Jobs, pre T, pre Opp

[Elijah3291]

Ok well I do't have a job yet, but over the summer I will be getting one(hopefully) My mom thinks its to save for a car, but I could care less about having a car, I will be saving for Top surgery and T, and therapy lol.

Anyway I was wondering what do I do when I am getting a job? Do I have to wear female clothes to the interview (yuck) I would rather wear a dress shirt and tie, or a vest or something.  Do I tell them in the interview that I am male identified? I guess I still would have to check the little F on the resume, application right?


Post Merge: November 02, 2009, 11:28:49 AM
Are there any more accepting places? I would hate to not get the job just cause I'm a little different. I know I have snakebites. I would wear retainers for those.

[Silver]

If you have to present female, a dress shirt and tie isn't all that unusual.

This isn't the 50s, and women don't have to wear dresses all the time.

[Bel979]

Go as how you feel you are, dress however you want. Have you legally changed your name? If so then totally present as a male if not I will be hard but you'll have to apply as what your birth name is.

When I went for a job interveiw a year ago I went in a full 'mens' dress gear, my mom said to me at the time 'you'll never get it dressed like that' I told her I didn't care I will go as who I am, I had to use my 'female' birth name then.

Went to interveiw and they were totally fine with what I dress as they didn't care. I got the job and have to wear a uniform, when I filled out the order form I ordered a male uniform, I was asked why, just told them I felt more comfortable wearing it and that was the end of it.


As to a job recomendation I can't really say just go for want you would enjoy, in this day and age people don't tend to ask too many q's. Good luck.

[Kurzar]

I just quit my old job of 6yrs with walmart.  Many employees knew about me but not managment. If I get a new job I want to go in stating who I am, rather than have to tell them later after they think of me as female.

[s1ncere]

go as yourself.
I always go to interviews in men attire and I still got hired.
Why wear something your not comfortable in?

[Alex_C]

Some things like sales are paid according to performance, if you have a good personality, you could seem odd as heck genderwise and still charm people and do well.

Phone work can be good, I'd love to get phone work myself. My voice is in an interesting range now, halfway between man and woman, that could be a lot of fun.

You can "make" a job, do stuff like mow lawns wash cars etc., don't laugh, it may work out well.

[Jamie-o]

A lot depends on the type of job and the community you live in.  For example, when I worked at a chain store in Walnut Creek, CA they wouldn't allow odd color hair or facial piercings if you worked on the floor, but were O.K. with them if you worked in the receiving area.  Employees at the same store in Berkley, however, could get away with just about any presentation.  It was all about appealing to the local demographics.  That being said, I really don't think a shirt and tie will be a problem most places.  Trust me, I haven't worn a dress, or anything particularly feminine, since I was 12, and I've managed to remain gainfully employed most of my adult life.  The lip piercings will probably be harder for you to get away with than a shirt and tie.   

As for whether you should come out to your employer, it depends upon where you apply and what your priorities are.  (Is it more important to have the job, or to be accepted as yourself for the summer?)  I've heard that Starbucks is pretty open to gender-different people.  Sears and Walmart, I believe, have trans-inclusive policies. (Or so it says at TJobBank.com) I know from having been a manager at Borders that they actively recruit from the GLBT communities.  Of course, individual managers can have a major effect on the trans-inclusiveness of a place of business, regardless of official policy.  You never know.  I'm finding that the warehouse distribution center, in a small town in Wisconsin, that I currently work at is being totally cool with my transition.  Not something I would have expected when I first started working there. 

[Kurzar]

  Sears and Walmart, I believe, have trans-inclusive policies. (Or so it says at TJobBank.com) I know from having been a manager at Borders that they actively recruit from the GLBT communities. 

Wal-Mart is an ass place to work for. I just quit after 6yrs and my hubby was there for almost 10 before they fired him. My job caused so much stress (as well as stress I had outside the job) that I have been on medical leave for suicide almost the whole time since Jun '08.  I havn't ever looked into they rules on Transfolk...but seeing how they do their others rules like the open door policy (there's the open door, don't let it hit you on the way out)  I don't trust them further than I can piss.

[Jamie-o]

Wal-Mart is an ass place to work for. I just quit after 6yrs and my hubby was there for almost 10 before they fired him. My job caused so much stress (as well as stress I had outside the job) that I have been on medical leave for suicide almost the whole time since Jun '08.  I havn't ever looked into they rules on Transfolk...but seeing how they do their others rules like the open door policy (there's the open door, don't let it hit you on the way out)  I don't trust them further than I can piss.

Yeah, I've heard Walmart isn't a happy place to work, in general.  As I recall, Mekayla had some similarly unpleasant experiences.  (Where has she been, anyway?  I haven't seen her in a while.)  And honestly, I felt the same way about Borders.  There were days that I sobbed the whole 40 minute commute to work because I didn't want to face another demoralizing, soul-destroying day.  Although, to be fair, Borders would have been O.K. if I hadn't been in management.  And if I hadn't been working in that particular, snobby neighborhood.  (I've never in my life encountered a town so chock-full of overgrown two-year-olds in my life!)

