A question from a reader.
Do I need to take out my ear plugs for an interview?
Shoot, that’s a tough one because I have no information on the type of job, the company, or the culture.
From a visual perspective, I think plugs in your ears look better with jewelry than without. No one wants to look at a collapsed or gaping hole in your earlobe, and I know how body gauges smell after you remove them. Gross. Keep ‘em in place and keep them clean.
Unfortunately, many companies have policies against body jewelry. I suggest that you ask your network to weigh in with an opinion. Do you know anyone who works for this company? Do you belong to groups on LinkedIn where you can pose this question?
There are organizations that don’t care if you have plugs in your ears and tatts on your neck; however, some food, drug, and manufacturing facilities have strict dress code requirements due to federal regulations.
I hate that some candidates have to camouflage their body jewelry and tattoos. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?
{ 32 comments }
It’s a point of conversation for me (b/c I’ve got ink also). It breaks up the monotony of the typical interview questions. “Where do you want to be in 5 years” vs. “Were you hammered drunk when you got that 8 Ball tattooed on your neck?”
I am so clueless on this that I thought by ‘ear plugs’ you meant the things you shove in your ears when jackhammering, or listening to Sean Hannity on the radio.
Shameless promotion time (Laurie please feel free to delete), we plan on talking about this topic on this Friday’s HR Happy Hour show, ‘Funky Hair, Tattoos and HR Diversity’.
Maybe someone can call in and school me on ear plugs.
Like you mentioned Laurie, it definitely depends on what kind of job we’re talking about. I work in a creative field with designers, so things like that aren’t particularly uncommon. It doesn’t bother me to see it, so long as it’s tastefully done and it’s inoffensive. But if it were, say, an accounting firm…maybe, not so much. I think checking with someone who knows what the company culture is like is your best bet.
I guess the big thing that comes to mind for me is whether you want to be working for someone that would care if you had your ear plugs (or whatever: tattoo, etc.) in at your interview. If you’re going to wear them every day anyway and you feel pretty strongly about it, then wear them. My feeling is that if the cultural fit is important (which it should be), it’s worth being yourself at your interview if it’s that big of a deal to you.
Mike Kohn
@mike_kohn
Most places I have worked corporate law firms, biotech, etc. frown on body piercings, tats, etc. Should be interesting to see how things change as more GenX and GenY take over management positions.
Ear Plugs? Gross !! I have seen them and do not like them. My experience with Staffing industry interviewing, was to advise them to cover up body piercing and tatoos.
Most clients, I was recruiting for were very much on the conservative Side.
Not sure what the future will bring, perhaps a more relaxed approach to this accross the board? We will have to wait and see.
Am I the only one who thinks that this isn’t a big deal? If you’ve got ear plugs, you probably won’t fit in in an uber-conservative job anyway. Same with tats, piercings and blue hair. So, why hide it? If you don’t fit, then you won’t be happy. Show employers your true identity and land a job where folks aren’t so uptight.
(i’m pondering new ink….
)
If you take out the plugs, don’t your ear lobes just flop around? Maybe plugs that are close to your skin color so they blend in?
I really shouldn’t be commenting. I have pierced ears and that’s it. However, seems to me that if you’re going to pierce or tattoo, you should own it. I’m not a big fan, but I wouldn’t hold it against you. But maybe you don’t want to work for someone who would – if piercing or tattooing is important to you.
SandyH makes a wonderful point. For now, the divide is there that you have to cover up your tats, but in 10-15 years, there’s going to be a different work culture and see how that goes.
Me personally, I really don’t care if someone had tattoos or piercings. If they get it done, they get it done. We’re too much image conscious in this country and it’s about marketability.
By the way, did we bother Ed Bradley (R.I.P) for his ear piercings?
I am upper/middle management for a fortune 500 company who happens to also be sleeved on both arms. Personally I cover up at all times at work to avoid the “how did the convict get a job here” look/attitude. We tout our diversity and multicultural attitude, but that attitude or policy does not apply to mid 40′s white guys.
I have worked in manufacturing, healthcare, and a government contracting firm, and it all depends on the culture and environment. I am a GenXer now working back in healthcare and the culture and environment I am in now is ok when I wear my capri pants and my ankle tat shows. I have 3 earrings in each ear lobe and 2 more tats on each hip as well. Now, I’m not fond of ear plugs but if they look decent then I’m okay with them. When I say look decent for an employer I mean if they are so big they droop down by your chin, it isn’t appealing to me. If I think a tat looks hideous, I’m probably not crazy about hiring you. Now, as I type those two thoughts, I think how do those two things affect how the candidate can perform the job?? Just like when two weeks ago my parents found out I had a tattoo. They are very conservative people who have had in their minds that if a person has a tattoo, it makes them a bad person or changes their personality. I got my first tat 11 years ago and my last two in March of this year. I asked my parents, “Have I changed in your eyes? Is my personality different or am I a different daughter than the one you have always known?” They then had to stop and think and of course their answer was no. As I type this, I feel that I need to step back and think a little more openly as I wanted my parents to think. We as service providers also have to be aware of our consumers and what they think as well. It will be interesting when the Gen X and Yers come up into management positions and how we can positively change the perception older generations may have of us.
