Should I even mention that I used to be a body piercer?

idk its a catch 22. could be an interesting topic to talk about but it could also ding you

If you sell fruit, you need to show your customers the beauty and quality of your oranges and apples. Banking is an industry in which you sell human capital. Hence the importance given to apperance and pedigree.

I wouldn't hire someone who did that in their past, I hate that stuff to be honest.

In general, I wouldn't go out of my way to bring it up. You should be evaluating your interviewer throughout the process anyway, so if he or she seems like the kind of person that would think that is cool, use your discretion in bringing it up.

If we're being realistic though, you probably won't find that many people who would be interested by that conversation.

All of my piercings are out and none of my tats are visible... This is about a past experience in a taboo industry. You would never guess I've done that just looking at me.

Alright, thank god that guy made the other thread. That's what I was beginning to think. Kind of sad that mentioning that I was a body piecer could ding me. Is it like this in all corporate jobs or mostly this kind of finance?

Yeah def never bring that up. I'd be totally weirded out by that shit (no offense).

I think being a body piercer is a completely irrelevant piece of personal information just like your dating history, bringing it up in an interview is unprofessional and that is why you deserve a ding

We live in a strange world. If we had colleges and licensing and degrees required for high end prostitution, then it would be as "respected" and "prestigious" as a lot of these fields. But this kid worked in an industry where he made people feel good about themselves and provided a service and it's looked down on because, well who knows why? It's just so stupid and wrong.

/Know some girls who were cum laude in sloppy seconds.

Newsflash: A sizeable portion of the human population thinks that people who are into the tattoo / piercing subculture are uneducated, immature, and sleazy.

No. Jesus.

In the future, whenever I read posts by undergrads talking about how an interview went well and their resume rocks but they didn't get an offer, I will ask:

1) Did you wear an earring, cape or pirate hat to the interview? 2) Did you discuss your strange fetish porn collection? 3) Did you smoke during the interview? 4) Did you flash the interviewer?

Would have thought these were common sense, but after some of these recent posts it might be worth doing a deeper dive into why an offer didn't materialize.

I can't believe all the people bemoaning how square or lame or conformist the industry is.

NEWSFLASH: YOU'RE INTERVIEWING FOR AN INVESTMENT BANKING POSITION ON WALL STREET. It's not the goddamn Hell's Angels.

I think the problem is if you bring it up, they might ask you if you have any tattoos or piercings (visible or not) and that might ding you.

I still think some people are thinking that I'll be going in looking like a body piercer...? The only reason I'd ever bring it up is if I was asked about an interesting job I've had (I've heard of weirder questions and so far, this is the most interesting job I've gotten). I also feel like that job helped me to develop my people skills (which weren't the greatest before that) because I had to market myself a lot and try to calm people down that were freaking out while trying not to punch them in the face while they were squirming.

again, just trying to tie all my loose ends. Apparently you never know what kind of questions are going to be asked in an interview. I have no problem understanding why WEARING a piercing would be a ding, but if, for some reason, this topic was brought up and I was dinged purely on that, then that's pretty shitty.

Obviously after an internship or two, I would have more relevant stuff to talk about. But if I'm trying to get my first internship and for some reason they want to know about my personal skills, this job really helped me to shape mine. That is all. Just because somebody used to be a body piercer doesn't mean that they'll be going into an interview with 1/2" ear lobes and a septum ring.

edit: noobmonkey, couldn't I just say that I don't? If they're not visible then why would I feel compelled to tell them?

archer, it seems like you took a simple question and then assumed that I'd also be walking in there with a pink dildo and a feather hanging out of my ass. It was a simple question that only needed a simple answer. Trying to turn my question into a completely idiotic one doesn't help your point. You don't see anything wrong with somebody not hiring somebody else just because he wanted to make some money in college and his best option was to be a body piercer?

with that being said, somebody said the risk isn't worth it and that's when I decided not to bring it up unless the interviewer himself has a piercing and it somehow comes up. Even before that, it wasn't something I was planning on bringing up randomly. Loose Ends. Tie em up.

haha ive been wondering how this would even come up in an interview.

tell me about a time someone was angry with you. how did you handle the situation?

"well, back when i was piercing this guys scrotum..."

Again... it's my best job so far for people skills.

Your hypothetical question is ridiculous and a bad attempt at belittling my question. I know the chances of it coming up are very slim but what if the one time it could come up, it fucked up my only shot? Better to come on here, ask the question now, and have you guys make a mountain out of a molehill than go into an interview and find out the hard way.

Wow, are you really that stupid?

