updates: the noisy work event, interviewing with blue hair, and more

Here are three updates from past letter-writers.

1. I left a work event because of too much noise (#2 at the link)

I’m the lady who walked away from a street festival where I was doing public outreach when I began panicking about the noise level. A distressing number of commenters thought I was fully unhinged, but my reaction to it was real.

I did bring up the issue with higher-ups and received mostly a polite brush-off, although the emails seeking volunteers for these events do now sometimes say if they think it will be loud. I invested in some Loop earplugs for my next event, and they were helpful.

Well, it happened again. Last week we had an in-the-building event where our community presenter had a drum so loud, I had to run outside and away from the front doors to avoid a full-blown panic attack. Two children left the building crying. (Neither staff nor customers were warned in advance.) My (new, not the same as last time) boss was nice about it, but I was really embarrassed.

PLOT TWIST: I just learned that apparently, heightened emotional sensitivity to loud noise is something many women experience during perimenopause. And I’m 45.

Hopefully knowledge will be power and I guess Loops just go everywhere with me now. Maybe this information will spare someone else a bit of discomfort. Thank you for taking my question!

2. Interviewing with blue or pink hair

I wanted to provide an update now that I finally have one, since I really appreciated your advice, and the advice and interest from your commenters.

I ended up pushing back my move for a bit, but I am finally going back to my country of origin. What I wasn’t expecting is that I got a job with my old team (even though it has been 10 years!) and who I’ve stayed in touch with all this time, so they well know about my hair color. As a result, there wasn’t much of an interview, just a catch-up conversation, and I wasn’t super worried about the hair since it was a known quantity. However, they were being so accommodating that I did get this uncontrollable urge to ask, “Will my usual hair color be a problem at all? I’m really happy to compromise” (thinking dark purple. etc.). The response was basically, “lol, you can have whatever color hair you want.”

Given my history with the team, I get that this isn’t a complete answer on whether colored hair is acceptable in interviews nowadays. However, the fact that a top firm in a conservative industry had no concerns about brightly colored hair does support what you and the majority of your commenters were saying, which is that it’s just not that weird anymore.

I hope this helps others in a similar position!

3. Interviewing when my job title sounds like I have more experience than I actually have (#4 at the link)

I did use your wording to clarify with the hiring manager who wanted me to come in for a technical interview, explaining that I had never sculpted “from scratch.” I was very very nervous but he said that was totally fine and that he had no problem with training me up as long as I wanted to learn, which was incredibly reassuring. I continued to use similar wording with other recruiters and another hiring manager who had reached out, and I adjusted the wording on my resume to match my actual experience. The in-person interview was actually not a technical interview at all, more a “meet the team” and discussion about upcoming projects. It ended with a verbal offer, though I decided not to accept because the role involved close work with a client I’d had bad experiences with before and did not want to work with again. I ended up accepting a job offer from one of MegaTea’s suppliers, working under a manager I’d worked with before who was familiar with my experience and work style.

It’s been three months and I absolutely LOVE IT! It’s exactly the type of work I’d always wanted to and I’m learning tons. Management is great, the team is super friendly and always willing to help answer questions, and pretty much all the things that I hated about my old job don’t exist here. My stress and anxiety levels are lower than they’ve been in years. Plus, since I switched from salary to hourly I get consistently paid for overtime, meaning my take-home pay has vastly increased even though I’m working similar hours. (Before I was working 50-60 hours a week and getting paid for 40. Now I work 60-70 hours but am paid for all of them, and anything over 40 hours pays a premium rate!)

I’m so incredibly grateful that I decided to take the chance to change jobs. I used Ask a Manager for every step of the way from resume to cover letter to interview prep and it really helped! Thank you for answering and publishing my question; honestly I was feeling so guilty about exaggerating my experience that I was considering pulling out from the application processes entirely. I’m very glad I didn’t! Now I’m proud to say I really am a Teapot Sculptor and I’m confident my skills and hireability will keep growing the longer I work this job.

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