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.
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.
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. ;)
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.
go as yourself.
I always go to interviews in men attire and I still got hired.
Why wear something your not comfortable in?
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.
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.
Quote from: Jamie-o on November 07, 2009, 06:25:21 AM
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.
Quote from: Kurzar on November 07, 2009, 07:41:49 AM
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!)
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.
Quote from: Kurzar on November 07, 2009, 08:30:08 AMludacris
Ludicrous. Ludacris is a rapper.
Yes the English Nazis have arrived :police:
Quote from: SilverFang on November 07, 2009, 12:17:51 PM
Ludicrous. Ludacris is a rapper.
Yes the English Nazis have arrived :police:
I wrote it after just waking up so I don't care. :P My spelling is mostly on par.
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. :police:
Right now ANY job is a good job.
Wow, I feel the love here already. I wasn't fired, but thanks for pointing out my mistakes.
Quote from: Kurzar on November 07, 2009, 01:25:17 PM
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.
Quote from: Arch on November 07, 2009, 01:48:51 PM
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 :P lol
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
Quote from: Sergei on November 07, 2009, 03:20:14 PM
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.
Quote from: Kurzar on November 07, 2009, 03:28:39 PM
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
Old navy might not be like this, but I do know that a lot of mid to high cost clothing stores use their front of store clerks as sort of "living mannequins"...you are supposed to wear their clothing and look polished, and will actually--unofficially of course--hire attractive people over average or poor-looking people. So a place like that would probably have issues hiring someone who would be seen "gender bending" by the patrons.
Stores that I know practice this (or at least the ones I've had friends work at) are Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle, GAP, etc etc.
Post Merge: November 07, 2009, 04:30:56 PM
Quote from: Arch on November 07, 2009, 01:48:51 PM
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.
Amen to that...I don't envy our poor sisters. We as FTMs get a lot less flak I'm sure.
Quote from: chrissyboy on November 07, 2009, 04:24:26 PM
Old navy might not be like this, but I do know that a lot of mid to high cost clothing stores use their front of store clerks as sort of "living mannequins"...you are supposed to wear their clothing and look polished, and will actually--unofficially of course--hire attractive people over average or poor-looking people. So a place like that would probably have issues hiring someone who would be seen "gender bending" by the patrons.
Stores that I know practice this (or at least the ones I've had friends work at) are Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle, GAP, etc etc.
There was some flak a few years ago when it came to light that one of those stores (I think it was Benetton, but I'm not sure) was going so far as to have guidelines regarding people's race. I.E., they wanted 2 white kids - one blonde, one brunette - one asian, one african-american, one hispanic, etc. They wanted certain proportions of each "look" to model/sell their clothes. And frequently those stores require that you wear their clothes at your own expense, and only those that are currently on the rack. If they stop selling something, you can't wear it anymore. Or so I've heard.
When I was looking for a job when I moved last year I found a list online of Trans Friendly Corporations that have already written Gender Identity into their "protected groups" I can't find the list, but if I do I'll post it. I remember Wendy's being surprisingly well regarded but I was scared that it might vary too much store to store.
I opted to go with Darden Restaurants, they own Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse, and a few smaller chains I don't remember. They weren't on the list, but they offered me a job, so I took it haha. There was one manager in particular, whom was so supportive she stood up for me on many occasions. They now have a policy in regards to trans employees because my manager went barking to the HR department about me.... I'm not sure THAT was necessary. But either way, I get my name tag how I want it, get male pronouns, and since I work at olive garden where everyone wears a white dress shirt and tie, get to wear male clothes everyday. In fact the dress code made it so easy to fit in with the crowd.
Most importantly I would apply to jobs where the environment "felt good". You'll know if people are all weird to you, at least I pick up on that in a second. Good luck. Now I'll go look for the list.
Edit:
http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/search.asp?form=private_quick_search.aspx (http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/search.asp?form=private_quick_search.aspx)
If you go to this link, and go to right below "Employers with non-discrimination policies that include gender identity" and select the "Fortune 1000" from the drop down menu and hit "go"
It will show you a list of companies that include non-discrimination policies that include G.I. Now most of them are the parent companies name, which will take some digging to unearth the retail locations they own. But hey its better than nothing :)
I see a dress code as being fine. It often is just the way the company wants or needs to be perceived by others. Your dress reflects the company. Uniforms that are unisex are the places I choose to work. I have turned down job offers that have dresses as uniforms for women and white shirt and tie for men. I don't think forcing people to wear clothing that separates them or makes them uncomfortable should be.
edit: I need an 'L' key.
You can make your job.
I played musical saw (not that great yet) and got $1.12 for an hour UGH but then sold ribbons for 2 hours and got $40. I typically get $20 an hour selling my ribbons but counting the time making them it comes out to $10/hr.
On this I live, go to EMT school, pay for my T etc.
It's possible no one said it's easy.
Mowing lawns, washing dogs, cleaning houses, washing cars etc can pay as well yeah we're all living these teenager-lives now so don't look down at teenager type work. 8)
Thanks for the link NickAiden. I was looking for that one too, but I couldn't find it. I hate it when I forget to bookmark a good resource!
In this economy you need to take what ever you can get as far a s a job goes. I think it's now harder to set standards on what you want and what you are willing to wear and so on. When the economy was better you had a chance to pick the job you wanted now you have to be willing to take anything. I would just go to the interview in clothing you are comfortable in as long as it is decent/semi professional looking.
Good Luck,
Myles
Agree with Alex right now thinking outside the traditional box is a good idea.
Wow, it's a sad day we have to wonder whether or not showing up dressed in anything other than a skirt or dress will get us a job or not. Man, both chicks and dudes have been wearing collared shirts and pants for years now- when you go into an interview, all the interviewer should be looking for in your clothing is that you're dressed sharp/professionally, cleanly. As long as you don't look like a slob, you really should NOT need to wear a dress.
Really, just wear a collared shirt and some work pants with clean/polished shoes, it shouldn't be an issue. As for the gender part, if you hear them refer to you as 'her', and being a man in the work place right now is a priority to you, my advice would just be to politely correct the interviewer and let them know you're a guy, just like any other guy would probably do if you called him by the wrong pronoun, and let that be that. If they try to badger you for some reason using your legal name or ID, calmly tell them that you're a transmale- that is if it even gets to that point(that's digging kind of deep for an interview. Their primary objective SHOULD be to validate whether or not you can do the work, not go on a treasurehunt to find out what's in your underwear.)
I'm assuming that in many cases they would not need/want to know the details. If they drop you on account of being trans when you do inform them, look somewhere else. As for places to work, as a poster above mentioned, call center would be a good one, and any place LGBT friendly. A coffee place, a book store, a deli- wherever it is the gay people go, not to incite any flaming, is probably where being openly trans would be more likely to be embraced.