<p>I’m thinking ahead for when I’ll be applying for jobs next year as I’ve been suit shopping. I know face piercings are generally a no-no outside the artsy world, but what about ears? I have 5 piercings in one ear (2 cartilidge), and 3 in the other. I usually wear the more conservative stud earrings. Will I want to take them out all together, wear stud earrings, or just wear a pair in the first set of holes? I might want to plan ahead and have holes close up if it would help when interviewing for the more conservative engineering jobs. Thanks for any input!</p>
<p>Are you m or f?</p>
<p>Get rid of all of it all for the conservative jobs. Why would someone hire you looking “counterculture” like that when they could hire the person behind you who isn’t? Let your resume impress them, not your jewelry.</p>
<p>I am a former hotel manager (female). I once interview a young woman who was perfect for a desk clerk job. She had a nose piercing. I explained that we had a dress code prohibiting them and that she would have to remove it when working if she wanted the job. It was a deal breaker for her. I moved on to the next candidate.
While I personally don’t have a problem with it, the problem is that at a nice hotel our guests might…
so long story short, I agree with dke.<br>
As far as the short term for interviews, I would just wear a pair in the first set of holes. Then wait and see/ask what the code is at your new place of employment. Good luck.</p>
<p>hid em with your hair.</p>
<p>What a variety of replies…</p>
<p>I’m a girl, btw. I guess it’s looking like I should take all but one pair out. Do the holes need to be closed up or will that look ok?</p>
<p>Can’t you find an engineering job in a place that’s open minded? It would be good if you could work with people who’d appreciate your true self instead of your having to hide your personality.</p>
<p>I truly doubt that anyone will be examining your ears to see if the holes are closed.</p>
<p>Frankly, I don’t think that 5 stud earrings would be a big deal. It would be different if you were wearing 5 earrings dangling to your shoulders or 5 earrings that looked like roach clips (i.e. clips to hold the butt ends of marijuana cigarettes, a fashion statement for some in the 1960s).</p>
<p>I was just commenting that in general an engineering job is going to be more on the conservative side (not neccessarily closed-minded) than ones in some other fields. I’d actually like to work at a conservative place–I think I got my ears pierced so much in high school because I wanted to be rebelious, but still get the good grades, etc. Also have my belly button done but that’s another story.</p>
<p>Five stud earrings wouldn’t bother me, but I think I’d be inclined to just wear one pair until you see what the office looks like. If you know you wouldn’t want to work somewhere where you couldn’t wear all your earrings, then I’d go ahead and wear them. I love nose studs, but eyebrows and tongues make my stomach turn.</p>
<p>You are right – engineering firms tend to be more conservative. I’d wear a simple post earring in the traditional spot. If you are offered a job, you can check out what other women are wearing – it’s not so unusual for a woman to have 2 holes per ear, in the earlobe. But stay away from anything too distracting.</p>
<p>Just don’t overdo it in the interview. If you get hired, then you can pretty much wear whatever you want in your ear, nose, or mouth. I have never ever had a job where I wear what I would wear in the interview to the actual job itself.</p>
<p>I agree that you should wear only one pair of earrings to an interview. in addition to being interviewed by the engineering firm, you will be checking out the place as one where you would like to work and if you like it enough (and get a job offer) you might be happy to forgo wearing all of your earrings to work. So keep your options open and appear more conservatively for the interview.</p>
<p>Some years ago, when I was working in a law office, I was surprised to learn that one of the interviewing attorneys was very negative about a job applicant (recent law school grad) just because she had a tattoo on her ankle. In this case, the attorney was just one of several people doing interviewing, so the hiring decision wasn’t solely in her hands. But why risk getting a negative evaluation from anyone you might meet at this early stage of the hiring process?</p>
<p>Agree with wearing only one earring in each ear.</p>
<p>D’s high school had the following rules: only piercing jewelry allowed was one earring in each ear of females, none for males. Hair color must be in natural spectrum, boys no facial hair and boy’s head hair not covering ears or touching collar. No midriffs showing, no sleeveless shirts, no extraneous pockets on clothing, no logos on clothing larger than one inch, no hats, no mini skirts, no leggings, boys must wear necktie and collared shirt, no sweatshirts or sweatpants, no jean pants, pant length must be to the shoe, but not dragging. Can’t remember the rest, but it served to present a well-groomed student body. Five minutes after class ended for the day, the studs went in, the baseball caps went on, the ties came off… :)</p>
<p>I guess the above rules would work for a job interview. You don’t want to offend anyone.</p>
<p>Joev it is not necessarily true you can wear whatever you want once you are hired. Some companies have dress codes in the employee handbook.
My child had about 3 ear piercings and a nose stud. When she went for interview she wore her hair down covering the ears. The earring were simple gold studs. She was hired for the job. But on the condition that she follow the company printed dress code. Which among other things stated one earring in each ear for females. It also stated hair must be of a normal color. The females who wore a uniform were also required to wear panty hose. And no visable tattoo’s for either gender.
To the OP it seems like you don’t feel strongly about your piercings any longer. It always helps in interviewing to appear more conservative and well groomed.
My D would remove her nose piercing every day. Eventually she got tired of it and let the hole close.</p>
<p>Following the company dress code is a whole other thing, I just would be very conservative for the interview, then if it allows, wear a little more daring stuff. Obviously you have to follow dress code.</p>
<p>I’ve been kind of wondering something along the same lines, too. I only have one hole in each ear, but I have a stud in my nose (I got that done before the ears, incidentally). I would be applying to for more graphic design-type jobs, which I think would be less conservative, but then I guess it would depend on whether it’s a separate design firm or a division of a large company that does something else. I have problems with piercings closing up quickly, so taking the nose stud out all day every day would not really be an option…if I take it out, it’s probably out forever. My hair is a normal color and everything and that’s pretty much the only jewelry I usually wear, except for a watch. Do you really think I’d be judged negatively because of that? </p>
<p>I’m not even sure whether wearing a suit would be too formal for this sort of thing…I remember one of our professors was saying that if the guys went to interviews in ties they would be considered to “stuffy”, but of course no one had anything to say about the girls.</p>
<p>Let me just give an overall piece of advice. An interview is a situation in which someone rates someone else. One of the well-known rater biases is “like me/not like me.” If you want to put yourself at a disadvantage, make yourself “not like” your interviewer.</p>
<p>Once you start the job, the same biases are at work. If you’re extraordinary at your job, you can get away with some eccentricities without penalty, but only once you’ve built a good reputation. Until then, the smart play is to blend in.</p>
<p>But it’s your call.</p>