Tomorrow at 3 pm, EST, (and that is 3 pm AFTER setting the clocks back), I have an interview with a Peace Corps recruiter.
I also have a lip ring.
The recruiter visited my school once before, and I spoke with her briefly about the Peace Corps, so it’s not like the lip-ring will be a complete suprise.
I am dressing up (grey pants, black shirt, brown hair), and I thought everything was ready to go when my friend asked me if I planned to wear my lip-ring. I said of course, being that a) this is the Peace Corps, an organization that I would hope would realize body jewelry does not automatically equal undesirable candidate b)I’ve only had it about two months, still inside the healing window and c)I LIKE it, and have gotten numerous compliments on it; even if they were fake compliments, I still like it, and want to leave it in.
Now, though, I am starting to have my doubts.
So what do people think? Should I leave it in or take it out?
Any opinions (informed or otherwise) greatly appreciated.
It absolutely couldn’t hurt. There are plenty of people who are willing to pre-judge you because you have a lip ring, but who has a bias against people who don’t have a lip ring? On the flip side if you feel that you’re lip ring is a part of your identity (i.e. taking it out would be compromising your principles) than I’d say leave it in. Otherwise take it out.
my dad once told me:
“My small-bisiness owner friend told me how glad he is that kids were piercing their tongues, because then he knows who not to hire.”
they live in conservativeville oklahoma, and this rule truly does apply there. you simply have to judge how conservative you think your interviewer will be based on the organization’s philosophies, if you really want to get in.
my advice: leave it in
my friend got an internship with a stockbroker on wall street with his tongue ring.
how upset would you be if it grew back and you had to get it re-pierced just for this interview? would you take it out if they told you it was the only thing not letting them hire you?
Keep in mind you need to demonstrate that once you’re abroad all by your lonesome in the middle of nowhere, that you’re self-reliant enough not only to avoid freaking out but that you’ll thrive doing your job. I wasn’t in the Peace Corps but knew a lot of people that were. I presume you’ve done research, and have an idea of the type of character they want their candidates to have.
IMHO, I can’t see how the lip ring would help you get in the Peace Corps, but I can see how it might hurt your chances. If you’re going to wear the lip ring, make sure it fits in with the overall strategy you have for getting accepted, along with your hair, dress, speech, grooming, etc.
Frankly, if someone had the cojones to show up at a job interview with their piercings in, I’d be MORE inclined to hire them, not less. However, this may be linked in some way to the fact that I’m not the head of a human resources department.
Beyond the interview, you also have to consider how such an ornament might be considered by the people with which you’ll be working. Peasant societies can be very conservative in many parts of the world. (Some groups could be accepting of piercings, others might be appalled.) I suspect that here in Panama, for example, you would vastly increase your (already formidable) problems in being accepted by a backcountry campesino village by showing up with a decoration they would consider weird even for a gringo/a. (On the other hand, in Borneo they might dig it.) And such factors could be taken into account by a recruiter, even if they personally had nothing against it.
Seriously. But, it’s probably a good thing to get my real life job related dilemma over with in the beginning, right? This way, it’s not hanging over my head all the time. After this, it’s all smooth sailing and cocktail parties - right?
Ha ha, Sneeze, very delusional. But yes. Real life is rapidly encroaching on my happy college bubble, and it is making me very edgy. Part of that edginess has to do with the biology test I just took, but still. Edgy edgy edgy.
matt_mcl, that is kind of how I feel - I would want someone to basically dress how they usually dress (provided they are clean and covered) so I could get a slightly better idea of who they were and what their personality was like - but again, I am not in charge of hiring anyone, so it’s not my job to say.
Colibri, that is a very good point. I plan to take it (and my ear piercing) out before I (hopefully) go anywhere, due to these horrible mental pictures of maggots crawling in and out of the infected hole. But still - a good, good point.
Oh well. Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts (and, of course, anyone else who wants to chime in, thank you in advance). The ring is still in, but the interview is three hours away…
If you do wear it, be sure to mention that you will be willing to take it out for your assignment. Back in the day, my boss interviewed a girl with a nose ring (the horror!), and the girl mentioned that she would be willing to not wear it while at work. My boss was impressed with that. My boss took her up on her offer, which I wouldn’t have done, but it did get her the job.
You said you are dressing up (grey pants, black shirt, brown hair). The reason that you are doing this is that you already know that presenting yourself in a certain way is necessary when trying to make a positive impression on someone. Fair? No. But true.
Wearing a lip ring (as I suspect you already know, since you bothered to ask the question) puts forth an image that (fair or not) puts people off. Why not wear your ripped jeans, Metallica t-shirt, and purple hair dye to the interview? You know the answer to that question: image is important. That’s why you should definitely remove the lip ring.
Don’t bother taking it out. It might even be a good thing for them to know, as there can be cultural and safety issues if you plan to wear the ring while serving. ANYTHING can be a cultural and safety issue in the Peace Corps. FWIW, I have actually done a Peace Corps interview - I’m technically scheduled to go to Africa in March, but I’ve decided not to do it at this point.
Aaaaah…the interview is over, and now I can relax.
Well, for a minute anyway, because there are references to mail, and skills to polish, and trips to police stations to be fingerprinted. The interview went (I think, knock on wood) well - I need to do some certain kinds of volunteering to get some skills, but otherwise the interviewer was very nice and I learned a lot of good stuff.
After much deliberation, I decided to leave the lip ring in, which turned out (again, I think) not to be a big deal. It was mentioned in passing, as a fact that I would need to take it out once I got to wherever I might hopefully be going, which I assured her was no big deal.
Kyla, can I ask why you decided not to go? Where exactly were you scheduled to go (or did you not know yet), and for what area of volunteering?
So - a huge THANK YOU to all the dopers who answered my question. It was very, very much appreciated! : )