Tattoos, piercings, bright blue hair…and I still got the job

I apologize for the delayed blog but I would like to quickly reflect on our discussion of professionalism from last week. After taking some time to think about this past week’s dialogue I’m under the impression that some people are of the opinion that to present yourself professionally you somehow have to misrepresent yourself. On the first note of how to present yourself during an interview I was surprised by the debate on covering up tattoos or not. Presenting yourself in an interview does not have to mean covering up all your tattoos and piercings. I think if you have no intention of covering up while teaching, covering up during an interview is just an attempt to hide facts from your future employer. During an interview the goal is to show the interviewer your best side, not a side that doesn’t actually exist. If you present yourself with pride and act in a respectable manner I don’t think there are many employers who will judge you on a single characteristic. Now if you have made poor decisions in the past and have something like an anarchy symbol surrounded by flames on your hand then I’m sorry for your choice and you may need to look into laser removal.

Another discussion point on social networking pages caused me to feel a bit defensive myself. I have a Myspace and Facebook page, but I don’t put anything up there I’m not willing to defend. I have to admit there are a few things that may fall into a more questionable category but I never post anything I am ashamed of, anything that is obviously illegal, or anything I feel would bring into question the type of person I am. Many people have made the point to me that I should erase both of those pages if I am going to be a teacher, but they provide me an easy way to keep in touch with friends all over the world. I consider myself responsible enough to know what is acceptable to post and what is not. I think most of our discussion on professionalism comes down to making the right decisions to begin with, regardless of whether those actions are photographed or not. I know from personal experience that there is always somebody around with a camera, so if you don’t want other people to know don’t do it in the first place. I think if we each conduct ourselves in a way in which we are not ashamed of, then there should be no worry that questionable photos will surface or that our character will be questioned because of past actions. The moral of my ramblings; if you aren’t willing to defend your actions to an authority figure do not do them to begin with.