What does his wealth or not have to do with decisions of "form over function"? Your point is plain nonsense.
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Is a Broken iPhone Screen Unprofessional/Embarrassing? (Does it Depend on Factors?)
- Thread starter HappyDude20
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I can't tell you how wrong you are and what bad advice that is.
In the executive workplace, perception is just as important as reality and anyone who I work with who would show up and display a cracked iPhone would be thought of very badly, no different than if they showed up at work with tattoos or inappropriate clothing.
If you're a high school student "it's just a cellphone" works. In the working world, it most certainly does not.
BJ
I agree. It's like going in to a meeting with a dirty shirt or badly wrinkled up pants. You may be the smartest guy in the room, but if someone didn't already know it, they'd think twice about hiring you or assigning you to something important. If you can't care enough to present yourself well, how do I know if you care enough to do your job well.
I don't expect men to be super handsome and muscular, nor do I expect women to look like supermodels. But I do expect people to come to work dressed appropriately and have a professional appearance.
That being said, if I never saw your cellphone and it was all cracked to hell, I guess it wouldn't matter (since I don't know about it). But if I saw your phone on a daily basis, falling apart, getting worse by the week, with ever more chunks missing from the sides and from the screen glass, I'd wonder about your attention to detail.
If your tie is ripped, you put a new one on. If your phone is badly damaged (and it's something other people see on a regular basis), you get a replacement.
My experience is very much different. From my own experience in the executive work place, your work history, credentials, publications, deals, and/or achievements will speak much more highly of you than how you treat a cell phone. Cracked iPhone screens are so common these days that most people don't give it a second glance - unless say, you're using that iPhone as a portable monitor to show documents/pictures to a client. (But then you usually have an iPad, and it most definitely should not be cracked.)
Most people will likely assume that you just have better things to do than to be standing at the Apple Store- like working, going to your son's baseball game, or just spending time with your family. Or maybe you just don't care because, it's just a phone, and there are plenty of more important things to worry about.
It's not like you polish your golf clubs before taking a client out...?
I am a VP for a Fortune 500 company with over 40 direct and indirect reports.
I would give a bad review and ultimately fire someone in my employ who showed up to work with a cracked iPhone.
Take it for what it's worth.
BJ
It must really suck to work for you. Have you had anyone have a heart attack or commit suicide yet?
In an executive workplace, appearance, demeanor, and self-respect matter.
There are plenty of blue-collar jobs out there where attitude, personal hygiene, clothing, and displaying broken things don't matter. People who like small salaries in exchange for personal freedoms gravitate in that direction.
BJ
Well I happen to work in an executive capacity where I get paid in a year what most people make in 8 and I can wear jeans, tennis shoes, and sport a cracked phone if I want (not that I sport a cracked phone, mind you).
And although I agree that personal appearance does matter a great deal, I take exception to your assumption that blue-collar workers don't care about personal hygiene. If it wasn't for those blue-collar workers, you probably would have to get your own hands dirty once in a while, and wouldn't that be a shame.
No matter the environment, a plumber with a cracked iPhone and an executive with a goal of a $400,000 VP title and a cracked iPhone are two different things.
I work in jeans and sneakers too, we're a progressive company, but if you show up in a dented Honda we don't think you take yourself or your position seriously enough. Same person, shiny new BMW, he has self respect, he represents himself and our corporation nicely.
And before anyone says it, yeah, I know what you're about to say. Spare me the speech about morality and personal choice. No one said life is fair. Dress the part or grab a plunger, up to you.
BJ
I like me, thanks.
Amusing how judgmental you're being for....wait for it.....claiming I'm too judgmental.
BJ
I'll have my girl call your girl, we'll take my BMW to the country club, do drinks, abuse the hired help.
Good?
BJ
Something tells me I'd follow you in my own BMW, do the drinks, watch you abuse the hired help, excuse myself to the bathroom but in reality go out and key your car and piss on all of your door handles, and then return to do a few more drinks.
And although it would admittedly be a fun night, I'll pass this time.
But thanks all the same!
Nothing makes me happier than to find my car keyed.
To think that someone could be that enraged and jealous, makes it all worthwhile.
After the country club we go to the strip club; we know what wives are for.
BJ
I take it as I would hate to work for someone like that. The appearance of a cell phone is way down on my list of things to worry about in this life. We have people here who are going through chemotherapy, have lost children, and who have spouses with terminal cancer. To think that something like a phone or the model of car would be so important when real, heavy, important things are going on is just sickening. But, if status & money are your ultimate goals, more power to you.
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If it's a company owned and issued phone, I can see where you are coming from. But if it's an employee's personal phone, that's pretty messed up. I almost want to ask what company you work for so I know never to apply to it. Do you write up employees if their shirts aren't fully tucked in?
It doesn't sound very progressive to me if you're firing people for having a broken personal phone. Again, if you're using that phone as an extension to do your job, I get it. Same with a dented Honda- I can surely see why you wouldn't drive a client around in that. But maybe that's just the nature of your beast. Do you make sure their houses are perfectly maintained and that they make their bed every morning, too?
I'll rephrase my comment to say, "If you're making a piddly 7 figures doing DOD contracted research, you can drive a dented Subaru and have a cracked iPhone screen and nobody will care because your results will speak for themselves. But if you want to make real money, get it fixed."
I used to work as a millwork installer, and this post makes me think of the installers I worked with that always had broken tools with rust all over them. They just couldn't keep up with there stuff. It reflected on how good of an installer they where, and also how dependable they where.
How this plays out to the topic at hand, I don't make an assumption about a person when I see a broken screen. I do however think that it can reflect on how they handle problems in life.
How this plays out to the topic at hand, I don't make an assumption about a person when I see a broken screen. I do however think that it can reflect on how they handle problems in life.
+1
"Lazy" and "cheap" are not words generally associated with successful people.
"Overextended" either. That's a word to describe those who buy $300 phones with $1,000 annual service plans who don't have a few nickels to rub together to replace their cracked status symbols.
BJ
If it's a professional setting then yes it is. I don't wear shoes with visible holes on the toe or a watch with a shattered crystal or glasses with tape on the bow.
Sometimes the unexpected happens and if it does then I repair it immediately. That's professional because appearance does count.
If I can't repair it immediately I keep it in my pocket. If I have to use it I'd give a short polite explanation such as, "excuse me I dropped my phone this morning and plan to repair it this afternoon.
Again, OP, we're talking about a professional setting right?
Sometimes the unexpected happens and if it does then I repair it immediately. That's professional because appearance does count.
If I can't repair it immediately I keep it in my pocket. If I have to use it I'd give a short polite explanation such as, "excuse me I dropped my phone this morning and plan to repair it this afternoon.
Again, OP, we're talking about a professional setting right?