Bankers want to hire people that fit in and are well polished and appear to belong in upper echelons of society... no body wants to hire some emo fag. Keep your body piercing and black nail polish to yourself. Its not an interesting talking point. Mentioning that you learned how to drive an F1 car and drove it for 10 laps around the Monte Carlo track is an interesting convo piece... use that instead.

Well that has nothing to do with a past job so I guess that wouldn't matter would it?

You guys act like I'm just gonna barge in there n start talkin about it.

Again. Tying loose ends. Jesus...

archer, it seems like you took a simple question and then assumed that I'd also be walking in there with a pink dildo and a feather hanging out of my ass.

Depending on who was interviewing you, you might as well have.

It was a simple question that only needed a simple answer. Trying to turn my question into a completely idiotic one doesn't help your point.

Actually, it does. It helps to demonstrate just how absurd the idea is that you would discuss something like body piercing in a finance interview.

You don't see anything wrong with somebody not hiring somebody else just because he wanted to make some money in college and his best option was to be a body piercer?

Sure, I see something wrong with it. Doesn't mean it's not the way of the world. Again, you are interviewing for an investment banking position, with all the stodginess and stuffiness that implies.

you're scum

I understand that Archer but, like I said, the only time I would've brought it up would be in one of my first internship interviews if asked about something about my people skills. Obviously I will have more experience to talk about after an internship or two but, for right now, that's all I got. Besides for dishwashing and bussing tables. I would think that they would be somewhat interested in if somebody had a job at all before.

I just hate how it's gonna be something I'll have to hide for my whole career in a corporate job cause some old, closed minded, boss may make me out to be a piece of garbage because of it. But I'm glad that I asked, even with all the poo flung at me.

I would not mention it.

If I was the interviewer I wouldn't mind discussing it. But then I am not the supposed private school -> HYP -> Wall Street kinds (after all they are the only ones who deserve to be in Banking)

God ! some people just take themselves too seriously.Chill out.

As for the OP, use your common sense I would say. I would have thought this is harmless and does bring out the people skills aspect (as you have mentioned), probably in Tea Party version of the US it probably does not work.

Take my comments with a pinch of salt. I only just worked in banking in Asia, moved out of banking in corp dev in the Middle East, and only just going back to banking in London

Your people skills? Exactly what part of the people skills you developed while piercing tatted up freaks is applicable to interacting with senior bankers and c-level executives?

The key takeaway from the responses to this post should not be "don't mention body piercing in interviews". It should be that there is a fundamental lacking in your understanding of investment banking, the culture, the competitiveness and the type of people they seek to hire.

Nobody views body piercing as an interesting point of differentiation. They'll look down on you and think you're not high brow enough for banking (has nothing to do with where you come from, there are plenty of blue collar analysts that are hired and they are clean cut and play the part of well polished banker).

You need to do better homework, because if this was something you were considering to use as a point of differentiation, more likely than not, there are much more important pieces of the puzzle that you just don't get... and you don't even know you don't get it.

You have a handful of chances to grab onto the banking rope (for better or for worse), you definitely don't want to come to the realization that you grossly misunderstood the banking dynamic when you're 4 blown opportunities deep.

Hey hey hey man... I clean up nice, trust me ;). I can look and act the part. I'm already training my pinky to automatically raise when eating my tea and crumpets. And true, "tatted up freaks" (which already seem like BETTER PEOPLE than your judgmental self) aren't like talking to c-level executives but it's SOME people skills. I did have to deal with the owner also... I mean, he does own the most successful tattoo corporation in Michigan and also owns an extremely popular tattoo ink line (Eternal Ink) that was featured on Kat Von D's shit show (another show too but I don't remember the name). Obviously I'm not gonna say anything about him, but it would be nice for you to meet this tatted up freak that's probably making just as much money as you, maybe more.

Don't be so quick to judge, it's so fucking ignorant.

Yeah I'm just gonna act like it never happened unless my interviewer has a tattoo on his forehead.

What about owning a lawn care business? I've met more felons that have worked for those types of businesses than at the tattoo shops I've worked at. I'm asking cause I'm starting a lawn care business but, since it's not a symbol of the upper echelon of prestige and superiority, it looks like some tight ass may look at me like a pos scrub. So should I just hide that memory in the back of my head and act like it never happened too?

Marcus_Halberstram:

You have a handful of chances to grab onto the banking rope (for better or for worse), you definitely don't want to come to the realization that you grossly misunderstood the banking dynamic when you're 4 blown opportunities deep.

