9 appearance mistakes that could be holding you back at work

You do your job well, you add value to your team, and you contribute to the company's bottom line - and yet, you haven't been promoted in years.

Can't figure out why?

Well, it turns out that your professional success doesn't depend entirely on your work ethic and performance.

A survey from CareerBuilder shows that hiring managers seriously consider a professional's appearance when deciding whether to promote them to a higher position.

In a perfect world, we would only be judged by the work we do - but that's not the case. Especially in the corporate world, appearances matter ... a lot.

More than 2,000 human resource managers across the US participated in the survey and cited these nine (superficial) factors as things that would dissuade them from promoting an employee:

• 44% were less likely to promote an employee who wore provocative clothing to work.
• 43% were less likely to promote an employee who wore wrinkled clothes.
• 32% were less likely to promote an employee with piercings other than traditional ear piercings.
• 27% were less likely to promote an employee who frequently wore clothing that was too casual for the workplace.
• 27% were less likely to promote an employee with visible tattoos.
• 25% were less likely to promote an employee with an unprofessional hairstyle.
• 24% were less likely to promote an employee with constant bad breath.
• 21% were less likely to promote an employee who wore too much perfume or cologne.
• 15% were less likely to promote an employee who wore too much makeup.

Your best bet is to always look as professional as possible and follow your company's dress code.

Darlene Price, president of Well Said, Inc., and author of "Well Said! Presentations and Conversations That Get Results," previously told Business Insider that it's "so important to be aware of dress codes and understand what they mean."

"Though dress is a very personal matter, it is a very public and professional matter on the job. Employees are expected to comply with company standards," she explained.

The problem is, these can be hard to decipher.

She said during her 20-plus years working as an executive coach, one of the most frequent career roadblocks she has observed is inappropriate dress in the workplace because "people don't completely understand what all the different dress codes mean."

To help, here are some examples of appropriate "business casual," "smart casual," and "boardroom formal" outfits: