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I'm terribly scared of looking for jobs because of my acne and acne scars

MemberMember
11
(@kitsliv45)

Posted : 08/14/2019 10:00 pm

I'm approaching my senior year of college and going through job searches. The thing is that I'm mortified of going to networking events and meeting new people because I'm scared that they'll judge me because of my bad skin. Or not give me a chance because I don't look the part. Looking presentable is huge in the workforce, especially if you are in a client facing role. I'm so scared that my acne and acne scars are holding me back from the jobs I want.

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MemberMember
58
(@jwalk)

Posted : 08/17/2019 3:45 am

When trying to explain the social discrimination that comes with having acne, I often say that turning up to a social event with acne is like turning up to a job interview without a suit. It doesnt change your ability to do the job, but it gives a bad first impression to your potential employer.

 

Youll probably get a lot of well-meaning advice along the lines of dont worry, its not as bad as you think, no one cares what you look like etc, but I dont believe in self delusion so Ill just be honest.

 

I know for a fact that I have been discriminated against because of my acne on three separate occasions. I can only assume that there must have been other occasions when this happened.

 

The first time I was openly told at the interview that my appearance would be off-putting to customers and that I should make more of an effort in future. The implication was that I had a hygiene problem.

 

The second time after the interview I sat outside to wait for my dad to pick me up. Unbeknownst to them I could hear the two women who interviewed me laughing and talking about how disgusting I looked.

 

The third time I dont really count as it was more understandable. I applied to join the Royal Navy when I was 18 and was told by the recruitment guy that my acne would be a bar to entry and that I should apply when it clears up. The reason behind that regulation was that if the acne becomes infected during training or when deployed it may require treatment that prevents you from performing your normal duties.

 

One of the interesting things about no longer having acne is that people openly tell me what they think of people who have acne, as they are completely oblivious to the fact that I used to be a sufferer. Frankly, its pretty much everything I feared when I was younger there is definitely a lot of disgust and ill will towards acne sufferers which would surely lead to some sort of bias.

 

I also worked in recruitment for a few years and am aware that many of my colleagues discriminated against people that they felt didnt look right or they perceived to be unclean in some way. To be fair some of them had even more ridiculous reasons for not hiring a candidate such as they didnt think his shoes matched his suit, or they werent wearing a watch.

 

However, as I did manage to get a few jobs when I had acne there were obviously people who didnt take it into account. All you can really do is make the effort and hope for the best.

 

 

 

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MemberMember
19
(@mickidepaname)

Posted : 11/09/2019 1:05 pm

On 8/17/2019 at 10:45 AM, jwalk said:

When trying to explain the social discrimination that comes with having acne, I often say that turning up to a social event with acne is like turning up to a job interview without a suit. It doesnt change your ability to do the job, but it gives a bad first impression to your potential employer.

 

Youll probably get a lot of well-meaning advice along the lines of dont worry, its not as bad as you think, no one cares what you look like etc, but I dont believe in self delusion so Ill just be honest.

 

I know for a fact that I have been discriminated against because of my acne on three separate occasions. I can only assume that there must have been other occasions when this happened.

 

The first time I was openly told at the interview that my appearance would be off-putting to customers and that I should make more of an effort in future. The implication was that I had a hygiene problem.

 

The second time after the interview I sat outside to wait for my dad to pick me up. Unbeknownst to them I could hear the two women who interviewed me laughing and talking about how disgusting I looked.

 

The third time I dont really count as it was more understandable. I applied to join the Royal Navy when I was 18 and was told by the recruitment guy that my acne would be a bar to entry and that I should apply when it clears up. The reason behind that regulation was that if the acne becomes infected during training or when deployed it may require treatment that prevents you from performing your normal duties.

 

One of the interesting things about no longer having acne is that people openly tell me what they think of people who have acne, as they are completely oblivious to the fact that I used to be a sufferer. Frankly, its pretty much everything I feared when I was younger there is definitely a lot of disgust and ill will towards acne sufferers which would surely lead to some sort of bias.

 

I also worked in recruitment for a few years and am aware that many of my colleagues discriminated against people that they felt didnt look right or they perceived to be unclean in some way. To be fair some of them had even more ridiculous reasons for not hiring a candidate such as they didnt think his shoes matched his suit, or they werent wearing a watch.

 

However, as I did manage to get a few jobs when I had acne there were obviously people who didnt take it into account. All you can really do is make the effort and hope for the best.

 

 

 

Thank you. Tired of the hypocrisy around bad skin.

 

It makes people feel guilty for feeling low when they suffer from it. While this society does nothing but expressing that people with acne are young losers.

I'm doing a receptionist job right now, and I feel discriminated. I feel my coworkers don't like me, and don't hold me in high esteem, while I didn't do anything to anybody, and I didn't do any mistake in my job.

But for example, two girls almost don't answer to me back when I ask them a question. Generally I see some of them rolling eyes, sighing when I talk to them...f*** them.

 

So yeah, contrarily to the BS I heard, I feel discriminated every day.

 

Now, I just accepted people won't hold me in high esteem, no matter what I do.

It makes things way simpler. Now, I just focus on what I can control, which means behaving well, not disrepecting people around me, and doing my best in the tasks I do.

 

 

The way acne is treated is not logical at all.

On the one hand :

-During job interviews, and at work, you're expected tolook "clean and presentable". (What defines "clean and presentable"? Isn't unclear skin ever perceived in this society as not cleaned and, hence, not presentable?)

...We can doubt it, as good skin is seen as the number 1 beauty characteristic (I love coming across beauty TV advertising that basically say "Take care of your skin, so you're a succesful person and not a failure")

-In TV show,the virgin and the loseralways have acne.

On the other hand :

-Having acne won't make anyone have a bad perception of you.

 

Of course it will.

 

I think it's important to be aware of the existence of many society standards, to be able to keep your self esteem intact.

If you don't, you'll always think something is wrong with you when you get rejected.

 

But many times, nothing is wrong with you. Something is wrong with the environment around you.

 

 

 

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MemberMember
37
(@skinnystrong)

Posted : 01/05/2020 12:20 am

Sigh...and these same people who insult would blow up like an overpumped sex doll when insults are thrown at them. A woman once said I needed bleach for my disgusting skin. I replied she needed to drink it 'cause no dog would fuck a fat ugly bitch. She cried. Everyone thought I was the bigger asshole because she cried. Yea I guess I was an asshole, I won't deny that, but when shots are fired, only the fool stands tall to get shot.

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MemberMember
118
(@jpablo)

Posted : 01/05/2020 6:21 pm

Professional businesses and their employees should not be bothered by appearance. It's what your can bring to the business.

 

I got into the job I was after for a while and I was at the stage on the Accutane breakout/purge.

 

Just be confident and give them reason to employee you, because of your skills etc!

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Guest
0
(@Anonymous)

Posted : 01/05/2020 8:54 pm

Confidence can go along way, even if you have to fake it. If you can pull someone in with what you're saying, it'll take some focus off your face. People remember the way you make them feel so it really serves no purpose to focus on the way you feel during the interview. Women are lucky, because makeup is normalized for us but men can use it too in a way that can be hardly notable (I suggest YouTube).

Besides that, addressing the "elephant in the room" could diffuse any possible on-going distraction of your face. Simply saying something like, "I just wanted to mention that I realize my skin isn't perfect right now and I'm actively trying to treat it. I hope its not an issue." could put you and the interviewer at ease and they might even empathize, rather than draw false conclusions about your lack of hygiene.

Ultimately, you don't have to mention it if you don't want to. Do what makes you most comfortable. Just remember that a-holes that would judge you negatively based off a skin condition and overlook your qualifications are probably not people you wanna work for anyway.

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MemberMember
58
(@jwalk)

Posted : 01/09/2020 1:02 pm

On 1/5/2020 at 11:21 PM, jPablo said:

Professional businesses and their employees should not be bothered by appearance.

You're right, they should not be bothered, but unfortunately people don't always think the way they "should".

On 1/6/2020 at 1:54 AM, Bella38 said:

Just remember that a-holes that would judge you negatively based off a skin condition and overlook your qualifications are probably not people you wanna work for anyway.

Unless it happens to be your dream job - or more likely the stepping stone to a potential career. The person who is interviewing you isn't necessarily representative of the majority of the people you would be working with. You could be interviewed by the one person in the company who is disgusted by acne. Everyone else there could be cool, but you've been denied the chance to work with them by that one a-hole.

And they aren't necessarily overlooking your qualifications either. In my experience anyone who gets a job interview is usually more than qualified to do the job, otherwise they wouldn't have been passed to the interview stage. The purpose of the interview is to get a face to face assessment of the candidate and determine there suitability for the role. At that point it really depends on the whim of the interviewer. If ten people are being interviewed, all of whom are qualified to do the job, the one guy with severe acne may struggle to impress.

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MemberMember
19
(@mickidepaname)

Posted : 01/13/2020 6:56 am

I honnestly don't like the kind of advices "make the difference

Stop with this "compensating" talk...

Nothing to be ashamed , which means you need to stop it...

stop apologysing for being who you are.

I can be in a bad mood, or simply not want to smile at times...and I wont change that.

 

Grow REAL self confidence , and not a BS fake one

 

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