Facial piercings and looking for work, AIBU to think that they do matter.

[RosesAreBetter]

A good friend of mine has quite a few unusual facial piercings, but she doesn't wear metal jewellery in them, most of the time she just wears clear retainers.
But still the piercings are quite obvious.

She has recently been told that she is going to be made redundant and had been looking for another job, but is struggling because most employers take one look at her and say she will have to take out the piercings or she won't even get an interview (her words).

I have just listened to her rant for an hour about how unfair it is.
She is a lovely person, really pretty and friendly. And she is definitely qualified for the jobs she is applying for, BUT she should accept that most employers are not going to be impressed by multiple unusual facia piercings, no matter how hidden they are by the clear jewellery.

She thinks that it since she wears retainers they should not be an issue.

She is 29, almost all of the piercings can not be taken out for more than a few minutes before the begin to heal (so taking them our for work would b impossible).
She has had most of them for over a decade and thinks they are acceptable with retainers in them.
Tbh most of them are virtually invisible. They just look like scars. And I they would look almost exactly the same without the platic retainers in as the scars will still be there.

But at the end of the day she chose to get them/chooses to keep them so she can't expect them not to be an issue.

"Sad, weird and pretty pathetic that it's an issue in this day and age.

I don't get it. I wonder if it's regional? Noone bats an eyelid at tatts or piercings round here."

But the reality is that it is whether we agree with it or not. I don't find facial piercings attractive at all, and I imagine most employers don't either which is why this thread has been started. I don't think it is regional. I expect it is more to do with the type of job. I work in the service industry and no-one in my office has multiple facial piercings or lots of obvious tattoos.

Some of my colleagues have a chin piercing or nose piercing and several have discreet tattoos that can be hidden, but nothing that is "in your face"

I still think that the general public think that heavily pierced/tattooed people look a little threatening.

PrideOfChanur, I agree with you up to a point. I went to work in a different facility several years ago and one of my clients who followed me there made a comment about the "more relaxed dress code I was adopting". I pointed out that, one, he was mostly face-down in my presence, and two, my hands, which do the work I do, weren't dressed in anything at all, so as long as I was neat and clean and all pertinent parts were covered, did it matter whether the covering was denim or wool? He thought about it and actually agreed with me :o

But there is a point beyond which certain ways of dressing or adorning oneself are not acceptable in certain settings. And unless you're self-employed, you don't usually get to call the shots.
And, having thought about it, even if you're self-employed you sometimes don't. Customers/ clients vote with their feet, and if they object to the way someone is dressed, they may not come back.

I still think that the general public think that heavily pierced/tattooed people look a little threatening

I live on a council estate 3 miles out of Brighton city centre. The general public ARE the heavily tattooed/pierced ones round here......

What do people suggest this woman does? She has piercings. Even if she takes the piercings out entirely there will still be marks (retainers are just as invisible as removing piercings). She can't magic them away.

That's a fair point, Empusa.
Hmm.

I think it's regional too.

My mate has two nostril piercings, her lip done three times, a bridge piercing (across the top of her nose) and multiple ear piercings too. She also has bright red hair and visible tattoos.

She works with 'difficult' children (sorry, not sure what to call them!), and had all her piercings when she got hired.

I used to have a customer who worked for the job centre, her role being particularly badgering encouraging the young jobless into employment. I vividly remember her telling me (and she liased with MANY employers) that when she saw a girl come in with tattoos on her hands (strings of daisies were v.popular at the time) her immediate thought was "Ooh, you have just made yourself virtually unemployable"
Perhaps not kind or open-minded but in her experience that was very much the case

*I would like to go to work in my pyjamas, but I don't. It's work, not a self expression festival.

^ this made me laugh so much ^

I have tattoos on both wrists, and have had lip piercings, nose piercing, eyebrows piercings, etc. And been hired plenty of times, usually in client/customer facing roles, for companies dealing with businesses and the general public. Luckily there are plenty of businesses out there who rate ability to do the job over mere aesthetics.

