Painted Nails? Male & Female

[King74]

So, I started out somewhat jokingly thinking about getting my nails painted to match my suit for my interview.  Now after talking to a few people I am seriously considering it, and I wanted to see what you guys thought about it.  I am male, and my suit is navy blue so I was leaning towards navy blue with a lighter blue accent nail.  I used to be a part of a group that would paint their nails before a major event, guys & girls, so that's where the idea came from.  Having said that I think that if it ever came up in the interview I would be able to speak at length about it and challenging norms/beliefs.

Question: Do you think it is inappropriate for a male to wear coloured nail polish to an interview? Or is it simply abnormal?  If you think it's inappropriate do you also think it is inappropriate for a female to wear coloured nail polish? If there is a difference between the two please explain why.

[End Poverty]

I am a female, and I usually apply red nail polish or hot pink nail polish.  BUT on the day of my interview, I applied a nude nail polish because I did not want my interviewers to think I was being unprofessional for any reason and I really did not want to risk any possibility that an interviewer might negatively stereotype me based on my appearance/outfit. So, I dressed very conservatively.   The interview day is the time when you don't try to stick out by what you are wearing instead by what you are saying. .. in my opinion, I don't think it is a good idea to wear a dark nail polish during the interview for a male or a female. 

Also, if it's MMI, you probably won't get a chance to speak at length about it and how you like challenging norms and beliefs. 

Best of Luck

[Olaf]

My gut response to this, sadly, would be to err on the side of caution :/ I am all for people challenging norms and doing what makes them feel great but you don't want to give the interviewers any possible reason to deduct marks or whatever and it is plausible that some could view a male wearing dark nail polish as unprofessional. For what it's worth, as a female, I also avoided dark nail polish and stuck with a nude. 

[medabe]

I would definitely leave the nail polish off for this interview. Given that it is soooo hard to get a medical school interview in Canada, I can not imagine why anyone would do anything that would risk them not being accepted, post interview. It is a sad truth in many places, that prejudices exist, and I for one, would rather be offered a position at medical school (whereupon I can wear whatever I want!) than stand on principal, without a medical school position. I would say the same thing to a male or female. If you have to ask, it is probably too risky. my 2 cents!

[Aetherus]

This is a good way to get flagged.

Medicine is a very conservative discipline. Any piercings that are not on your ear lobes should be removed. Any tattoo's that are visible should be covered up etc. Once you are in medical school you can do whatever you like, but as mentioned previously, anything that makes you stand out in terms of your presentation during interviews is not a good idea.

[freewheeler]

Don't do it.

People will think you are either socially inept, a straight up weirdo or both if you do this.

Try to at least pretend to be normal for a couple hours, like everybody else does...then you can be as eccentric as you want if you get in, and then if you become a staff physician you can be as dysfunctional as you want to be. 

And the cycle continues.

[SillyPanda]

Unfortunately, medicine can be very hetero- and cis-normative. While this is something that should not matter at all (in my opinion), you don't know how interviewers might perceive it. The idea that you might get flagged for this or that people might judge you makes me so mad - and shouldn't happen in a perfect world - but could sadly be the case.

[YoshCo]

.

[Koopatroopa]

I’m also female. My nails are terribly brittle and (I think) ugly so I considered wearing a nude nail polish; but in the end, I haven’t gotten around to using it for my interviews. I would not consider wearing a dark or popping colour polish to the interview. 

But, we get a lot of advice on here; and it should always be taken with a grain of salt. 

I wear my long hair down, because I’m more confident and comfortable. I talk about my physical disability because it’s part of my life. People have warned me against both, but in the end, it’s YOUR interview. You do you. 

[Arztin]

I think it is best to not show up to your interview with a blue nail polish. Some people might see you as weird and you will draw attention useless to your nails.

[goleafsgochris]

This is a "hail mary" or a "Sarah Palin" type of option.

It may make sense if you are trying to stand out because you have a very low chance of getting in.  You don't have a low chance--you have an interview so your chance is probably over 50%.  As such, it is much more likely to be a red flag than it is going to help you "stand out"--because you don't need to stand out.

No offence, but I'm assuming you are not totally serious about this.  Its almost too socially inept.  Like someone asking if they should dye their hair green and cut it into a Mohawk for their interview.