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Bowl Leader
You gonna throw it or what?
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Chief
Too harsh as my farewell message? 🥳
Thinking of buying a BMW X6, thoughts?
Rising Star
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Chief
I feel like, in major cities at least, it is well-known that a single-side nose piercing is common and traditional to Indian culture (so it wouldn't appear unprofessional at all) vs some emo/punk-appropriated fashion trend.
Pro
OP don’t worry about that. At M I’ve seen leaders with nose piercings, and even female partners with visible arm tattoos. In North America appearances are becoming much more casual and traditional “professionalism” traits are disappearing
As a middle aged white guy who does a lot of hiring, I am going to follow this thread. Curious what the consensus is.
Now that there seems to be a bit of a consensus, I’ll give my view based on nothing. A nose stud on an ethnically Indian woman would not even get a second look. A ring I would find distracting but no deal breaker. If I was said woman, I might either drop it for the interview or wear a stud. But then I gave an offer to a woman with a big neck tat.
Pro
Keep it in. I’ve even been seeing septum piercings. I’ll also add that people telling you to “take it out to be safe” might be coming from a good place, but that’s not how change is made. 90% of people won’t care at all, and the more people like you just express yourself, the final 10% won’t have a leg to stand on with their poor impressions.
PS, clients being “conservative” is a myth. If you go into any F500 HQ people are waaaay more liberally dressed than your average consultant. So the only judgment is from the occasional uptight leadership (who you want to avoid anyways)
A nose stud on an i down woman would not be out of place in banking.
1) it should not matter
2) it likely will not matter
3) but, it could matter depending on the person
Consulting is all about risk mitigation in communications etc, so to maximize chances take it off. However, you need to be somewhere that isn't so persnickety and will let you be you within reason, so keep it on and don't worry!
if you plan on wearing it to work, don’t remove it.
Clothing isn’t (always) as controversial. Unless you’re required, no one is expecting a suit but if you forget to leave your nose ring or other piercing out one day, that’s not a great time to find out feelings/how you really fit with the team.
Do you want to work somewhere so rigid and white that you’d have to remove parts of yourself to fit in? Any company that would reject you for a nose piercing isn’t somewhere you’d do well anyway, even if you took it out.
Leave it and don’t worry about it. It’s part of your culture. It’s not like you have a tattoo on your face lol.
Rising Star
And those people should never be allowed to work with us, amirite?
Keep it, own it, never apologize for it. Don’t compromise.
Going into the initial interview, you never know how people will react. It's to your advantage to aim for a sort of middle-ground in terms of appearance. Similarly for meeting clients for the first time. I personally wouldn't choose to, were I you, just because it will be a distraction. Once you've made a first impression, and you have a sense of who you'll be interacting with, then you have more leeway for creative appearance.
I agree with this! Although most companies won’t mind, you don’t want to risk an opinion being made off the bat.
Chief
I’m a middle aged white woman. In Texas. And I work across all parts of the Fed space, military and non military. And I hire several people a month. The piercing would not bother me. Colored hair would not bother me. A tattoo would not bother me.
If anyone on the interview team so much as mentioned it I would address that it was not to be evaluated by the interview panel. I am fiercely protective of our ability to evaluate candidates on their merits and removing as many biases as we can.
Rising Star
Kween
Just remove it.
I would just take it out for interviews. No need for something this small to jeopardize your chances.
Rising Star
You’re in a tough spot. I don’t think you can make a wrong choice. But, if the ability to be authentic at work is a priority for you, then I say leave it in. I started interviewing with that priority in mind over the last few years and it’s taken pressure a lot of pressure off of me to assimilate.
I'm a White woman- have been wearing a nose hoop as long as I've been in consulting, and in a previous industry. It's never been an issue for me. I was advised as a young pro to take it out for interviews, but I didn't because any place that won't hire me/take me seriously because of the nose ring really isn't going to like me as a person. That was a personal choice about culture/values, and I think it will vary. But to echo what others have said, I think Western workplaces are becoming more casual and as long as it is small, in a natural (gold/silver) color, people likely won't even notice.
A ring or a stud? I have a small stud. I've had it since I was 20, I'm 39 now. Have had multiple interviews and jobs. Never taken it out. I still have it
I've never taken my stud out.
I wouldnt even notice it.
As long as it isn't a tooth gem you're in the clear
Pro
Stud on the nose isn’t a deal breaker for me. Something like blue hair would be a no go in my opinion.
Pro
I’m Indian and have debated this while I was interviewing. I came to decision that I would swap out my diamond stud for a thin gold ring. The ring blends in with my nose and is far less noticeable than my diamond stud. I went through interviews with the ring, no problem. I wear it to work where I deal with politicians on a daily basis, also no problem.
But I think the state you live in is important for this context. I live in CA so the culture here for employment rights like that are safer. But I have a friend who lives in Knoxville, TN (she’s white) and her employer told her she needs to take her nose ring out while at work.