It’s a topic that’s getting media coverage this week after it revealed that big companies are investing in style consultants to ensure staff aren’t wearing polyester, floral prints and flowers in their hair.
From the piece in the Herald:
No lip gloss, dangly earrings or opaque stockings.
These are just some of the dress requirements Sydney’s young women professionals are being asked to adhere to by their prestigious companies, worried about the poor presentation of Generation Y employees and the impact on client relationships.
I agree wholeheartedly that there are some people who just don’t understand what’s appropriate to wear at work. But sometimes managers need to get with the times, too.
I once had a job where I was told I could only wear skirts to work. Pants were deemed unladylike and banned from the corporate dress code. You’d think this happened back in the 50s, but this happened in the late 90s. What a joke!
Cheryl from the brilliant web site Business Chic has also weighed in on the topic, confessing a fashion sin in her early days in the workforce:
I’d commited the major sartorial faux-pas of not wearing pantyhose with my skirt suit
Oh the horror!
Personally, I think no pantyhose is okay. So are opaque tights and dangly earrings. Showing off your personality at work through your wardrobe is a-okay in my books!
There are a whole bunch of things that I think are SO NOT okay to wear in the workplace… here are my top 5:
Denim
Low cut tops
Exposed bra straps
Mini skirts
Leggings as pants
What do you think should be banned from being worn at work? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
May is Biggest Morning Tea month for the Cancer Council and it’s not too late to get involved.
Why don’t you host a morning tea at work? You could ask people to bring in something sweet to share for morning tea (perfect for a Friday, am I right?) and even wear something yellow for some laughs.
If you can’t host a morning tea, you can always join the virtual morning tea and go into the draw to win kitchen-themed prizes.
It’s not hard to join in. So many of us have lost someone special to cancer – myself included – and it’s nice to give to a charity that does so much for cancer patients and their families.
Asking me if I’d like to review a labelling machine is like asking me if I’d like to eat a cupcake. When Brother asked me to try out the QL-700 label printer, I couldn’t reply quick enough: YES PLEASE!
Brother QL-700 label printer www.brother.com.au $149.00 RRP
Available from Officeworks (at RRP), check ShopBot if you’re looking to save some $.
The QL-700 is the newest cab off the rank for Brother’s printer range; this model is more suited to professional or home office use. It boasts a print speed of 93 labels per minute and interchangeable label rolls so you can produce different labels depending on your need.
I received address labels and continuous labels to test (and boy, did I test them!). I’ve used the printer daily for a couple of months and have really worked the printer to see how it copes in a real office environment.
Setting it up
Setting up the printer is pretty simple; I never referred to the instruction manual and had it up and running within a few minutes. It sits nicely next to my computer and doesn’t have a huge footprint, so it’s not taking up a bunch of space on the desk. You can use the printer using the software stored on the printer’s internal memory. Love it! So many corporate offices these days have locked down computers on so-called “standard operating environments” and no one like to call the helpdesk to get programs installed. This version of the software is pretty basic though and takes a while to print labels; installing the full featured software and drivers provided on the disc gives you the optimal labelling experience including borders, clipart and super dooper quick printing.
In action
Using the P-touch Editor is easy as pie, too. There are plenty of customisation options when designing labels and you can integrate it with Microsoft Office to streamline your labelling process. Hello, efficiency!
Print quality is about what you’d expect for a desktop black and white printer. Some of the smaller font sizes tend to get pixellated, but they’re still readable. I printed a full colour version of the Smarter Admins logo and it did a decent job of converting it into black and white, including gradients and shadows.
Here’s a sample of text at different font sizes.
Here’s a little video I made showing the printer in action:
The verdict
Having a printer like this hooked up to your computer is a great investment in your productivity. I really liked using the Brother QL-700 and I reckon it’s worth shelling out $150 to get one.
This post was made possible by Product Talk by Nuffnang. I haven’t been paid for this piece; I’ve received the product in return for my opinion.
