Every time I’ve had an interview, I’ve taken my earring out of my ear. The last interview I had, I wanted to leave the earring in but after speaking with my wife, I decided it was best to remove it. I guess I was concerned and a bit apprehensive about the image it would convey. But the question is, should I have been? Should we be so worried that we remove an earring or hide a tattoo before an interview?

Given the tough market that you face, I would propose that you as a job seeker need to do everything in your power to remove the possibility of the hiring manager, or team, forming a negative opinion about you. (It’s going to be tough enough as it is. You don’t want a strike before you even open your mouth!) We all know what they say about first impressions and everyone comes into the process with their own prejudices and you just don’t want to give anyone a reason to put a negative mark against you.

On the other hand are you really presenting your “true” self if you hide the fact that you might have a tattoo or wear an earring? Is this misrepresenting who you are? If you are truly trying to put everything on the table maybe you should keep the earring in and let the chips fall where they may. I think this latter, risky path, is too big a risk to take. In a market where there are millions of folks unemployed, thousands upon thousands new folks filing for unemployment each month, this isn’t the time to prove a point.

Hide the bling. Wear a long sleeve shirt, turtleneck or whatever the case, and get that j-o-b!!