It's too bad that single posts can't go into Classics :o

jacksmania it could be made into a AIBU

Go post it in AIBU, Victoria. Gwan, I dare ya! :o

I quite like piercings and I am thinking of having a tattoooo....in an inconspicuous place. However, I do think that image is important at work, particularly when job hunting. I was the only person who wore a suit to my job interview and I was judgey about it. I got hired. Shallow but hey.

tattoo

Would be asked to remove piercings and cover tattoos in my profession...non negotiable.

I think sometimes depends on the job.

People will judge other people in the first few minutes of meeting them. Rightly or wrongly a lot of that is on appearance. If you are going for a professional job, then you need to look professional and facial piercings aren't accepted as being professional. You might not like it but it's the way if the world.

I'd live to go to work in jeans and a tshirt but because I sometimes have to speak to customers I can't.

It's her choice to have the piercings, as it's the employers choice who they pick for the job.

Might not be fair, but life isn't fair!

Tattoos and piercings are banned in some industroes for health reasons.

Mostly it is because the image the company wants is of sensible professionalism. They want customers to trust them. Piercings and tatoos are viewed as a sign that someone is unreliable, immature. In some workplaces they are accepted though such as nightclubs, creative industries, tatoo parlours and some retail operations with a youth audience.

I have my piercings out for one of my jobs due to safety reasons, but I am so glad I've managed to have two simultaneous jobs where my (currently pink) mohican is not an issue. One of those jobs involves caring for children and thankfully none of the parents of those children give a damn.

There are lots of people who unfortunayely say, "Well, I wouldn't like to see someone with a mohican in x jobs," but usually when they meet me they get to realise pretty quickly that actually my hairstyle doesn't make a blind bit of difference to the way I do my job - if anything, being able to express myself makes me happier and therefore better - and so far I've never worked anywhere where it's been complained about.

As I said earlier, she is wearing retainers, at most they look like spots rather than anything else. What on earth else is she meant to do? Removing the piercings will be just as visible as the retainers.

Are people even reading the OP?

Were not talking about someone obstinately refusing to remove their piercings.

I don't think it's regional. I think it is more to do with what type of job she is going for.
I am generally quite liberal, but I think they ought to be removed for the interview at least. If she gets the job, then she can put them in, if she's allowed!
I do think it's the same principle as when you try and sell your house, in that you have to tone down the personal taste as much as possible.

I have 7/8 piercings in my ears,one in my nose these are 20 years old -I am a Teacher guess what I take them out for work.I can go weeks without putting rings in.
It doesn't make a difference to who I am but I work with children with ASD and EBD and there can be a lot of physical contact.Anyway I don't need to be expressing my individuality all the time.I'm at work,I can do what I want at home.

My experience is that if you are spectacularly good at what you do, or you are self employed, you can wear what the hell you like. I used to work in consultancy and it always tickled me that dress ranged from smart suits through to scruffy jeans + jumper - I've also dealt with a v. senior (and shit hot at what he does) civil servant who wears suit with black t-shirt & cherry red DMs.

Other than that, you have to conform. So my suggestion to your friend would be to start her own business, or make herself un-missably good

One other thought, I used to live with a woman with lots of piercings and very beautiful but extensive tattoos. She also used to play the card of 'no-one will employ me because of my piercings/tatts'.

But you know what, she ruled herself out of jobs 99% of the time, she wouldn't go for them because she expected to be turned down, whereas I'm pretty sure that many of the employers wouldn't have cared at all. Certainly some of the jobs she was talking about, the employers I know have hired people with huge dreads or other equally non-standard look.

In her case IMO a lot of it was to do with very low self esteem and depression - if she convinced herself that she'd be rejected because of her tatts, she didn't have to face up to going to the interview and potentially being rejected because her skills weren't right, IYSWIM.

Empusa is entirely correct, if she isn't going to be hired for being judged for her piercings they wont hire her if she takes them out.

In all honesty, piercings are more noticable without jewelery than with retainers in as depending on the piercing you will see the indentation of the skin along with the mark from the piercing.