Poll: Is this piercing unprofessional?

[steph96]

I have my earlobes and my tragus (the little nub the sticks out in the center of my ear, connected to my cheek) pierced. I have a tiny diamond in my tragus and then I have larger diamonds in my lobes. On rare occasions, I go for dangly earrings in my lobes. I had my tragus done about 18 months ago when my divorce was finalized. It was my “wild” thing that I did. It makes me happy and I actually haven’t had a migraine since (I usually get 1-2 a year).

Ever since I had it done, my CEO has given me crap about it. When she heard how my interview went, the first thing she told me was that my tragus piercing will have to be removed for that position because it’s extremely unprofessional. CEO has zero piercings and is ultra conservative (and doesn’t like me on a personal level...) so I take everything she says with a grain of salt. So what do you say? Is my tragus piercing unprofessional? Does it need to go?

[MixedBerryJam]

I'm not into piercing in general and even I say this is fine. Your current CEO sounds like an asswipe. Keep it. Your perfect job and perfect boss is out there and if they give you shit about this Ithey're not The One so keep looking. Good luck though!

ETA Wait a sec. I may have misunderstood. Is the NEW job with that same company, so this is the CEO of the new job talking? Them I'd say option b, but clearly that CEO is not The One. I was thinking you were talking about your current CEO and you'd be leaving her domain for the new place so fuck her.

[flamingeaux]

I don't personally think that having the piercing is unprofessional. Is there more than anecdotal evidence available about the link between tragus piercing and migraine relief? If so, I would probably see if your doctor will write a letter stating that you suffer from migraines, and the piercing is part of your therapy. I would probably try to find a more discreet stud or ring for your piercing since your boss is complaining.

[isabel]

This is not a piercing I would think of as "unprofessional." Especially if you just have small diamond stud there.

[goldengirlz]

What industry, if you don’t mind sharing?

A guy I work with literally wears a robe and slippers to work so. My perception of this may be skewed. 😀

[yogapants]

Naaah. I think a tragus piercing is pretty inoffensive unless you’re working in a bank or something. Then again, I had one, so I might be biased.

[steph96]

Sept 5, 2019 22:23:11 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

What industry, if you don’t mind sharing?

A guy I work with literally wears a robe and slippers to work so. My perception of this may be skewed. 😀

I work in healthcare. Our corporate office can be a little stuffy, but at the local level, things are more relaxed.

I’d love to work in your industry!

[steph96]

Sept 5, 2019 22:13:23 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

I'm not into piercing in general and even I say this is fine. Your current CEO sounds like an asswipe. Keep it. Your perfect job and perfect boss is out there and if they give you shit about this Ithey're not The One so keep looking. Good luck though!

ETA Wait a sec. I may have misunderstood. Is the NEW job with that same company, so this is the CEO of the new job talking? Them I'd say option b, but clearly that CEO is not The One. I was thinking you were talking about your current CEO and you'd be leaving her domain for the new place so fuck her.

New job will be within the same company, but I won’t have the same CEO. I can’t wait to never have to deal with her ever again.

[turnipthebeet]

Sept 5, 2019 22:23:11 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

What industry, if you don’t mind sharing?

A guy I work with literally wears a robe and slippers to work so. My perception of this may be skewed. 😀

Software development?

[goldengirlz]

Sept 5, 2019 22:55:42 GMT -5 turnipthebeet said:

Sept 5, 2019 22:23:11 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

What industry, if you don’t mind sharing?

A guy I work with literally wears a robe and slippers to work so. My perception of this may be skewed. 😀

Software development?

Yep

[mrsukyankee]

Unless your new boss says anything, I'd ignore, ignore, ignore.

Hell, I work in counselling and we have people with tons of tats, piercings and hair dyed funky colours.

[wildrice]

If the dress in your organization is professional, I wouldn't think piercings fit that and it should be removed. If it's more business casual, I wouldn't think a piercing like that would matter. If it's a small stud I am surprised your CEO even notices. That sounds super picky

I personally removed my tragus piercing when I finished grad school, because I wanted to be seen as professional. I also stopped my cartilage piercings at that point. I honestly haven't missed them but looking back, I think I probably was too cautious and it wouldn't have mattered, especially in the industry I ended up in. This was also 2008 and I think piercings are more accepted now.

So...I think it's up to you. If you don't care much about it maybe remove to be safe. If you like it, I think you can keep it.

[pandorica]

I think this piercing is almost at the same level of professionalism as earlobes. Your CEO sounds obnoxious.

[jellymankelly]

If my doctor or nurse had their lip pierced, I’d probably question their seriousness and professionalism, but even a nose piercing wouldn’t bother me in the healthcare field. I think this is a weird thing for the CEO to complain about. But I also worked for a lady who would look at your legs every morning to make sure you had on pantyhose, so I know this type of uptight manager still exists out there...

[ssmjlm]

Honestly, I'm not sure it's even something that a manager can comment on, so I'm surprised anything was said. Further, given it's also a medical thing, I would be quick to say something about "well it's for my migraines and has helped immensely."

