Agency rejects 'Rab C.' report

Job seekers are urged to dress to impress or fail

A jobs agency has denied telling Glasgwegians to shed their Rab C Nesbit image to win new jobs.

The Wise Group said the motivation behind its one-week "personal presentation" course for the unemployed had been misinterpreted.

The agency's comments followed a newspaper which quoted a member of staff as saying that some unemployed people thought they did not need to wash their hair or wear clean clothes.

Rab C: A famous Glasgow icon

It went on to say that marketing manager, Linda Naden, had compared the city's jobless to Rab C Nesbitt, the vest-wearing television character played by Gregor Fisher.

The Wise Group insisted it had been misquoted.

Director, Alan Watt, said: "For a very small minority of people, personal hygiene might be an issue, but for most people, I think it's about updating the way they present themselves."

A spokeswoman for the Wise Group said: "The voluntary course aimed to provide Wise Group trainees with the confidence required to present themselves to employers at interview and included practical advice on the importance of interpersonal communications skills, how to dress to impress and personal grooming.

Academic research

"This course was based on solid academic research by the University of Strathclyde, involving city employers, on the need for people to develop these sort of skills in order to meet the emerging demands of the fast-growing service sector in Glasgow.

"In the retail and hospitality sectors (bars and restaurants), the way you present yourself is likely to be as important as your technical ability."

Last year the agency helped 1,500 long-term unemployed people find and keep work and hoped to help 5,000 find a job by 2003, she added.

The "offending" report

Michael Kelly, a former lord provost of Glasgow, said the city could launch a "Glasgow smells better" drive to highlight the need to be presentable when meeting prospective employers.

Mr Kelly borrowed from the city's famous 1980s "Glasgow's miles better" campaign to promote investment to make light of the debate.

He joked: "It is for 'jessies' having to wash every day and we certainly don't want to pander to the advertising of the international cosmetics industry by wearing these women's fragrances."

However, he added: "I know the Wise Group and they've got an excellent record of bringing unemployed people back into the labour market and if they're saying that's a problem, then it's objective research they've done.

"These are professionals saying, 'look, if you want to get this job, this is how you've got to turn out, this is how you've got to behave.'"