Submitted by Mark (not verified) on 3 April, 2006 - 10:46.
The real question is whether your customers are wrong for associating a neat, tidy, and well-dressed workplace with a company that produces a quality product. But, since the customer can't be wrong, you have to do something silly to balance their assumptions with reality. Around here, software developers are the exception to the rule, and are assumed to be anti-social hermits. So if I wear something nice to work, I get made fun of, and people joke that I must have an interview somewhere at lunch. It's equally frustrating sometimes, although it's nice to be sitting here in a t-shirt and shorts, and not have to prove that I donated to United Way in order to participate in "casual Friday" (do they still do that there?).
The real question is whether your customers are wrong for associating a neat, tidy, and well-dressed workplace with a company that produces a quality product. But, since the customer can't be wrong, you have to do something silly to balance their assumptions with reality. Around here, software developers are the exception to the rule, and are assumed to be anti-social hermits. So if I wear something nice to work, I get made fun of, and people joke that I must have an interview somewhere at lunch. It's equally frustrating sometimes, although it's nice to be sitting here in a t-shirt and shorts, and not have to prove that I donated to United Way in order to participate in "casual Friday" (do they still do that there?).