That's exactly why I'm here asking the question way ahead of time ;)

Dude, get a fuckin clue. No one gives a shit about your self-righteous bullshit. And no one gives a shit about how many felons work in landscaping or construction vs. body piercing. If you tell an interviewer that throughout college you worked landscaping... thats admirable. If you tell them you were a body piercer, thats an auto-ding. It may hurt your feelings, but thats the way the world works... if you don't like it, go ask your mom and dad to tell you how special you are.

The dude pimping transvestites to Eddie Murphy and Hugh Grant may make more money than me too, I'm not going to walk into an investment banking interview and talk about the people skills I developed while being his book keeper and jiz mopper.... and how I increased his margin 40% by vertically integrating his business and rationalizing his cost structure by paying his prostitutes in smack instead of cash.

I'm just trying to give you a dose of reality. If you want to work on Wall Street, those are the rules you have to play by. If you don't like it, go back to poking holes in people's scrotums.

lol the best part about this thread is that it's actually real

I actually never had to pierce a guys junk before

and body piercing =/= prostitution, not even close

I'm the one being self-righteous? I'm just the guy trying to figure out if I'm gonna be made out to be scum if somebody knows... you're the one who labeled everybody I've worked on "tattooed freaks". Yet you have the nerve to say that somebody else is acting like their shit doesn't stink?

I mean Jesus Christ, is it that ridiculous to assume that it may be brought up? I've heard of banks looking pretty far into peoples' employment history.

You remind me of that elementary school teacher up in the Bronx who publicly confessed to being a hooker in the past and then was "shocked" that she was being dismissed. You were a body piercer? You don't think the Wall Street gets the beauty of body art? WTF are you trying to get a job here then if we are so dumb? Go hang out in tattoo parlors... Oh wait you still want a job here? Then behave like an adult... The next thing you know people will complain that they can't discuss their STD history in an interview

I still don't see the similarity between body piercing and prostitution or stds

Never said it's dumb if you don't like it, but to ding somebody?

I'd ding you straight away. Personally, I find that shit repulsive.

Your expectation that those screening you would view this crap as an aesthetic consideration is short sighted. You're employing the wrong logic here by trying to infer that these guys have poor judgment skills.

This is the real fucking world dude, not some hippy utopia where we all suck each other off. There's no room for bullshit and the sooner you realize this the better.

What is so hard with understanding that it was a job and not a way of life?

j-o-b

Scott sad to say it but marcus summed it up perfectly. When in Rome do as the Romans is almost exactly how Wall Street is like it or not. Body piercing isn't exactly something viewed as proper... bring it up... may not dig you but it certainly will not be a selling point. But the issue is you don't understand how its something that just isn't talked about...example. Many many people in college probably did did illegal drugs a much smaller portion sold them do you think your going to go into an interview and talk about how you were able to raise capital to sell drugs? No because it isn't proper granted its an extreme example but its along the same lines. You just don't bring it up because your more likely to have an interviewer not accept it than you are to have an interviewer accept it. Your object to getting a job when you get into an interview is path of least resistance....After you get a job you can bring it up with your co-workers...

Lastly it talks to your personality.. in a sense. People will use anything to judge you so you have to know that going in or your fucked bottom-line.

That's just the way it is.

I understand the negative connotations in an interview when you get barely any time to judge somebody and have to decide to hire them or not. But you can read how some people are already making conclusions about me based off of me being a piercer, it's ridiculous.

blackfinancier:

Scott sad to say it but marcus summed it up perfectly. When in Rome do as the Romans is almost exactly how Wall Street is like it or not. Body piercing isn't exactly something viewed as proper... bring it up... may not dig you but it certainly will not be a selling point. But the issue is you don't understand how its something that just isn't talked about...example. Many many people in college probably did did illegal drugs a much smaller portion sold them do you think your going to go into an interview and talk about how you were able to raise capital to sell drugs? No because it isn't proper granted its an extreme example but its along the same lines. You just don't bring it up because your more likely to have an interviewer not accept it than you are to have an interviewer accept it. Your object to getting a job when you get into an interview is path of least resistance....After you get a job you can bring it up with your co-workers...

Lastly it talks to your personality.. in a sense. People will use anything to judge you so you have to know that going in or your fucked bottom-line.

That's just the way it is.

Yeah I understand that, I've just never been around people that look at piercings like that I guess.

Is it always extreme or do these judgmental decisions settle down after you've been working for a little bit? Not talking about a piercing situation, just most situations in general.

Ah alright, that's what I was asking... I was hoping that after the interview not everybody's like that

I just hope you don't get hired.

