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You do you boo. If this is what they ding you for, you don’t want to be there in the first place.
This 🙌
I have a hoop in and have not had any issues. Interviewed for my current firm with it in and have kept it in for other mixers and events.
Like others have said, if a firm or company doesn’t want to hire me because I have a nose ring, I don’t wanna work there. My nose ring has no bearing on my research or writing or advocacy skills
Also, FWIW, I’m in a very small practice.
And I am 26 lol so I don’t plan on conforming to any boomer pale stale male ways in my career, that’s for sure. Agree that it just depends on company/firm culture and what you feel comfortable with!
Chief
Your boomer aunt is the age of the boomer partners who run firms. If the nose stud is extremely important to you, so important you’d risk the possible disapproval of people like your aunt, to have one go for it. If it’s not that important to you, why risk it?
I had someone say the same before I got my wrist tattoo, and I still got it. It’s an entirely valid point, but I decided it was something I still wanted to do for myself. It’s all about what parts of your personality/self-expression you’re willing to sacrifice for this job (and your risk tolerance for potentially ruffling someone’s feathers).
My first firm was a midsize one in a very conservative part of the Midwest and I had my nose ring in the entire time. Facial piercings were prohibited under the dress code but nobody said anything to me about it.
Full disclosure though: I’m Indian and was the only one with a nose ring, so there’s a chance they didn’t say anything to me out of fear of sounding *~*racist*~* 🙃
Lol classic. This is what people told me too 🤷🏽♀️
While I don’t work in biglaw (small firm of about 15 attorneys in small market), I would second everyone else and say go for it. I got my nose pierced (very small stud) in undergrad and my intent was to only have it until I got into the work place and then take it out in the name of being professional. However, I ended up never taking it out for interviews (more because I even forget I have it than anything else) or even for the summer when I clerked for a judge, abs still ended up landing at the exact firm that I wanted to be at. If it’s small, there’s a good chance most people won’t even take notice of it… and not to sound sexist, but I can almost guarantee than most of the boomer male partners won’t even know you have it unless you point it out yourself.
No nose piercing but several visible tattoos. I do not hide them at all for the office, but am very conscious of them for client meetings or court and ensure my attire is professional enough to offset any misconceptions my tattoos might give. No problems nearly 10 years running in BigLaw.
Depends on your practice and what area of the country you're in. In the south or Midwest, big no go
Depends on your firm culture, I thinj. IME big law is way snootier about that stuff than small firms or public interest.
I’ve never heard of anyone having issues with nose rings in biglaw. I have friends who swapped their hoops for studs for court, depos, etc. but did that on their own accord.
I’m in a very niche practice with little to no interaction with clients (super lucky LOL) and I do not appear in court for any sort of trials or motion practice. The only concern would be my appearance for the older partners, who pay zero attention to me TBH.
It might offend some people. Wouldn't offend any of the partners in my big law practice group. Only you know your firm culture. Fwiw we had an on track associate with a pink streak in her hair for a while. As long as you can hide it when you need to, that's what matters.
I wear a small stud. No has said anything. It’s common to have a nose ring in my culture and I don’t think it looks unprofessional.
I wear a small stud but will take it out before any client interactions or large firm events (eg office wide events). For smaller (department or group) events or interacting with partners I work with, I will leave it in.
West coast big law generally does not care. You need to "read the room" my firm has mostly POC or LGBTQ+ identifying associates and partners. I'm pretty sure that's a different make-up in other parts of the US.
Absolutely not
I agree with all of the above! Another view to think about is how much client-facing work you do. Clients can be stuffy or super laidback, so it depends a bit on tour practice area I think. That being said, you could always just take it out before a meeting if you know the client is uptight