[Kurzar]

Wal-mart isn't a bad place to work if management treated you like a human being rather than a robot. You know a family...like they claim?  The work itself doesn't take rocket science, but the amount they expect you to do in any given night is ludacris.  I was on the workhorse crew, overnights from 10pm-7am.

[Silver]

ludacris

Ludicrous. Ludacris is a rapper.

Yes the English Nazis have arrived 

[Kurzar]

Ludicrous. Ludacris is a rapper.

Yes the English Nazis have arrived 

I wrote it after just waking up so I don't care.  My spelling is mostly on par.

[Silver]

My spelling is mostly on par.

Yes it is.

[Alex_C]

Yes, if you talk like you write, "they rules" lol then I'm not surprised they fired you at Wal-Mart. The English police have indeed arrived. 

Right now ANY job is a good job.

[Kurzar]

Wow, I feel the love here already. I wasn't fired, but thanks for pointing out my mistakes.

[Arch]

Wow, I feel the love here already. I wasn't fired, but thanks for pointing out my mistakes.

I was manfully restraining myself.

Seriously, people don't do that a lot here. Pick on grammar, I mean, not restrain themselves.

Anyway...times have changed. When I was in my early twenties, I tried to find work through an agency. They told me that if I wanted an interview for the job I was seeking, I had to wear a dress or a skirt and nylons. I refused, citing health reasons: I am allergic to nylon. I offered to wear a nice pair of women's slacks and a plain white shirt. Very conservative. But they refused to set up the interview.

Over a decade later (fifteen years ago now), I got promoted at my job. Went from blue collar to white collar. I told them I wanted to wear men's clothing, and they didn't bat an eyelash. As long as it was professional garb, they didn't care. A year or so later, I changed my name. I suppose that explained that.

Not all areas and not all companies are as liberal as you might like, but times have indeed changed. And it's good that you're FTM and not the other way around.

I say, don't wear a skirt or a dress. Otherwise, you'll look like that butch funeral crowd in Stone Butch Blues. You won't be comfortable with yourself, and it will show.

[Elijah3291]

I was manfully restraining myself.

Seriously, people don't do that a lot here. Pick on grammar, I mean, not restrain themselves.

Anyway...times have changed. When I was in my early twenties, I tried to find work through an agency. They told me that if I wanted an interview for the job I was seeking, I had to wear a dress or a skirt and nylons. I refused, citing health reasons: I am allergic to nylon. I offered to wear a nice pair of women's slacks and a plain white shirt. Very conservative. But they refused to set up the interview.

Over a decade later (fifteen years ago now), I got promoted at my job. Went from blue collar to white collar. I told them I wanted to wear men's clothing, and they didn't bat an eyelash. As long as it was professional garb, they didn't care. A year or so later, I changed my name. I suppose that explained that.

Not all areas and not all companies are as liberal as you might like, but times have indeed changed. And it's good that you're FTM and not the other way around.

I say, don't wear a skirt or a dress. Otherwise, you'll look like that butch funeral crowd in Stone Butch Blues. You won't be comfortable with yourself, and it will show.

good point, and yea I mean I will still be dressed professional ya know.. Everytime I wear a skirt I just feel like a guy in a skirt lol

[Walter]

I have been wondering this for a while. I was thinking of making a topic for it but I thought it wasn't a good question to ask. But since this one got so many replies, it seems to be.

I've been looking for a job for about a month to two months. I've been sending out countless applications (internet or paper) and I've only got two interviews. One was at a Halloween store which closed down, and the other was at Old Navy. Old Navy said they would give me a call by this coming Wednesday if they were interested.

My parents would not let me go to any job interview or church dressed the way I usually dress. Hat, eye shadow, cape, ect. Whatever. I went to my job interview at Old Navy wearing mens jeans, a mans shirt and a jabot at the collar. That's it. I want a job very badly, but I also don't want to work at a place that's gonna be judge happy for the way someone dresses

[Kurzar]

I want a job very badly, but I also don't want to work at a place that's gonna be judge happy for the way someone dresses

That is the tough part and finding a happy medium. Some jobs may be lax in their dresscode and allow piercings/tattoos/colored hair, while others are dresscode nazi's and require (like wal-mart) only certain colored clothing/styles.  I personally do not see the issue as long as the employee is doing their job.

[Walter]

That is the tough part and finding a happy medium. Some jobs may be lax in their dresscode and allow piercings/tattoos/colored hair, while others are dresscode nazi's and require (like wal-mart) only certain colored clothing/styles.  I personally do not see the issue as long as the employee is doing their job.

I asked what Old Navy's dress code is. She just told me they don't allow "exposing" clothes. Quote "No butts, no boobs, ect" Unquote. She didn't say anything else so....yeah..I don't know