Tattoos are becoming more popular as individualistic self-expression. On Cake Boss, one of the bakers decided to tattoo his wife’s face on his arm as a token of his love. This was not a problem for him since he always wears a long sleeve garment. Also, in his industry tattoos are accepted. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Walt Disney has a very conservative dress code and culture. In fact, they just allowed their greeters to sport a tattoo as long as it doesn’t show while they are working. So culture does make a difference.

In general, you want to avoid tattoos that are revealed in a professional setting. If you decide to have a tattoo that you want to world to see in your free time, be sure you have comfortable clothing that will cover it up at work. Stay away from tattoos on your neck and fingers.

In the past 10 years, we have experienced Friday casual and business casual days. However, a more formal business casual has been seen in the US in the last year. Now we appear to be morphing into a relaxed professional image.

This look requires a jacket type blazer or collared shirt for women. Men wear either a jacket with shirt or shirt and tie. The fashion industry has also been listening by providing more professional garments made with softer materials and a more relaxed fit. Remember a true professional looks and feels comfortable with their clothing choices.

Note: Avoid wearing these top five business casual disasters at work:

1. Clog mules – wooden shoes without backs
2. Low hung pants for both women and men
3. Palm trees on shirts for men
4. Multi earrings (3 or more)on both ears 
5. Leggings for women with a short top

If these items are in your closet, save them for the weekend only.

Eyebrows are critical because they shape your eyes and in most cases frame your facial expression. Two sets of interesting eye brows belong to Michele Obama and Mitt Romney. Often, Michele’s seem very sculptured. Mitt’s are so close to his eyes, it makes it difficult to read his eyes.

Clients often ask questions about their brows. Here are a few tips on how you can work with them to further enhance your eyes.

For women only:

Shape

The eyebrow color should enhance the skin tone and either match or complement the hair color. For example, blondes often use a taupe or light brown coloring.

Looking natural

Use a pencil to define the eye brow. Then touch it up with a brow brush.

Keeping the shape

It is important to have brows tweezed to keep their shape. It is better to under rather than over tweeze. My preference is hand tweezing versus waxing.

For men only:

The biggest challenge for men with dark eyebrows are in two areas: over growth between the eyes and/or the hair being so thick it partially obstructs eye movement. Tweezing in both areas will shape the eyes.

In some cases, folks like their eyebrows to be very distinctive because it helps define their unique brand. My thought is that if it shows as a positive feature, then it’s ok.

It’s important because your eyebrows send a message even before you speak.

According to a recent piece in the Chicago Tribune the most over used resume buzzwords are: creative, organizational, effective, extensive experience, track record, motivated, innovative, problem-solving, communication skills and dynamic. One of my favorite cliches that didn’t make the list is team-player.

Having written and read hundreds of resumes, I would agree with this assessment. Try and minimize these words on your resume. Especially:

Motivated (everyone is motivated otherwise they wouldn’t be applying for jobs)
Problem-solving (all work involves solutions to issues)
Communications skills (everything we do is related to communication skills)

You might want to use them if they are part of the job description. For example, if the job description reads, “Innovative Sales Manager needed for the Southwest Region,” you can describe yourself that way. 

The key to a writing a good resume is to use examples that show the meaning of those clichés by citing real experiences (like these examples from real resumes):

Secured financing for $1.4 million facility using comprehensive forecasting models; assisted in VEDA and SBA approval process. (innovation and problem solving skills)

Directed the technical application integration project using 6 Sigma methodologies which reduced transit times for China, US and Singapore from 36 to 21 days, saving $100K. (organizational, communication and dynamic)

Plus, these lines show what hiring managers really want to see- specific accomplishments.

Contact No Cliche Copy (www.noclichecopy.com) for a reasonably priced pro resume and cover letter.

Steve Wyrostek
Owner- No Cliche Copy