It’s not very often that I openly admit to blogging fresh after a shower, but this time I am. I’ve washed my hair with the purpose of trying out the new Dove Nutri Oil Serum and sharing my initial thoughts with you.
Moroccan Oil has been the “it” hair product recently and by all accounts, worked wonders on all types of hair. The only set back for many (myself included) was the price (~$50 for 100ml). Dove has recently stepped into the market with a cheaper alternative at ~$10 for 40ml. Rather than Moroccan oils, Dove’s Nutri Oil Serum is a blend of almond and coconut oils aimed at taming your frizz and leaving your hair all shiny and beautiful.
Last week I received several bottles of the serum and promptly distributed them to excited friends and kept a bottle for myself.
I have found so far that the serum is pretty good. It is noticeably light when applied to my hair (I used two squirts on my shoulder-length cut) and didn’t weigh down my hair like I was expecting. I applied the serum to my towel-dried hair about half an hour ago and I’m finding that my hair is naturally drying with less kinks than usual, but is still flicking in the way my hairdresser cut my layers.
My hair is quite frizzy on top (thanks to years of GHD use) and I can’t say for sure if the serum actually reduced this when I first used it a couple of days ago. It hasn’t been implied by Dove’s adverts, but perhaps giving the serum a few more goes will improve the results.
The two times that I have applied this to clean hair, it was still wet from the shower; I’ve read on another web site that it’s also effective on freshly dried or styled hair; something I’ll try on my next hair washing day.
Having less than a week to become acquainted so far, I’ve liked the Dove’s Nutri Oil Serum enough to keep this on my dresser and will be keen to see the longer-term effects of using this on my hair.
Are you a Moroccan oil fan?
This post was made possible by Product Talk by Nuffnang. I haven’t been paid for this piece; I’ve received the product in return for my opinion.
Did you get the email from Kikki-K this week? I love getting info about their new product ranges and imagining that I can afford to buy (at least) one of everything.
We all know that Kikki-K is a higher-end stationer and fabulous for a bit of a splurge.
This week’s email announced the new Stokholm range. And it’s pretty and earthy – perfect for winter.
But it’s pricier than usual. As in, $40 for a keychain.
Stokholm is a range of leathergoods though, so the price makes sense.
Why not sign up to the Kikki-K newsletter – it’s so nice to get some pretty stationery pics delivered to your inbox.
Today I’d like to share with you something that’s been written by a fellow blogger. Her name is Sooz and she’s given me permission to duplicate this post about the Office Nutbag. I’m sure we’ve all experienced someone like this at work and would have lots of stories to share about the antics these people get up to.
Read on and maybe you’ll identify with what’s written. Thanks for allowing me to share this with Smarter Admins readers, Sooz!
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You know who…
they are. Every office has one. The office nutbag. Sometimes they pack a double whammy…crazy and bitchy!
Ours is a…
real piece of work. She only managed to land her current position because she’s a friend of the boss. ”I already knew I had this job ages before I got it.” I hear her say, loud enough for the entire floor to hear. Our OfficeNB is uncouth, unladylike, has no tact, lets her flesh hang out all over the place, is negative about everything and everyone and loves to backstab everyone the first chance she gets. And I mean everyone - even the boss who gave her the job even though she was the least qualified out of all the candidates. One of her proudest moments was when she somehow worked the acronym FML into a manager’s meeting and proceeded to explain it to those who didn’t know what it meant.
Our OfficeNB isn’t…
in my immediate team, and because I really don’t gel with her, I rarely talk to her unless its work related. My lack of fawning all over her has obviously caused her some distress because she has taken to telling my two closest workmates that she hates me because of a, b and c. [The reasons aren't important and quite petty]. Interestingly though, she told the 2 girls 2 different a, b and c’s about why she ‘hates’ me. I laughed. I couldn’t give a rats if she likes me or not. Today, in front of those two girls, she came over to my cubicle to ask me if I’d had my hair done and how nice it looked. Only a true nutter would bitch about you to your closest workmates then compliment you in front of them!!!!!!! My take on it: she’s trying to prove to them how nice she is. Cripes. What is this? Primary school?
