self-harm scars and job searching

i've been to quite a few interviews that i've thought have gone well. i make eye contact, answer the questions well i think, have more than enough experience to do the job, and all of that.

now im sure it's not the case all the time, but i'm wondering if maybe my self-harm scars may be a contributing factor of not being hired. they're quite noticeable, and hard to hide without wearing long sleeves all the time.

a friend of mine tried to get into the military but they told her that because she had self-harm scars that it showed mental instability, or something like that. im just wondering if maybe employers might think the same...

God, that's awful. It's bad enough a person felt so upset they did that, then they get to be discriminated against because of it. If the person has a history of instability that looks problematic (criminal records, multiple psych hospitalizations, etc) I understand, but self-harm scars should not be a deciding factor in my opinion.

I think it's possible you're right though. Can you just wear long sleeves to interviews?

Try to wear long sleeves whenever possible, or try to explain that it was some kind of injury (weed wacker, for instance).

i could wear long sleeves, even though it's summer and hot.
never thought to wear long sleeves before, because i didnt think it would really be an issue. now i'm worried it might be

I've never tried it, but I've read wearing cover up can work well too. I always wear long sleeves if I can, but honestly I think they're a lot more noticeable to me than other people. Mine are old and they've faded quite a bit, so someone would have to be looking for them to really notice.

But yeah, try cover up!

Sacrament said:

Try to wear long sleeves whenever possible, or try to explain that it was some kind of injury (weed wacker, for instance).

Click to expand...

This would be so obviously a lie that it would ring alarm bells for any potential employer

Yeah but I mean, it's kind of on him/her for cutting him/herself. It's either wearing long sleeves, telling the truth, or hoping no one asks. The only good lie is probably the one I mentioned.

There's not an easy way out of this that I can see, but there's some ideas here to start with.

I had a couple that showed up bad for a couple of years when I was 14, but in my 20's they're not noticeable now. Stay off the bad habit, look into concealing make up for scars, and it's got a good chance of improving down the road.

OR get tattoos to hide it... People are more open-minded with tattoos than self-harm scars.

One thing to keep in mind is that they might not have chosen someone else because of your scars. I've been to quite a few interviews where I thought I did well, and even got brought in for a second interview, but I didn't end up getting the job.

But realistically speaking, if the scars are very visible, it is possible for someone to see them and judge you by that. Wearing long sleeves to an interview would pretty much make it a non-issue. Even if it's hot outside, you're not getting interviewed outside are you? I have a long-sleeved dress shirt that I wear to interviews, even if it's 100 degrees outside (which is most of the summer here), and nobody's ever said anything about it. Once you get past the hiring stage and you're an employee, you can start wearing something more comfortable, and they're not gonna get rid of you because of some scars if you're already hired.

I'm willing to bet money some employers would do that. If people can lose job opportunities for having a bad facebook status, then Im thinking they can get pretty particular. There's just so much competition for employment that it seems that you have to always have your best face on to get picked. Worse than dating imo.