Should I Wear My Wedding Ring to the Job Interview?

I have literally never taken marital status into consideration. Nor would I. What difference does it make?
99% of the people I work with are married.

I think typically married people are more stable, connected?, more settled. They typically have a home, vehicles, belongings, etc....so they know the value of a dollar and need their job to pay their bills, not go to work to pay rent and go out every chance they get to party.

I know of several women who wear wedding rings all the time that are not married. They like having less on the job flirting, getting hit on by salesmen, so they always wear them.

It might help a man, it won't help a woman.
It use to be that a man getting married would help him at the office.
Why?
Because it meant he was settled down and had a family to support (and therefore needed the job).
Marital status has NEVER helped a woman in the workplace.
Because although she too has a family to support she has a greater pull from the family which would interfere/compete with office work (she's going to get pregnant, spend a lot of sick time away from the office, need maternity leave, etc).
Women tend to get 'mommy tracked' in a way that never happened to men.
Sexist?
Absolutely.
But the effect has always been there.
An interviewer can't ask you about your family/marriage/personal life.
Don't give them any hints about it as much as possible.
You must project that you are going to center your life around your job.
Besides, with the divorce, any social status you got from that is/will be over.
Best to leave it out of the picture and just forget about it.

Ronda nailed it. Wearing a ring does not tell the interviewer that "I have a certain amount of social status that I receive as this man's wife, because he has a highly regarded and interesting profession."

Or do you somehow, secretly, hope that if you add that "sparkle" to your outfit, you will be asked about your husband and will have the opportunity to use his highly regarded status to make yourself look good to the interviewer?

Because that's what you're basically saying here -- you are leaving him but hey, you're happy to be associated with any social status you can get out of him in a job interview.

Please take a look at your motives here.. You're hoping that his status will rub off on you and help you with job interviews. Be honest with yourself about that fact and don't couch it in questions about whether interviewers care about your marital status. You hope that they do care so they can see you have a prestigious husband.. It's a questionable motive -- to me, at least. Why isn't it questionable to you?

Oh, and any employer who would care whether a woman is married or not isn't worth working for. If you're in a field where they will freak and fire you if you get pregnant, it's not a good field.

If you are getting divorced, and no longer with this man, it would be starting out the interview in a dishonest way. i'm not involved in the hiring of employees, and you never specify what field it is in which you are applying ?? but the fact remains that you are getting a divorce, so to knowingly wear your ring for the sheer purpose of deceiving the interviewer seems like a really bad idea that will come back to bite you. On the other hand, of course women are judged very differently, and more harshly, than men. Whether being married is seen as a positive or negative thing, depends entirely on the company, and the higher up circumstances of each individual company. Generally for men and women, if you aren't married you are more likely to be that much more dedicated to working long hours, not have to take sick days because of your kids, etc, so you are more valuable to the company because of less liabilities. My husband runs a firm, and interviewed lots of people, and their marital status was pretty much irrelevant. He actually ended up choosing single moms (with complicated situations) based solely on their credentials. good luck!

How will they know what your husband does for a living? That is the questionable part of this post.

Otherwise, honestly it does not matter if a person is single or married in today's world of work.

I don't think you can predict whether it will matter to an interviewer, so I think you should do what you want. I don't think most people will make a decision based on that, and if they do make assumptions about people's marital status, you probably don't want to work there. If you see your ring as a fashion statement rather than a symbol of your commitment/vows to your husband, that may be putting the emphasis in the wrong area. Yes, you want to look professional for an interview but you don't want to be so focused on any accessory that you aren't thinking about the questions and answers.

It might be easier to stop wearing the ring now if that's your plan, but if you are still living with your husband and it will make it awkward, then don't. If you will feel funny without it and will not act yourself in an interview, then don't C. it now.

I'm more bothered by the fact that you think your husband's stature will get you a better job. We women want to stand on our own 2 feet in the workplace, and we don't want to be judged who we are married to or whether we are married at all. So the same concern that keeps you from wanting to be held back by being married is exactly what should propel you to not want any added advantage by being married! Moreover, social status or not, you want PROFESSIONAL status to rule the job interview. Not his, yours. They are not hiring him. If they sense that you are using his name to get ahead, it will hold you back big time. In fact, they should not even ask you if you are related to someone else with the same last name. His skills, interests, abilities, salary or advanced degrees have zero bearing on whether you are any good at your job.

Think of the illogic here: If we highlight that we are married to someone prominent, that makes us good employees? Then if we divorce that person, are we to be viewed as stupid and poor decision-makers? Do we highlight that we are married to a lowlife or a criminal? Do we highlight that we are divorcing a criminal because that makes us look smarter and more decisive?

