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Dear J.T. & Dale: I’m new to my company. It’s a very (I mean VERY) casual work environment. There is no dress code – or so I was told. The other day I wore a jean skirt with a large blouse. I thought I looked hip and relaxed. The next day, the HR person came to me and said: “Please don’t wear a skirt like that again. It crossed the line.” I said “OK,” but in my head I thought, “What line?!” I’ve seen people come into this office with jeans so full of holes you could tell what color underwear they were wearing. I’m considered to be pretty cute and have nice legs. So, all I can think of is that I’m being discriminated against for my beauty. Advice? – Melissa

DALE: All over the country, HR professionals are longing for the first cold snap of the year, eager to see everyone back in baggy corduroy trousers and bulky knit sweaters, thereby minimizing the time devoted to the job of playing fashion police.

J.T.: I’m sure that’s true. Meanwhile, because your company has no written dress code, they can create it as they go – however, that said, they then must enforce it for everyone. As for proving discrimination, you’d have to be able to validate that some other female wore the exact same skirt and wasn’t told not to wear it again.

DALE: I hope Melissa wasn’t concerned about discrimination in the legal sense, but more in the social sense, trying to figure out how to know what will and won’t be acceptable. Attractiveness may play a role. It isn’t just beauty that’s in the eye of the beholder, but provocativeness. Some co-workers may have found you so appealing that it distracted them from their work, while others may have been jealous of the distraction you caused. On the other side, I can see where unattractive people might have more leeway. We’ve all seen people, both men and women, wearing something that reveals flesh nobody wants to see, and you literally can’t look, thus creating an invisibility cloak. So, yes, a homely employee could get away with something you could not.

J.T.: Just remember that being cursed with beauty has more positives than negatives. Let go of any feelings of being discriminated against, and choose conservative attire till you have a better sense of how the unwritten dress code functions.

Dear J.T. & Dale: Twelve years ago, I moved from theater management to higher-education management, with a specialty in international programming development. That move was incredibly lucrative. Then I left my job, moved to be near family and now appear to have been exiled from the profession I found mid-career. My BA in writing and MFA in theater are almost obstacles; many employers list as “minimum qualifications” master’s degrees that did not exist even 12 years ago. Schools will not even consider me for a position because I lack a BA or MA in international education or a related field. Experience is set aside, and a newly graduated 25-year-old is the successful candidate. How do I compete? – Vic

J.T.: It’s important to understand that qualifications are put in place as a way to screen out candidates. The only way around those requirements is to network into the schools where you want to work. You’ll need to establish credibility with faculty and peers as a way for them to vouch that you have the experience that trumps the educational requirement.

DALE: However, I would help those colleagues see you as qualified by updating the language you use to describe your education and experience. You didn’t really get a BA in writing, did you? You got a BA degree, and you took courses that overlap with what they are now calling “communications.” So point out that you have a BA “with a focus on communications.” Don’t misrepresent your credentials; re-present them so as to prevent the reader from missing the true qualifications. Doing so, you help the person looking at your resume to count you in, not out.

-Workplace consultant and career coach J.T. O’Donnell has coached, trained and mentored employees and managers on a wide variety of career-related subjects since 1994. Her book, “CAREEREALISM: The Smart Approach to A Satisfying Career” is available at JTODonnell.com.
Management guru Dale Dauten has written six books and is an authority on innovation in the workplace. His latest book, “Great Employees Only: How Gifted Bossess Hire & Dehire Their Way to Success” is available at Dauten.com.
漏2012 King Features Syndicate