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What You Wear May Affect Your Career Climb

More Than 2,700 Employers Surveyed

Thursday, June 19, 2008 – updated: 10:56 am EDT June 19, 2008

Apparently there is truth to the saying "dressed for success," according to new survey by Careerbuilder.com.

The survey found 41 percent of employers believe that people who dress more professionally tend to be promoted more often than others in their organization.

For jobs in the financial industry, where a higher emphasis on professional dress is stressed, 55 percent believed that attire affected promotions. Less than 37 percent of employees in the IT and manufacturing fields believed that what you wear to work affects their career advancement.

"Even though we are seeing a trend of more relaxed dress codes in the office, especially in summer, it doesn’t mean that professionalism should go out the window," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of Human Resources for CareerBuilder.com. "How you dress can play an important role in how others perceive you at work, and dressing professionally can help you project a motivated and dedicated image."

Some companies have started to ban things such as flip flops, mini-skirts and jeans as a way of getting their employees to dress more professionally. More than one-third of employers said they have sent someone home for dressing inappropriately.

The survey of 2,765 employers was conducted from Feb. 11 through March 13.

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