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Thanks again to Sooz for allowing me to share this story with our fabulous Smarter Admins readers!
What’s been your worst Office Nutbag experience? I’d love to hear your stories!
Last week a Smarter reader asked me on Twitter for shredder recommendations.
I scouted around the internet checking out the shredder competition (result: pretty boring!) but then I discovered these:
They’re shredding scissors! How cool are they?
I suppose these are meant to be for home use, but if you work for a small business or you don’t have a lot of shredding, these could be the go for you!
There’s a new meme* going around at the moment, called “What I Actually Do”.
It’s been popping up a lot on Facebook – have you come across them?
If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, you can take a look here to get the idea.
In short, take someone’s profession (be it graphic designer, doctor, or – my personal favourite – karaoke singer) and illustrate it with six descriptors:
What my friends think I do
What my mum thinks I do
What my boss thinks I do
What society thinks I do
What my boyfriend thinks I do
What I think I do
What I really do
Some of them really are quite funny and clever! Here’s another place where you can see some entrants.
It occurred to me last night that there isn’t one for MY profession!
So I created one. It was so much fun! I think it’s funny, I hope you do to!
* a meme is when people take a photo or a theme and share their own take of it. Have you seen those cat pictures with captions? That’s a meme, too!
Gone are the days of being a stay at home mum (and even the days of quitting your job as soon as you got married because you’d be “in the family way” before too long).
But just because it’s common, doesn’t mean all mums have the Working Mum gig down to a fine art.
Career Mums is a book published earlier this year for Working Mums and mums who are getting ready to jump back into the world of working after having kids. It’s a collaboration between Kate Sykes (Telstra ACT Businesswoman of the Year in 2010) and Allison Tait (Freelance writer and blogger)
Here’s what Allison had to say about Career Mums when it was launched:
We set out to write a useful, informative, practical guide to using the Right to Request Flexibility (enshrined in legislation in January 2010) to help make your life as a working parent an easier road to travel. We tried to make it easy to follow, even entertaining in places, and to cover off as many of the issues facing working parents as we could in the space we had. Being a working mum is not a one-size-fits-all proposition (besides, we all know that one-size-fits-all clothes never fit anyone, not really), but we think that there are ways of making it work for you – and we hope that this book will help you with your journey. At the very least, it will give you lots to think about!
Now I’m not a working mum (but I get asked VERY OFTEN when I think that will change!), but I do know lots of working mums and I’m sure that many of them would love a book like this. When you have kids they don’t hand you a manual (so I’ve heard anyway) and returning to work after kids hasn’t had a manual either – but now there is.
You can buy Career Mums on the cheap online from web sites like Booktopia. Even at full price it’s less than $20.
Are you a working mum? Do you have any tips to share?
In all honesty, I don’t often pay attention to references to “Australian fashion labels” because they’re usually over-priced, unflattering and don’t go above a size 12. Which, for my 16-18 body, completely sucks.
But there was something about this ad, it made me click through. And I found the most amazing dresses! Perfect for work!
Verily means “truly” or “certainly” and I can tell you truly that I’m a big fan of this label. I bought one of their dresses last week and now I’m begging my credit card to let me buy more.
It’s flattering – wrap-style with a side gather, v-neck and short sleeves (it’s so hard to find dresses that aren’t sleeveless these days)
It was on special!
It’s quite a heavy dress, but feels so nice on. I’ve worn it to work with my brightest heels (they’re bright blue, bright pink, bright green) and loved how I felt while wearing it.
And did I mention that it’s Australian made? Not even my $200 Sportscraft dress was made in Australia!
Smarter Admins is Australia's first web site for office admin staff like secretaries, Personal Assistants and Exec Assistants. Check out our tips and tricks so that you can work smarter, not harder.
But just because it’s common, doesn’t mean all mums have the Working Mum gig down to a fine art.
