I make an appearance in the actual Admissions Office, besides when we have meetings. It’s a really fun, creative job, but it’s not exactly the kind that gets you out of the dorm.

I also work in an office on campus. This gets me out, but just far enough (from Phelps Hall to the DeWitt Student Center) for me to be shut back in again. I sit at a cubicle in an office with no windows, scanning alumni files to a database for ten hours a week.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities that I have to work on campus, but they aren’t professional jobs. I’m lucky enough to know what I want to do after I graduate – teach.

Lately I’ve found myself jumping into the teacher mindset. It started out with noticing my placement teacher’s clothes – they were comfortable, cute, and classy (I dub these the three C’s of teacher-dressing). This led to remembering what my step-dad had said before – “Dress for the job you want next.”

I started a Pinterest board titled ‘Teacher Outfits’, and from then on, it’s been history. Sure, I’ve had my off days where all I want to where is a comfy sweatshirt and leggings, but I’m pretty sure teachers wear that when they’re home alone at night snuggled into the couch watching HGTV or The Bachelor.

It doesn’t sound like much. All I did was change the way I dressed, but my entire mindset and the way I act began to change as well. Suddenly, everything is in the perspective of my being a future-teacher. I ask myself what I can do now that will further my career later, what I would do in certain situations, how I should treat people, etc. It affects the way I read books, the way I hold myself in public and when with friends, and the way I feel.

I’m not saying that dressing well is the key to success. I’m just saying that if something’s on your mind, you’re going to act like it is. I’m constantly thinking, “I’m going to be a teacher,” and that changes my entire week, not only in the outfits I wear but in everything else mentioned above.

In short, I needed another outlet to express how excited I am to teach some day. I also wanted to share my step-dad’s words of wisdom and how they’ve rubbed off on me the past few weeks.

“Dress well, test well,” is another mantra that I’ve heard, so basically you should probably just try to look nice.

Thanks for reading,

Brooke.

If you have any questions for me you can contact me at brookelyn.wharton@hope.edu, through Facebook, or my Twitter @hopebrooke18! I’d love to answer them!