There once was a time when men looked good. We dressed well, groomed regularly, and took pride in it. It wasn't so long ago that suits, vests, and fedoras dotted the metropolitan landscape. We styled our hair, shined our shoes, had straight razor shaves, and invested in signature accessories such as watches, belts, cufflinks, and ties. Somewhere along the way though, we went from looking like this:
to looking like this:
Nowadays, we men just do not seem to be taking the time and effort to look our best, and for some reason many of us are proud of it. "Look good without looking like you tried", has become the ideal to which we aspire (i.e. Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp). Many of today's popular haircuts result in a rolled out of bed look. Looking sharp for a night out on the town often consists of jeans, an untucked dress shirt, and a jacket. With such a low standard of excellence, it's no wonder people waltz into work looking like slobs.
So, what does this have to do with software developers? Well, despite the fact that most of us work in a stereotypical, isolated Dilbert/Office Space cubicle, I argue that there is still value in being well -groomed. Although the benefits of looking good may not be quite as obvious as they are for more socially interactive positions (i.e. model or sales), they do, indeed, exist.
Career advancement
I've known developers who could code circles around their colleagues at their respective workplaces but were passed by for promotions time and time again. Why? Because they looked like garbage. And because they looked like garbage,
nobody spoke with them outside of work. And since nobody spoke with them outside of work, they lacked people skills. And since they lacked people skills, they had trouble
interacting with clients.
This terrible chain of cause and effect is something you see a disproportional amount of in our field. The simple fact is this: in order to advance in your career, whatever it may be, you need to add value to your company. True, there is value in being a great developer, but there is more value in being a great developer who can also interact with existing clients and make presentations to potential clients. Now, if all you want in life is to code in the same cubicle until you retire, then I suppose this does not apply to you.
Management
Management is not for everyone, but it is if you are interested in earning more money and advancing your career. Like it or not, management is the next logical step for a software developer. Once you have hit the point of senior software architect or whatever your company labels its highest ranking developer, there is nowhere else to go if all you bring to the table are your mad programming skills (unless you go solo in which case you become management by default). In order to advance, you are going to have to join management. Managers need to be presentable because their main duties revolve around dealing with people. And fair or not, people make assumptions about you based on your appearance. If you can't handle taking care of yourself, what is the logical conclusion a client is going to make about how well you are going to take care of them?
Unless you are Steve Jobs, you are going to have a hard time being a good manager if you look like a slob. Your employer understands this. It does not matter how talented you are; management is more about people skills than technical skills.
Disposition
Looking good gives you confidence. When you feel like a million bucks you tend to stand up straighter, look people in the eyes more frequently, and smile more often. As a result people listen to you more intently, give more weight to your opinions, and are generally easier to work with. Developers tend to have a reputation for being snarky, condescending, and sometimes outright rude when dealing with others. Remember the saying "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"? If nothing else, look good for this reason. You will find that you are much happier at work when people are friendly to you and you to them.
What can I do?
It doesn't take much to look presentable. You don't need to look like Gene Kelly and you don't need to wear Italian suits to the office in order to reap the benefits. A little bit goes a long way. Here's a short list of things you can do to improve your overall appearance.
- Look yourself over in a mirror before you head off to work. There's no excuse for having boogers hanging out of your nose, rheum in your eyes, or a piece of your breakfast stuck in between your teeth. You owe it to yourself to at least do this.
- Shave. If you have facial hair, groom it.
- Shower.
- Get a hair cut. This isn't the 60s and you are not Paul McCartney.
- Style your hair. Buy an actual comb. Buy some product and learn how to use it. Ask your barber if you're confused about what to buy and how to use it.
- Wax your eyebrows. The unibrow is not a style. Never has been, never will be. This procedure costs next to nothing, takes all of 10 minutes of your time, and drastically improves the look of your face. Get over the social stigma associated with doing this. David Beckham did not get his man license revoked by getting his brows done. Neither did every other man who has ever appeared on tv or in films.
- Get a facial. You will be surprised how much better your face looks with all the dirt, residue, and blackheads properly removed. Plus it is a very relaxing process. Schedule your appointment with an attractive aesthetician if you need to justify this cost of time and money to yourself.
