So my first in person interview as a woman, which was a week ago today, went well from a personal standpoint, but, professionally I didn't get the job... I didn't actually know what the position I was interviewing for was until I was being interviewed. Sales clerk for intimate apparels. I'm barely passable, if passable at all, and this is the midwest. I can't see some middle aged conservative woman buying bras and panties from me. So, it was kind of game over for the job at that point. Still. I did well in terms of presenting myself, and that's what was important to me.
Anyway. I have an interview next Tuesday with a different company. I dont have the vocal skills to go through with an phone interview. The rare times my voice "passes", its more to do with visual clues people get looking at me than the actual sound of my voice...
But, there's also a catch. They're already expecting to interview me as a boy. So I don't actually HAVE to try so pass on the phone. But, that actually is a big part of the problem. Their application strictly specified my LEGAL name, which is sadly still my boy name for now. But, they also had a box on the app for my preferred name, which I definitely filled in with my female name.
Sadly, in all of their correspondence with me via the phone they've refused to honor that preference. And, I'm really unsure of the best way to broach that topic with them. A cis friend of mine advised that it's perfectly valid to say in the interview something along the lines of "Just so you are aware I'm currently in the process of changing gender. Is this something that you foresee being a problem with your organization?"
That is pretty much to the point. They'll either tell me they're fine with it, or the interview will more or less end at that point. Saves a lot of hassle. But, I dunno. How to other folks in the trans* community handle these sort of situations? Is there a better way to approach the topic, especially in a phone interview?