[shauni27]

I personally think it is just fine--especially knowing about the link to migraine management! I have a few associates who have done that piercing just to get migraine relief. For that reason alone I say leave it in, and if your new boss/department has issue with it you can explain you need it for a medical reason and get a doctor's note.

[shauni27]

Sept 5, 2019 23:01:21 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Sept 5, 2019 22:55:42 GMT -5 turnipthebeet said:

Software development?

Yep

lolol. I was going to say the same thing.

I work in software development as well and it is the MOST professional office I have worked in, within this field. 

And I am wearing jeans and sandals today.

[lemoncupcake]

In most industries, I think anything on the ear gets a free pass as far as piercings go. Given that this CEO isn't going to be your new boss, I'd leave in your small stud and see how things go.

[sunflower17]

Do you see this CEO on a regular basis? I mean if she said it has to go..I’m not sure if keeping it is going to make your life unpleasant. Is there anything in the written dress code?
That being said, I’m in healthcare with direct patient care and I have my tragus pierced, my nose pierced and a visible tattoo on my foot. No one has ever said a word about any of these things.

[wambam]

I am just completely over what is "professional" in terms of dress, piercings, or tattoos. I know I have to play by the rules of society and all, but what is professional IMO is doing your job well. If you do that and you are wearing clothes, I just don't care.

[msmerymac]

I'm in a client-facing position (in a creative-ish field - marketing) and I would have no problem with that. Because I dress up and meet with clients, I personally probably wouldn't die my hair purple or get a facial piercing - again (though I wouldn't think twice if a programmer or graphic designer on my team did), but a tragus is so, so minor.

Double-check your company's employee handbook to see what it says about dress code and don't worry about it. Back way before I was client facing, in my early 20s, I had an eyebrow stud, and a coworker had a small nose stud. When my small company got around to writing up a dress code they mentioned something about small and/or tasteful piercings as a way to accommodate us, lol. That was also in Los Angeles, though.

[msmerymac]

Sept 5, 2019 22:23:11 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

What industry, if you don’t mind sharing?

A guy I work with literally wears a robe and slippers to work so. My perception of this may be skewed. 😀

You're also on the left coast. Sometimes I think living in LA for 0 years skewed my professional dress code norms!

[verycontrary247]

Sept 6, 2019 7:57:37 GMT -5 wambam said:

I am just completely over what is "professional" in terms of dress, piercings, or tattoos. I know I have to play by the rules of society and all, but what is professional IMO is doing your job well. If you do that and you are wearing clothes, I just don't care.

Same. My last job had a very liberal piercing/tattoo policy for a conservative Japanese company, but new place says zero facial piercings, despite the fact that my department is not customer facing.

I've been getting away with a tiny nose stud, but have to flip up or take out my septum ring every day. They have no policies against ear piercings/modifications.

[ksun]

I've had mine done for 14 years and no one has ever commented on it. I can think of a million things more offensive than that.

[cville]

Independent of your piercing, your CEO sounds like a bully.

I personally wouldn't have that piercing, but I wouldn't clutch my pearls about it either.

[Deleted]

I feel like this is one of those things that is so dependent on the culture of your organization. I work in the Legal Department of a large insurance carrier and this would never fly in the office where our SVP sits, heck, when I started with this company our dress code was "Business" and women were still expected to wear nylons with skirts. The SVP reluctantly eased up on the dress code about 10 years ago and we are now "Business Casual" but piercings and tattoos are still frowned upon.

That said! I do not cover up my tattoos on a daily basis, but do make sure I cover them when I know that the big boss is going to be in the office (he's only in a few times a month) and if I personally saw someone with this piercing I wouldn't even bat an eye.

[chchchia]

Is it a safety issue?

I personally love piercings. I work for the government though. In the office people don't really care, on jobsite, they have to take them out though, for safety. I would imagine if you are in healthcare, it might become a safety thing? People might grab them? I don't know, playing devils advocate here, trying to figure out why someone would have an objection to it.

[livinitup]

I was feeling strongly that this was a “maybe” because who knows what the culture is for that position - so, wait and see. But I voted “no” because I don’t think it’s unprofessional. It sounds very subtle, in fact. A diamond stud a little above your lobe? Just because it’s a bit fashion forward/new/trendy doesn’t make it “unprofessional”.

[OG Jo]

How do y'all feel about a recent college grad applying for a job in a professional field with a lip ring? A friend can't get past any initial interviews and I'm curious if the lip ring might be playing a part in that...?

[woodgnome]

If I remember correctly, you’re in finance, right? I worked at HQ at a large company in the manufacturing industry and every dept had a different set of dress code standards. The engineers wore shorts and sandals & finance was on the opposite end of the spectrum. I’m a CPA & we were told that if you had visible tattoos, they needed to be covered (I.e wear panty hose if one on your foot would be visible). So this really doesn’t surprise me but a tragus piercing is pretty small and discrete.