- Keep your nails trimmed and clean. No, you don't need to get a manicure/pedicure (although they certainly help), but people notice if your nails are growing out of control or if there's a line of black dirt under them.
- Smell nice but do not overdo it. It is just as bad to reek of deoderant/aftershave/cologne as it is to reek of body odor.
- Update your wardrobe. Get the basics (dress shirts, chinos, dress pants, sports jackets, polos, etc.) in solid colors and don't be afraid to splurge on quality for these items. They don't go out of style and you can wear them anywhere. Mark Twain put it best when he said "clothes make the man". Keep your clothes clean and pressed. Get them tailored if they don't fit well. You don't want to look like you're wearing hand-me-downs from your pop's closet. Match your outfits. If you are incapable of doing so, find someone who is.
- Don't be afraid to buy accessories. Purchase a good looking watch at the very least (e.g. not a Shark and not a calculator watch or a remote control watch). Do not underestimate the importance of a good pair of dress shoes and a nice belt. Learn how to tie a tie and don't be afraid to wear it.
- Eat in moderation and exercise. Sitting at a keyboard 8 hours a day doesn't do much for your physical physique. And if not for appearance's sake, at least for health's sake.
Most important of all, make it look like you at least put a modicum of thought into your appearance. It may feel awkward as it runs counter to everything society tells you men should do, but trust me, Brad Pitt looks great shaggy because he has stylists and wardrobe people who specialize in making him look great shaggy. You don't. You just look shaggy.
Give some of these a shot. You may be surprised to find that you enjoy the results. And although we may never be able to bring back men's fashion, we certainly can find a happy medium between the dressiness of the past and the laid-backness of today. At the very least, the women of the world will be thankful.
Note: This isn't meant to be a man-bashing post and I fully realize the same rant and advice could easily be made for women. But, seeing as how I don't understand women, writing about them seems ill-advised.
Your post is really excellent. but it won’t match our current generation. Now trends are getting changed , i saw one guy T-Shirt inner cloth is on the top.
i asked that guy, hey you wear your t-shirt in wrong way. he laughed at me and said, its fashion.
Thank you for the compliment.
I agree that fashion nowadays is somewhat of a joke; more of a contest on who can dress the most outrageous. Still, the concept of what is acceptable clothing in the workplace has remained relatively stagnant. I would hope that the person you mentioned wouldn’t show up to work like that. But who knows.
Oh, you had me until #7.
Good article. I think looking and behaving well are critical for any developer. We’ve got one of the worst stereotypes attached to our jobs as far as personal hygiene and social skills go.
That said, I’m not sure how comfortable I am with getting a facial…might just stick to washing my face with the normal stuff.
That’s rubbish! I never said that.
Points taken regarding the facial. Obviously some of these items (showering) take precedence over others (facials). You don’t have to check off every item on the list to look presentable.
Regardless, don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it. You may be surprised at how much a difference a facial can make. There’s a reason why they cost so much. If they didn’t provide any value, they wouldn’t be in such high demand. It’s especially impressive when roughly half the population is uncomfortable going in for one.
@Mark Twain’s Ghost
Google search disagrees, but I’ll take your word for it:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/253.html
Ah ok, so that’s why I never get laid.
I’d love to hear why you think men shouldn’t have long hair.
@Derek
I didn’t mean to imply that men shouldn’t have long hair, although I can see how you might infer that from the "This isn’t the 60s" part of the post.
My attempt at humor obviously failed here. I simply meant you should get your hair cut so you don’t have split ends and can keep maintaining your hair style. However long your hair is after the cut is moot.
A very good post. Probably there’s no need for buying an Armani suir, it certanly will bring no harm though, but it’s very important to look tidy.
I would also add that it’s crucial to have good communications skills, I think that good appearance is a part of communication skills.
@Mike Borozdin
I couldn’t agree more. Looking good is only a part of the equation; it does not guarantee success. Being able to communicate effectively and eloquently has become somewhat of a lost art in the age of "txt msgs" and informal e-mails.
Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.
Excellent idea for writing and excellent article. There is a belief that if you are a developer you have to be messy and geeky, which is not true. I agree that many developers just don’t take care about theirself which means there should be more articles like this one.
@ZagNut
I have decided to delete our last two posts since neither were going to be of much use to people reading over this article and were not conducive to a constructive discussion.
