Are nose piercings accepted in professional occupations?

[backtoblue]

I have a small diamond stud in my nose and so far no one has made any rude comments, but I wonder if people have a problem with it.

[rcrush]

1. Not really

Sooner or later someone may ask you if you can at least get a flesh colored one to put in.

[backtoblue]

4. probably so..

I'm just so tired of dressing like a damned penguin and want to be able to express myself. I don't have any other piercings or crazy-colored hair, but I like my nose ring and don't really want to take it out.

[Deep13]

2. Depends where you are.

For small town lawyers, any facial piercings (except ears for women) and any visible ink is right out. I can't even have a mustache.

[AngryAmish]

3. No

Im in the legal field and dress wise you can do a lot of things - but people do judge you. Do you want the person you are dealing with to be thinking about your nose ring or do you want them to think about what you are saying?

Do you think it is unfair? It doesn't matter what you think. Once people make up their minds (which they tend to do in milliseconds) it is almost impossible to get them to change it.

[Heidi]

5. In some professions, yes, it's fine.

One of my most respected colleagues is an art director whose professional appearance includes spikey bleached blond hair (only on the ends), bright red rectangular glasses, and both ears pierced (he usually either wears a diamond solitaire in each, or a chunky platinum hoop in each), Italian jeans, open-necked crisply-pressed dress shirt, well-cut but not _too_ structured jacket, and always very sharp, clean shoes.

I think one can get by with a lot more in the creative professions than in fields like law, accounting or business management, though. How does your immediate supervisor dress?

ETA: It also probably depends a lot on where you are. My colleagues can do this in Geneva, Milan, Berlin, LA and Zurich, but I'm sure he'd tone it down a bit for Muskogee.

[backtoblue]

9. Well, I am a funeral director/embalmer.

I want to set the example that people are alive for such a short period of time that we should look to people's inner personalities and not pass judgement. Kind of like living how you preach, I guess. I would never dye my hair green before a funeral or curse or show up in jeans - that can be offensive to the family. But, a simple diamond stud that basically looks like a piece of glitter shouldn't be such a big deal if I am doing a good job. Hopefully I will live to see the day that judgement is passed AFTER the initial conversations and not before... nt

[Curtland1015]

15. I wouldn't wear it, if only because you will be dealing a LOT with the elderly.

...and they'd be much less likely to overlook it.

[LynzM]

6. I'd say it depends on the profession and the company.

I tend to push the boundaries at my company (very, very short hair and relatively big earrings), but I am entirely professional with our clients and I do great work, so it's a fair trade, I think. :)

[Chan790]

7. More so if you work with a younger population.

I once volunteered with a NPO staffed almost entirely by people under 30...and was the most normal looking person in the room most days. (I'm far from the corporate drone. I tend to dress very stylishly-fashion-forward, very GQ. Not generally business meeting appropriate; not conservative enough by a wide margin.)

On the other hand, I once headed the public-facing staff-contingent of another organization where I fired several staffers after a single warning because they could not follow a very simple and detailed dress code. I got a lot of crap about that here on DU, but if I say "No sneakers, jeans, casual slacks or polo shirts. Ties and jackets mandatory." and you show up in a black polo shirt, Dockers and Chucks the day after I sent someone else home for being out of dress code, you should be expecting it.

If I had an issue with the nose stud, I'd say so though. Some gigs it would have been fine...some it wouldn't have been acceptable for a minute and it pretty much all depends of who you will be interacting with.

[LynneSin]

8. 10 years ago, probably not but today - a bit more accepted

Sure there are folks that will look funny at it, but I've seen a few around where I work. I think as long as it's something simple no one really cares.

If you're doing an interview for a new position, I would recommend keeping it out but for day-to-day no one is going to care especially if you're good at the job you do.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

10. Yes, No, Maybe

depends on the profession I guess. It is probably more acceptable in "blue collar" types of jobs.

I probably would think twice if went for a consultation with a lawyer and he or she had a nose ring. I don't think priests or nuns would wear them and that is a profession. Same with a doctor. Might put people off.

BTW, I have had my nose pierced since I was 19 years old. Don't wear it very often but the hole is still visible, so don't think I'm a prude about the subject.

[triguy46]

11. Easy. No.

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. I would not hire a person with a facial piercing of any kind to represent my company.

That's just me.

[applegrove]

13. I think they are prettty acceptable anywhere.

[triguy46]

14. Let's clarify what "professional occupations" means.

Having a job is not necessarily considered among the 'professions.' The latter in the business world is usually used in the context of licensure, certification, credential, e.g. CPA, MD, LLD. It is my experience of 34 years of work, most of which at the senior level, a nose piercing is not seen. Nor are visible tattoos. What is not seen doesn't matter. Is this right? Not for me to answer, just stating that there are norms that are followed, and that the successful tend to conform. And as had been posted here by others, it would not be the image I would choose to represent the organization. I know that you can find any number of exceptions through the power of the internet or media but the real world is something different.