Flashback to hot Mormon summers
Jun. 21st, 2004 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
judecorpI went to an interview this afternoon at City Year. I'm glad that I already know a good deal about City Year, because otherwise I think I would have been afraid I was joining a cult. One of the great things about City Year (a year of service for youth ages 16-24) is that it provides a uniform for corps members - very functional clothing consisting of boots, khakis, polo shirts, tshirts, sweatshirts, jackets, and backpacks. The organizational rationale behind it is that they want the diverse corps members to look as alike as possible so that other people will have to actively explore their differences, and also (I think) to make them look more clean cut and professional. But still, there's something oddly cult-like about walking into a building where everyone looks the same, especially because paid staff are also given the corps uniforms and are expected to wear them often.
The idea of it felt a lot like Philmont, where we all had to wear Philmont staff clothing whenever we weren't wearing the Boy Scout uniform. In a lot of ways it made the summers easier because you didn't have to think about what to wear. (If you know me, you know that the first thing I ask Jen every morning is, "What should I wear?") The down side to all of this cultish dressing is that City Year only allows corps members (and therefore staff members) to have a single earring in each ear and no other visible piercings. Yow.
Getting this job would mean altering the landscape that has been my face for well over the last 10 years (I got my second holes in my earlobes at 13). Am I ready for this type of change? In most other lines of work (business careers, etc.), I would not have gotten this far with so many facial piercings, so I think I'm definitely ready to take that next step for the right career. City Year is one of those organizations where almost all of the employees have been associated with the organization for a lot of years, and it has a lot of staying power financially as well. I think it would be worth it. I also think it would be weird. I would look so different!
Of course, the requirement to limit myself to one set of earrings makes my mind wander to the possibility of stretching my first holes just enough to wear cute little plugs (hoops are a no), and I wonder if it's possible since I got my ears pierced when I was about 7 years old and the holes are quite crooked. It's something to look into should it come to that.
Still, the whole interview was quite surreal and cultish, although I still love and have a lot of respect for the organization. The woman who interviewed me was very nice and I loved her vivacious and direct personality (she even swore at least once in the interview). The Executive Assistant was this cute young man from West Virginia who did a year of service last year and then got hired as support staff. He gave me a tour of the building and was very encouraging. Everyone I met seems to love it there, and many of them were corps members in the past. That's phenomenal - especially since I wanted to do City Year when I was younger.
I guess it's back to the waiting game. That was my only interview scheduled this week, though I did apply for three more jobs between last night and today. And I get to keep all the metal until the last possible minute! City Year is hoping to start the new person by the second week of July, so the wait's not TOO long.
The idea of it felt a lot like Philmont, where we all had to wear Philmont staff clothing whenever we weren't wearing the Boy Scout uniform. In a lot of ways it made the summers easier because you didn't have to think about what to wear. (If you know me, you know that the first thing I ask Jen every morning is, "What should I wear?") The down side to all of this cultish dressing is that City Year only allows corps members (and therefore staff members) to have a single earring in each ear and no other visible piercings. Yow.
Getting this job would mean altering the landscape that has been my face for well over the last 10 years (I got my second holes in my earlobes at 13). Am I ready for this type of change? In most other lines of work (business careers, etc.), I would not have gotten this far with so many facial piercings, so I think I'm definitely ready to take that next step for the right career. City Year is one of those organizations where almost all of the employees have been associated with the organization for a lot of years, and it has a lot of staying power financially as well. I think it would be worth it. I also think it would be weird. I would look so different!
Of course, the requirement to limit myself to one set of earrings makes my mind wander to the possibility of stretching my first holes just enough to wear cute little plugs (hoops are a no), and I wonder if it's possible since I got my ears pierced when I was about 7 years old and the holes are quite crooked. It's something to look into should it come to that.
Still, the whole interview was quite surreal and cultish, although I still love and have a lot of respect for the organization. The woman who interviewed me was very nice and I loved her vivacious and direct personality (she even swore at least once in the interview). The Executive Assistant was this cute young man from West Virginia who did a year of service last year and then got hired as support staff. He gave me a tour of the building and was very encouraging. Everyone I met seems to love it there, and many of them were corps members in the past. That's phenomenal - especially since I wanted to do City Year when I was younger.
I guess it's back to the waiting game. That was my only interview scheduled this week, though I did apply for three more jobs between last night and today. And I get to keep all the metal until the last possible minute! City Year is hoping to start the new person by the second week of July, so the wait's not TOO long.
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no subject
Date: 2004-06-21 09:50 pm (UTC)I have discovered I am more comfortable wearing summer work clothes than winter because I can get away with t-shirts and boy pants that look like capris. ;)
Good luck with job search.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-22 03:46 am (UTC)I /hate/ picking out clothes. I would much rather do everything in my pajamas.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-21 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-22 03:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-22 10:14 am (UTC)somehow i knew that the piercings would come up on a job issue. i hope you get something soon! ¤hugs¤
no subject
Date: 2004-06-22 02:41 pm (UTC)But at least with this organization, they had a good reason for not allowing the piercings and stuff, instead of it just being "company policy" or whatever.
You know, it'd be a neat change.
Mmmmm, surly Mormon cults...
Date: 2004-06-22 07:55 pm (UTC)B
Re: Mmmmm, surly Mormon cults...
Date: 2004-06-22 08:55 pm (UTC)