Our Top 10 Work Fashion Tips

Madison Recruitment

5 Sep

3 mins read

Job Seeker life tips Tips & Advice trends work fashion

We asked our lovely Facebook fans to share with us their top work fashion tips. They’ve given us some fantastic advice that we’ve started using ourselves and we’d love to share it with you so you can be dressed to impress!

1. Start with the basics

Get good basics! It’s easy to dress up a good solid base. A great place to start is the 3 things every girl should have in their wardrobe: Blazer, White Button-down Shirt and Pencil Skirt. You can wear them with other garments and even play with colours. Singlets and Pants are also great and can be easily dressed up or down with accessories.

Submitted by Stephanie

2. Avoid buying ‘work’ and ‘casual’ outfits

Buy things you can dress up for work, and down for the weekend. It’ll save you from having two separate wardrobes. As long as you are purchasing quality items you’ll be able to accessorise to suit your mood and style.

Submitted by Malia

3. Make use of that Little Black Dress

Always have a LBD that you can pair with any blazer or cardigan or shoes! Spice it up with a little bit of colour from the current season (ie// oranges in Autumn & Pales greens & pinks in Spring)

Submitted by Ally

4. Simple = elegant

Simple outfits are the most elegant. Sass up your basic black & other neutrals with a lovely top or colorful scarf. Focus on one bold statement piece & you could pretty much wear the same neutral uniform a few times a week & nobody would notice!

Submitted by Ronita & Amery

5. Create your own uniform using color

Pick one colour for each day of the week and shop accordingly, it makes choosing an outfit everyday a lot easier. My colours are:

Blue: Monday
Purple: Tuesday
Red: Wednesday
Orange: Thursday
Black: Friday

Submitted by Tabitha

6. Patterns are your friend

Always have black/white/striped or polka dot items in your wardrobe. It’s very easy to mix and match these items with colour or even your basics. For example: a black and white striped top looks awesome with a bright colour skirt.

Submitted by Khushboo

7. Be yourself

I think professionalism is key but I always like to add a bit of an edge to my outfit to show my individuality and personality. A statement piece can take your outfit from boring to fabulous in one hot minute.

Submitted by Samantha

8. Stay warm, or cool

In winter, wearing a thermal can be a great way to keep warm without the heaviness of a coat or jacket. In summer, ensure you are choosing lightweight fabrics and blazers so you aren’t left overheating in the sun!

Submitted by Haylee

9. Don’t forget about the shoes!

I always make sure I have a pair of dark purple shoes to light up my wardrobe! They make your outfit pop, you stand out and they go with every colour, black, navy, grey! All your basics are turned into works of genius!

Submitted by Charlene

10. Dress to impress

Always remember: You would rather be overdressed than under-dressed

Submitted by Kelly

Madison Recruitment

Could it be time for a change?

Looking for a permanent role, or thinking about temping or contract work?

Improve your CV and increase your chances

Sarah Tasker

21 Jul

3 mins read

Job Seeker candidates cv resources tips Tips & Advice

As a Senior Consultant at Madison recruitment, I see a lot of CV’s in a number of different formats. It seems that everyone is giving out different advice on the best way to format a CV. At Madison we have a specific template that we use when sending your information to clients and it has proven successful over and over again. Below are some tried and tested tips on CV writing, which I’ve acquired over my 15 years of experience as a recruiter.

Purpose

Before you can even begin to put together a good CV you need to understand its purpose.

A CV is a snapshot of your career history
It is used to evaluate your suitability for a specific role that you have applied for
A manager or recruiter will be comparing CV’s and will select those that most closely demonstrate the candidate’s ability to effectively perform the task required

Structure

With the purpose in mind, your CV should be structured in a way that is logical to the reader, and specifically highlights the evidence that demonstrates your ability to do the task.

You can use the SMART principles for this.

Specific: What did you actually physically do specifically, how did you manage/coordinate/lead?
Measurable: If you had KPI’s, what where they; what volume did you work with? Processing 10 invoices per day is not the same as processing 150 invoices per day.
Achievements: what did you accomplish in your role? What was your proudest moment in that role?
Reasonable: Assume the person reading your CV has no idea what your job is.
Timely: The most recent and relevant experience should be at the top and should be specifically tailored to reflect the skills required for the particular role that you are applying to. An easy way to do this is to use the advert/job description as a basis for the skills you want to highlight first under each job. If you have roles that are not relevant to the job you are applying for (you are a lawyer but worked in a cafe through Uni), then do not put down any tasks as they are irrelevant.

Bullet Points

I have heard conflicting advice on bullet points, but I can tell you, when you have 100 CV’s to screen and you have to scan over a story style CV, there is a good chance that even the best recruiters will miss important information about your experience. Bullet points control the eye of the reader and ensure that they are reading the most important information first. This will increase your chances of being selected for the next stage of the process.

E.g: Bullet points

Control the eye of the reader
Highlight the most important information first
Increase your chances of being selected

If you think your resume needs some work, and would like to see an example of our Madison Template, please feel free to contact me– sarah.tasker@madison.co.nz

Sarah Tasker

Manager - Business Support Auckland

A bit about me I joined the Madison family in September 2013, after working in healthcare recruitment for 13 years. I specialise in Administration, Reception, Sales & Marketing, Finance and Executive roles. I…

More about Sarah

Could it be time for a change?

Looking for a permanent role, or thinking about temping or contract work?