I must say that I used to have my ears gauged to a 00 but when I realized that going into a profession where business casual is the dress code, I took them out. Appearance seems to be more important than work ethic when it comes to initial interviews as work ethic has yet to be proven. If they would of called any of my previous employers without seeing me I am sure I would of been seriously considered. Now with that being said after I took the gauges out I went and got a full sleeve tattoo and have landed two internships back to back. The second one was based solely off of a recommendation from the first one and is at a rather professional place. Being that I wear long sleeves all the time no one knows and I do not plan on telling anyone unless if they ask me if I have tattoos. BTW, short sleeve dress shirts just do not work even for people who do not have tattoos.
I used to sell body jewelry across the country, and have met some pretty over the top body jewelry fanatics— like Lays potatoe chips– once you have one, you can’t stop!! And when someone has taken out a large guage earplug, the dangling earlobe can look rather disturbing, to say the least. ((I equate it to a nightcrawler coming out of someones ear.)) Small guage– not so much. And when someone takes out their eyebrow piercings? Aliens!!!! lol
Like everyone else said— depends on the job.
Piercings and tats don’t bother me when I’m interviewing someone if they can show intelligence and effective interpersonal skills in the interview. I know they do bother some of the hiring managers. I’m a Gen X’er, and they’re Boomers, so there is some generation gap.
However, people can talk all they want about how piercings and tats shouldn’t affect what people think of you, but the fact of the matter is that we ALL form opinions in a split second. Inked and pierced people shouldn’t pretend like they don’t judge other people on appearance. You live in the real world and have to accept the fact that there are always going to be people who don’t like ink or piercings. Period. I don’t like office politics, but they exist, so I need to deal with that reality.
I don’t think the ink is such a huge deal anymore in my industry, but the piercings still are. So you just need to be professional at the interview (whatever that means for your industry) in order to get over that first impressions hurdle. For example, STOP clicking your tongue piercing on your teeth! Dudes! I’ve had that happen on numerous occasions. I know you’re nervous, but your interviewers are not focusing on your skills, they’re heebie jeebie-ing over that hole in your tongue.
In our business-casual office, the office manager didn’t hire a female candidate because of her hand/wrist ink. The competing candidate was hired.
We all got a chuckle (except for the office manager) when the new employee showed up in capris with tatts all over her legs!
We think it serves the office manager right for judging based on such silly criteria.
Again, boomer vs. Gen X/Y….excited to see what happens as Gen X/Y takes over!
If I didnt have to get a real job I would have full sleeves…..at least thats what I like to tell myself….=)
Honestly, and this is a true story, I have a large dove tattoo on my right arm. You can’t really cover it up unless you are wearing long sleeves. Before going in for this interview for the job I have now, I was told to cover the tattoo up. I wore longsleeves that day, but in the heat, I ended up unconsciously pushing up my sleeves. My boss, a pretty conservative but all around nice guy, complimented it and a few weeks later I had the position. “I liked your spunk and I liked your individuality,” he said. The moral of this story is to be yourself in interviews. You may be covered in tatts or crazy piercings but if you are interviewing for a job with someone that is offended by these things- maybe this job really isn’t the one right for you. (and no, I don’t work in a headshop or tattoo parlor- I work for an internet company.)
So here’s how old or uncool I am: I thought earplugs were what you put in your ears to block sound. So what exactly is an earplug?
c’est ca
http://community.tribalectic.com/files/images/plug(3).jpg
a very tame version
I’m more curious from a hiring manager’s perspective what’s OK to ask about things like tats, ear plugs, nose rings, etc. I’d be afraid of walking unwittingly into an EEO mess of some sort. Is talking about body art relevant to the job and if I ask have I set myself up for some form of discrimination suit?
@Scott I’m someone who hid my anti-establishment behaviors and signs for many years. Now, in retrospect, I wish I wouldn’t have been so concerned.
@Steve I never had ear plugs/gauges but I know so many people who have them and (ahem) hit 30 and regret them. I was never bold enough to make such a public statement. Also, I have attached earlobes.
@Mike Some people just want a job — any job — and I’ve seen people who have eyebrow piercings and they’re covered up with bandaids at McDonalds. I’m pretty sure those eyebrow piercings are a health issue and need to come out, but whatever.
@SandyH Agreed!
@Shennee I don’t think they are gross. I think they are interesting and a form of body art and self expression. It’s not for me. I didn’t even pierce my ears until I was 13. I’m not a big jewelry person.
