Work Appropriate for Who? Featuring Dana, the Nonprofit Worker

After my post yesterday, I figured it was important to practice what I preach, so I’m kicking off my new series “Work Appropriate for Who” and allowing you to see how I’m developing my own professional style.

Dana

25

Development Associate

Nonprofit Foundation

I conduct and manage the fundraising activities for a nonprofit organization. This includes prospect research, grant writing, and assisting with events planning.

Business Casual during the week and Casual Fridays.

My organization is much more casual that I expected. While I tend to try to avoid blue jeans (unless it’s Friday), my outfit generally consists of a skirt and top or a dress and a sweater. I use to wear heels on a daily basis, but as I’ve worked here longer, I wear flats more often. Additionally, since I’m in the arts, I’ve have generally been able to dress more creatively and have fun with what I wear to work. 

Loft and J.Crew Factory are my go to’s! Nine West has been really great for shoes in my experience.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I look at the women who I admire both professionally and style-wise in my office. I take my cues on dressing from them. I also am a BIG fan of pinterest and fashion blogs and I constantly look for inspiration from the outfits I see on there. There are a lot of very stylish women at my current organization, so I take a lot of inspiration from them.

Unless I have a meeting with someone outside of the organization, I would generally suggest not wearing a blazer in my office.

I have two. The first was from a teacher who told us that no matter what, always wear a suit to an interview. I take this to heart and no matter what organization I’m interviewing with, I always wear a suit. To further emphasize this, I wore a suit to every interview I mentioned above. As I’ve moved along, I have made slight modifications where I may wear a very nice conservative dress with a blazer, but that blazer is always there.

Second, one of my supervisors once told me, “Don’t wear flip flops to The White House.” She meant it literally, since I was going on a White House tour that day, but I think this advice can be taken to dressing for work: Understand the organization you’re visiting (or work for) and what is appropriate for that job. Also, you never know who you might end up seeing (like the President!), so make sure you look good!

Dress up and dress more conservatively for your first few weeks of work and really take in how others around you are dressing.

Check back on Tuesdays to see who I interview next!