What if we end up working on a deal with your bank and I get hepatitis from a bank book you handled.

Weirdest piercing you ever did?

Look, if you feel so strongly about it, talk about in your interviews, If there is a place that hires you then you know for sure these are the kind of people you want to work with. If you don't get hired, may be this is not the right industry for you as you people clearly don't share your sensibilities.

Dude, anything starting with "body-" is just some weird shit that doesn't fly with bankers and other corporate types. Body-piercing, body-building, body-scaping, whatever the hell you're doing with your body just keep it to yourself. No one gives a shit about it and it will only cause you to be laughed at. Honestly, why talk about it?

Nah I don't care about the piercing thing specifically, it's just that I don't want to be surrounded by people that are that judgmental about anything in general. Granted there are gonna be douches everywhere, but this thread makes it out to be like there are more than there probably really is.

n I never did any genital piercings so none really weird... did a few dermal anchors but those probably aren't what you're looking for. Sadly, the girls that you want to come in and get their tits pierced are the ones that don't... I got the cows :( oh and some girls come in to get their belly buttons pierced with happy trails.... bitches be nasty

n Marcus, all of my piercings were done in very sterile locations. You don't have to worry about hepatitis. Now if I sneeze on a bank book then you might have to worry about herpes, but that's a completely different story involving a F1 and the Monte Carlo race track.

^^^ you are right, happy - although that is something you do to hot chicks, not yourself. A tad more impressive as a result.

Based on the comments, I really am starting to think that this kid scottj19x89 is semi retarded or is missing something in his brain when it comes to common sense and am scared that someone might actually hire him

Why? I understood why not to mention it the first time somebody said the risk was too big. Since then I was talking about the ridiculousness of getting dinged because of that even if my resume is good and trying to tell people that, just because you're in that industry, doesn't mean you're a dirty, lazy, slob.

Like I said, I think that this thread is making it out to be like there's more d-bags than there really are. I still think the benefits of banking would outweigh the costs of dealing with people like this. Hell, I got a while to choose what type of job I want to go into after I graduate. That's why I'm here trying to see what it's all about rather than jacking off to American Psycho or Wall Street for four years (though I do indulge ;) ).

newsflash - the views of the people on this thread are VERY representative of the industry - do you even know what you are getting yourself into?

lol... does anybody that hasn't stepped foot in an investment bank really know what they're getting into? Sorry for thinking that opinions on a message board may be a lil more extreme than the ones you will hear at a bank.

Do people in investment banks still say newsflash? lol I've gotten a couple of em in this thread.

newsflash - no, most of the people on this site are college kids who have no idea what working in an investment bank is like. so yeah, this site really isnt that great of a representation of the industry.

LOL that's what you got out of this?

The reaction to meeting someone who worked at a tattoo parlor is not the same as how someone would be perceived if they revealed that in an interview. There is a place for everything... and an investment banking interview is not the place to be talking about your previous life in body piercing. If you think thats judgmental than so be it.

Why don't you put that as the last job you held on your resume and apply to a any job, wall street or not... teaching, accounting, etc... or any other job where they don't want their employees looking like trailer trash. There is a reason non-conventional piercings (read: anything other than ears on a grl) are called UNPROFESSIONAL. Its because it doesn't belong in a professional setting. If you can't understand that, then you really need to find a career more suited to your view of the world... try night janitor at the flea market.

You're beating a dead horse with the first paragraph man. Like I said, I wasn't gonna just burst in the interview and start talking about it. It's a past job, some places look pretty far back. Jesus.

That whole second paragraph sounds like you haven't been listening to anything I said. I don't actually look like a piercer. When I said I don't want to be surrounded by judgmental people I meant people like you.

I would downplay the whole tattoo artist / body piercer thing throughout the entire interview process

just leave it off your resume if you can

if you get the job, wait until you've established cred before talking about it to your buddies. Don't give people a reason to (prematurely) judge you.

Thats exactly my point, it doesn't matter if you look and act like Carlton Banks... no one wants to hire you... there is a stigma associates with that background and it doesn't matter what you look like.

Instading. Do not mention this under any circumstances.

I am amazed that this thread happened even after you read the earring thread.

In general, probably not a good idea to bring it up, you have more to lose than gain in my opinion.

And to get to the real heart of your prodding, yes, this forum probably makes the banking world seem more deuche-ish than it actually is. But it is still banking, ya know?

lol ya... n that's why I brought this up after reading the earring thread. I can understand why wearing a piercing to an interview would be bad... but to be autodinged for making a lil bit of money in a weird industry in college sucks for me

oh wells