@Teresa Me, too!
@GenXpert I agree with you that floppy earlobes are dumb. In a more conservative environment, you can wear subtle gauges that don’t look too obnoxious. I think ear stretching is an example of something that should be done with a tremendous amount of thought. Unlike tattoos that you can cover up (for the most part), the stretching lasts forever unless you have surgery.
@Tracy OMG, I forgot how much I miss Ed Bradley until you reminded me. What a guy.
@JohnC Interesting — diversity doesn’t mean shit, for the most part, to anyone in corporate america.
@Sara I agree, Gen X has a different idea of leadership. I don’t care if someone in the healthcare industry has a tattoo or piercing; however, I don’t want your piercings to accidentally fall into a vat of chocolate at the candy factory. I’ve had to have this important discussion with people I’ve hired in the past.
@Steve Thank you, short-sleeved dress shirts should be burned. What is this? 1960s Connecticut? People, do not wear a short-sleeved dress shirt and a tie.
@MattMat I took out an eyebrow piercing and had a HUGE infection that resulted in a golf-ball sized bag of green puss under my eyebrow. It was sick. Squeezing it out? Even sicker. It was awesome when the puss shot out of my eyebrow about six feet!
@HAria Whenever someone clicks a tongue piercing against teeth, I can only think about the cracking of the enamel. Click, click, click, root canal. It’s so gross. That’s the one thing that I’ve never done — and it’s even worse when you smoke and have a tongue piercing. That’s a mouth I would never kiss.
@Sweetpea HA ha ah hahahahah suckers! Serves ‘em right.
@Paul We all have hard core punk rock dreams. I have them, too. I also have two mortgages, right now. Le sigh.
@Carly That’s a great story. Thank you. Just goes to show you how far authenticity goes in a job interview.
@China Don’t ask. I have a feeling you wouldn’t like them.
@DanFlan Life involves one big lawsuit risk, doesn’t it?
I’m coming up on 50 years old and have one small tattoo (on my ankle) and pierced ears (one hole in each ear)–that’s it. But I so look forward to the day when piercings, tattoos, and other forms of body art and self-expression aren’t considered such a huge deal.
People are so freaking uptight about the most inconsequential things. Worry about talent, skill, ability, education, temperament, work ethic. Worry about the things that actually affect job performance.
Who gives a tiny rat’s *ss if someone has a little jewel in the side of her nostril?
PS: My friends and I refer to short-sleeved dress shirts as the most effective form of male birth control on the planet. Talk about unattractive. Unless you’ve turned time back to 1962 and are working at the Johnson Space Center, just freaking DON’T.
Anti-ink/body mod discrimination is not exclusive to the Caucasian world. I suspect that a closed-minded conservative selection agent would dump a pierced person a at least as fast if they were anything darker than deep tan.
If you body mod, own it. Don’t work somewhere you will have to hide. But understand that it WILL limit your chances at employment bliss. Them’s the rules of the game. You want people to accept your perspective, but you have to accept theirs as well.
As a customer, I LOVE seeing all kinds of people in your employ. I give you kudos for hiring people with ink and piercings. It makes me feel better about patronizing your establishment. for the record, I don;t have any visible body mods.
I’m a Boomer HR pro and have two tats; my daughter, who is getting her undergrad in HR has 5.. including a ‘collar’ that is incredibly striking and flatttering, but virtually imposible to hide unless she wears a turtleneck. She just knows that she will be limited in terms of what companies will want to hire her… but that’s cool. She’s not exactly a corporate-America type.
@George — HMMMM i’m wondering why you chose the word “visable”…. HMMMMM …. guess we’ll never know huh?
@teresahrgirl LOL! Sadly, it don’t have anything as interesting as that. I have a modest tat on my left shoulder. Very few people know it is there, so that’s why I qualify it as not visible.
I would love something running down my right arm, but I am not willing to pay the opportunity costs in terms of employability. We all make tough decisions.
Of course, maybe I am just throwing you off the scent of my obscenely placed unicorn tat =)
That is probably one of the GROSSEST visuals I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading— and it perfectly describes some experiences I’ve had– and dreams as well.
Thanks Laurie!! Made my day— you’re my kinda girl—
I just saw someone put this up on twitter. It’s supposed to conceal tattoos while looming natural. http://blogs.nerve.com/toolsofattraction/2009/08/13/for-when-you-outgrow-your-tramp-stamp/
Thank @robinschooling for the link
I have never taken my gauges out for an interview, i think a giant hole looks worse.
i would never take out my ear gauges for an interview. Dont you think holes would be worse?
Corporate America wont get me and my plugs…there in forever hahaha
I would wear plugs, not tunnels
It would make it seem like you just have very large earring studs
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