A question about my bejewelled nose and its potential articling interview implications

[cokezero]

Dumb question: I’m in 2L. I have a septum piercing. I wear a very small gold ring in it so it’s not really obtrusive but it’s obviously there. Should I remove it for interviewing for articles or are potential employers unlikely to care about this type of thing?

 

thanks!

[Mountebank]

Seems like an easy decision to remove it.

[KOMODO]

Some people might care, but I think you have to decide whether you would want to work for them. 

[BlockedQuebecois]

1 hour ago, KOMODO said:

Some people might care, but I think you have to decide whether you would want to work for them. 

It's definitely for OP to decide, but it's worth noting there's a difference between people who care about whether you display body modifications during interviews and people who care about whether you have body modifications at all. 

I have tattoos, and I imagine every legal employer I've had would care if I showed up to my interview with visible tattoos. But none of them have cared if my tattoos are visible while I'm just working in the office. 

[Fruitdealer]

8 minutes ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

It's definitely for OP to decide, but it's worth noting there's a difference between people who care about whether you display body modifications during interviews and people who care about whether you have body modifications at all. 

I have tattoos, and I imagine every legal employer I've had would care if I showed up to my interview with visible tattoos. But none of them have cared if my tattoos are visible while I'm just working in the office. 

Like BQ is alluding, I would just remove the ring for interviews and wear it once hired.

[Diplock]

I'm going to give a perspective from someone who was that student who walked into interviews making obvious choices about my appearance that deviated from the norm. And you can say that years later I've clearly "sold out" though I believe I did it on my terms. I don't know if this is relevant, but what finally changed my perspective isn't that an employer ever "made me" change or that I did it for a job somewhere. What changed is that I started working for myself and I had to deal with the consequences of my decision every day with every client. When I need those clients to pay the bills, it gets very real very fast.

So you can phrase this in the terms you learned from your mother. "I wouldn't want to work for any employer who didn't want me the way I am." But you can also imagine an employer who's saying "I don't want an employee who can't be bothered controlling what they can control in order to make a good impression." And if that seems unfair somehow...well, the world isn't fair. And the thing you have to remember is that you're not applying for a job slinging lattes, or working on the phone where people never see you, or even working in a government position where maybe you do a responsible job but the people who show up to deal with you have no choice and have to take whoever they get. You are applying to be the face of your employer to their clients - clients who have a choice to go elsewhere if they don't like what they see. And it's fine to say "I shouldn't have to accommodate their judgments" but you know what? You do have to. Because your employer has to. Because that's how the God damn bills get paid. And if you don't like it, there are jobs and fields where that's less true. But law is entrepreneurial, and that's just the bottom line.

I hope that perspective helps. Because seriously - I am the employer that made me just confront and live within this reality. And because it's me to me, I can be completely honest about it. Another employer probably won't tell you directly, because they don't want the hassle that being completely honest will bring them. But unless you're a fucking superstar, if there's anything about you that's likely to cost your firm even a few potential clients, they'll just go and hire someone who's making the right efforts to look conventional. Because why the hell wouldn't they?

Good luck.

[CheeseToast]

Totally depends on firm, interviewer, practice area, etc. I would think.

[artsydork]

1 hour ago, CheeseToast said:

Totally depends on firm, interviewer, practice area, etc. I would think.

What Cheese said. Bay Street? Maybe not the best place for during interviews. Union side labour firm? Go nuts. Or just flip it into your nose as my friend did with hers. Took her parents quite a long time to figure it out.

I (male) interviewed with my upper ear piercing. Actually, the only place that gave me flak was a daycamp about 16 years ago. No one has said anything about it, and that includes small firms, governments, clinics, and even a couple of businesses.

 

[OntheVerge]

I agree with @Diplock and will also point out that in a tough job market, you want to present yourself as a hire-able candidate as much as possible because the competition can be just that tough. The "do you want to work for someone who would judge you on a piercing" may be applicable advice to consider when the market isn't tight. But if it's between you and another candidate, it might boil down to who looks more "respectable" when meeting clients. Especially since it's not always what the employer thinks, but what the clients are going to think.

Having said that, I have a helix piercing. It's just a small silver hoop, it's a pain to get out and worse to get it back in, so I didn't remove it for interviews. Sometimes it wasn't visible if my hair was down, but I had my hair pulled back for most of interviews to try to look as professional as possible...and the earring was definitely visible. I didn't find it affected me in any way. But I think there's an argument to be made that even multiple ear piercings are more "accepted" than facial piercings. In the end though, you have to decide what's best for you.

[TangoMango]

I take mine out. As does my other friend. I also make sure to cover my tattoos. I do this for interviews outside of the legal field too. I'd rather take it out to be safe then have someone make a prejudgement about me based on an easily controlled aspect of my appearance. 

I'll decide when I secure articling and get a feel for the firm if I'll wear it day to day, but I also think clients can make judgements as well and it's something I'm going to have to think about. 

[Dood]

fwiw - I’m considering getting a nose ring, and I’ve been an attorney for around 10 years. Granted, I’m also probably more likely to get a Beavis and Butthead tattoo than I am to appear in court in person this year. 

It just depends on the firm and the practice group. Boomer and GenX interviewers (and clients) would probably be annoyed with the piercing though. When I doubt, take it out!