You get up in the morning, you don't have that same drive to primp the way you did when you first got your job.  The iron is overrated, so you just throw on your shirt and head out the door. No one's looking at your shirt, they are looking at your work, or are they?

Did you know that your wrinkled shirt might be the reason you're being passed over for that promotion?

Kaitlin Madden of Careerbuilder.com reports that "according to a new CareerBuilder survey on promotions, certain personal attributes — namely those that might detract from your professional image — can prevent you from ascending the corporate ladder as swiftly as you may like."

In otherwords that wrinked shirt and unpressed pants may very well be the reason you aren't being considered to move up the corporate ladder. 

Here are the other reasons sited in the Careerbuilder.com study as to why you've been overlooked for that promotion:

• Piercings — 37 percent
• Bad breath — 34 percent
• A visible tattoo — 31 percent
• Messy hair — 29 percent
• Dressing too casually — 28 percent
• Too much perfume or cologne — 26 percent
• Too much makeup — 22 percent
• Messy office or cubicle — 19 percent
• Chewed fingernails — 10 percent
• Too suntanned — 4 percent

“While strong job performance and leadership skills will weigh heavily on prospects for upward mobility, employers will also look at whether the employee conveys an overall professional image both internally and externally,” says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder.

Fortunately, most of these things are easy to fix.  Being put together at the work place may take some extra effort but you can easily clean up your act so that your work is the highlight or your presence at your current company. 

My suggestion?  Make some effort to clean up your act. Time to make an appointment with the hairdresser, get a new suit or two, hit the classy make up counter at the department store and hit the manicurist.  Just think, the reward might be that promotion you've earned all along!

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