Judging By The Cover By Bonny Gainley Summary

Today’s job seeker has tough competition. In the textbook reading “Judging by the Cover” by Bonny Gainley, she argues that job seekers ought to be careful when they make personal choices that initially will affect their chances of entering the workplace. People have a need to be accepted by others just the way they are, but many of us were taught as adolescence that we should not judge a book by its cover, yet people judge others solely on their personal appearances. That goes for businesses as well, “[t]he bottom line is that businesses exist to make money. Whether it seems fair or not, generally employers do care about the personal appearances of the people they hire because those people represent the business to its customers” (5). Maybe

one day the attitude towards an individual’s personal choice, whether it be tattoos, piercings, clothing, or hair style will be appropriate in the workplace, but for now individuals need to be willing to accept the consequences. There is nobody to blame but for one’s personal choices that may be deemed inappropriate to others, likewise employers do not ought to accommodate anybody. Employers are always going to see what is best for the business, with this in mind people are free to do what they want to their body and how they wish to express themselves, as well as people are free to judge.
Although I agree with Gainley on the issue of young adults who just graduated having a difficult time looking for work, parents are partly to blame.

Parents need to share some of the blame when it comes to the issue of young adults making damaging personal choices, such as tattoos, piercing, and shocking hair styles that can have a negative impact on their future, and ability to land a job. Parents need to ensure that they are not enabling their children to make wrong personal choices by them giving the example that it is acceptable to look and act a certain way, nor send the wrong message. Parents of young adult’s need exhibit moral behavior, as well exhibit respectable personal choices themselves. In today’s generation, it is understandable that we live in a society where anything goes, nevertheless the parents cannot ignore or condone damaging personal appearance behavior their young adult children choose to

bare.
Today’s generation is one where tattoos, body piercing and undesirable looks have become the new norm for both male and female.

Gainley demonstrates of people who “make assumption about people based on their appearance every day, an often we assume exactly what they want us to assume” (4). In a recent personal event, a classmate and personal friend of mine recently went through the complete hiring process with a local police department, but was disqualified for visible tattoos on the neck area which could not be covered up. It was later addressed that public opinion would view a police officer as not being professional. Gainley indicates that “the message may be my uniform says I am a police officer or I like the latest fashions or I am a gang member” (3). Consequently, this could not be further than the truth as we all have the right to establish our own choices in life, but on that same note, willing to live with our

actions.
As Gainley addresses the issue of discrimination due to personal appearance in the workforce, specifically how people dress, tattoos and so forth, is a direct message to others of how they will be received. Often young adults never consider the negative impact their personal choices may have on the job they want to pursue in the future. They may argue that companies who discriminate are doing some wrong and illegal, but the fact of the matter is that those are the consequences one must consider before making certain choices. Gainley illustrates a true reference to “runners would put themselves at a disadvantage by choosing to run the 100 meters in combat boots…” (6). No one should be obliged to change to accommodate a person simply because that person made the wrong choices, nor because they are unwilling to respect company standards and policies. With this in mind, it is crucial that people think about the choices and the consequences that may have a negative impact in the future.