Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?—Read On & Find Out...

This time of year a marketing cliché in just about every circular makes me cringe. From June 1st on it’s the infamous “Dads and grads” time.

In her sydicated column "Color of Money”, financial expert and writer Michelle Singletary recommended the book Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview by career consultant Ellen Gordon Reeves.  It makes a great giftable, at least to the "grads" part of the equation. 

Can I Wear My Nose Ring presents a comprehensive look at what college-educated job seekers can expect from the moment they turn their tassels till when they accept the initial job offer. Need-to-know skills like résumé building, cover letter writing, and interviewing techniques are covered in a chapter-by-chapter format. The tone of the writing is sympathetic to the young emerging professional, but without being overly condescending, dumbed down, or trying to sound too “cool”.

The copyright date is 2009, making this book not only up to date on things like social media, texting, and email’s place in the job search, but it also gives some treatment to the unique state of the economy.

If there’s one thing I wish to have seen more of from Can I Wear My Nose Ring, it’s how to deal with online applications. Most companies only accept online apps, and even an attempt to mail a hardcopy or call a decision maker is barred by the corporate gatekeepers. So do you keep trying to charge through or do you respect the company’s recruitment process?

However, Can I Wear My Nose Ring does give the most exhaustive treatment on how to establish a professional network. We always hear how vital career networking is, but don’t receive a lot of feedback on how it’s done. Reeves does a good job addressing this on a level that’s understandable and attainable for the beginning career seeker.

I got my inspiration to read Can I Wear My Nose Ring from Michelle Singletary’s recommendation. Now I’m going to pass that recommendation along. Even if you’re not actively seeking a career or career change, you very well may know a new grad who could profit from this book. If the new grad is also a dad, well, then you’re killing two birds with one stone.

Can I Wear My Nose Ring is currently available only as a hard copy; no digital editions are floating around cyberspace.  Buffalo Public Library does stock this book which is where I got my copy.