I love this article. I know a few people around me who should read this.
Very useful article man….!!!
Nice one. I have to agree the facial suggestion might be a bit over the top, but man it’ll make your skin look nice.. at least for a while… so I’ve heard.
Not to mention all the ladies in the workplace will probably respect you a little more if your somewhat attractive. I’m not saying this is a for sure thing, but I’ve noticed a much bigger difference between looking presentable/un-presentable and meeting/working with women as opposed to looking presentable/un-presentable meeting/working with men.
Well… one thing I’ve noticed over the years as a programmer is that the better you look, the less geek cred you have. Maybe that should change, but for now, I’d put more stock in a sloppy geek rather than a chic fellow in a heartbeat.
Any geek worth his/her salt will manage to make even the smartest of threads look bad… well i somehow do anyway…
I’d add one more – visible tattoos and piercings are career limiting. Yeah, they shouldn’t be, but if you have managers over the age of 35, odds are they’ll assign you a career ceiling based on the hole left in your lobe by your 4 gauge earrings.
I think this is a great article, I’ll admit, that I was against some of the things listed, but I think I may just give them a shot, like he said, "don’t knock ’til you’ve tried it". I’ll share this will my friend who considers "geek" a compliment, and mocks me for actually trying to look nice.
Ok, forget the E-mail I just sent. Now you are my favorite *PERSON* ever after this post.
You speak the truth. I think this all came about because we can be left to our own devices without ever having to speak to a client, or really anyone outside of our development circle. It also helps that management ALLOWS US to wear shorts and a tshirt to work, and although thats great during the summer months, its still totally not the best for business.
Even if it doesn’t help your career, dressing nice carries over into every part of your life. Whether its first impressions or confidence, dressing with clothes that fit and are appropriate will always be a positive addition in your life – no one will ever look down on you in any situation for dressing well.
this is really cool pic mate..Developers dont mind about their look..They just mind about their talent..:)
Developer should carry same weight on their look and their talent. Look for their promotion and talent for their expectation.
"Like it or not, management is the next logical step for a software developer."
Uh, no, it isn’t.
That’s like saying that the next logical step for an artist is being a museum director.
There is nothing wrong with going into management if you feel you would enjoy it in some way, but managers do not code. If they do, they don’t code much. You had better like being in meetings and on conference calls, because that is what you’ll end up doing. Also, you get to stare at a lot of made-up deadlines on GANTT charts.
I’m generalizing here; always a dangerous act. There are exceptions, of course. But the above paragraph describes the lives of most of the software-guy-turned-managers that I’ve known. And a lot of them end up hating it – choose wisely.
If you have to learn personal hygiene tips from a developers blog you are already beyond help, believe me. What the hell are people thinking in kicking this kind of shitpost on a dotnet news aggregation site? Makes a change from the relentless lightspeed posts i suppose.
thought it was a good article. You will bring more value as a presentable developer with decent social skills over the stereotypical developer.
Imagine the looks you’d get if you dressed like the first guy every day. If there’s enough stuff falling from the sky, I’ll come in wearing a _nice_ overcoat and fedora (I do have long hair, and don’t want it to get wet and frizzy). I’ve been known to add the vest and tie for meetings…
Courtesy of the whole “Steampunk” fashion, this stuff is making a comeback.
Hi Kevin
From a lady’s point of view, your article couldn’t be more perfect. Some men really need to wake up.
Women appreciate these things and we don’t see anything wrong in a man getting his brows done or having a facial.
Like you said in the Management bit, “If you can’t handle taking care of yourself, what is the logical conclusion a client is going to make about how well you are going to take care of them?”. The same goes for women. Whether the guy has long hair or not (ok, personally I wouldn’t date a guy with hair longer than mine), he should at least be neat and clean. And the point you made about noticing the black under the nails is SO TRUE. No, even if some women like a “hands-on” man, they don’t want a filthy pig who can’t wash his hands after hes done working.
So anyway, hats off to you. I’m glad a man had the guts to tell other men how they can make themselves better, be it in appearance or people skills, without sounding like Carson from Queer Eye for a Straight Guy. Lots of guys think that if a guy tells them what to wear and how to look good, he must be gay. Those poor guys really need to catch a wake up too!