Sometimes when we've been out of the job market for a while, we start to doubt our own abilities. So I don't think you have to "avoid having to explain the gap". You took time off to raise a family. You should add to your resume any important volunteer activities that developed, honed, or refined your skills. An interviewed won't care that you paid the bills and ran carpools, but he or she will care that you ran the school fundraisers, led Scout troops and coordinated cookie sales for the district, started up a soccer league, or any other activities that utilize the same important skills that they are looking for. They also want to know if you've shown initiative, can work well in a group for collaborative projects, and have vision.

Lol, we were actually just discussing this in my Business Ethics class. It depends on the employer more than you...

Some employers will see it, and think "oh, she has a family life. That means she could have kids, and may have to miss work for them sometimes... She may get pregnant and need maternity leave. She hasn't worked for 10 years, and may not be able to get into the flow again.." Stuff like that, and see it as a negative thing.

Others will see it, and think, "oh, she has a family life. That means she is experienced at multitasking, has a balanced life outside of work, and is a dedicated person. After 10 years of staying at home, she must feel confident that she can now dedicate her energy to her job."

Some don't even notice if you are married or not.

Really, it can easily go both ways. *legally,* an employer can't take your marital status into condition... But it is a hard thing to prove that they did if they do.

I would look into the business' background... If they seem to be a family-friendly place, definitely wear the ring. If it seems to be male-dominated or fast paced, I would leave it at home.

I wouldn't. People DO notice rings.
If yours divorcing your cop husband, you'll only have to rehash it later when it's final.
With no ring, it's a simple status C. form.

You don't wear wedding rings for social status. If you're wearing your rings because you're still married, then wear your rings for the interview as you would anyway. If you're not wearing your rings because you're divorcing and it will be legal soon, then don't wear them because you're not wearing them already.

If you feel naked without a ring there, maybe you can get yourself a Mother's Ring with a birthstone that represents each of your children on it plus your own birthstone in the middle.

But your interviewer isn't going to ask about your rings or lack thereof. And they can't ask about marital status or children. You don't have to include them in your response about work gaps. It's likely fairly obvious to assume, but the reason they would ask is to find out if during that time you kept up your skills in any way.

Did you attend any type of class or certifications? Did you volunteer? Did you consult? If you did ANYTHING like that put it on your resume. You don't have to put paying things only on a resume. The main thing they want to see is your current skills.

Instead of an objective at the top, you replace that with a Skills Profile. Then in a professional conversational sort of tone you list in three sentences all of your skills that are relevant. That's where you tell them exactly why they should hire you aka get their attention and make them interested.

Below that you list your jobs and the dates, and job duties. Below that, education. Certifications. Interests, clubs, etc. Include if you're active in your church in there. Include if you're the head of any committees. Include any town activities that you might run or assist in and things like that. If you help out in Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts, add that... and yes that does introduce that you have a family but those are excellent organizations and they STILL can't ask you details. You can say, "I'd rather not talk about my family but the organizations that I'm involved in and how I've been an asset to them."

I do agree with Leigh and would add that you are opening yourself up to immediate office gossip when you would be starting out as a married woman, but some day stop wearing your ring, and people will start whispering behind your back about whether you are having marital difficulties or not.

My husband's also prominent and highly regarded, but I think it's disgusting when people treat me any differently when they find out who I am married to. I much prefer for people to think well of me based on my own merits, so my closest friends tend to be people who have absolutely no connection at all to my husband's profession.

If you want to add some sparkle, go get yourself a beautiful cocktail ring. Nordstrom Rack has some really nice ones that are set in sterling silver so you can get some bling without spending big bucks.

I am a former recruiter and I never gave any thought to whether someone had a wedding ring on or not. You need to be true to yourself and honest with yourself about your situation. If you're getting divorced and plan to stop wearing the ring, don't wear it on the interview. They don't know your husband, so you don't have any social status because of him as far as this interview is concerned. On the flip side, if you do wear the ring but aren't wearing it anymore by the time you actually start the job, that may raise some questions or speculation about why you had it on in the first place.

Like I said, it never made any difference to me what someone's marital status was or even whether or not they had children (I never asked, but sometimes they brought it up).

If you plan to stop wearing them soon because of the divorce, just keep them off for the interview too.

Your ring should not be a factor and honestly, I doubt if the person interviewing you will even notice it unless it's really flashy.
Most job apps have a blank for marital status. What they will look at is what you wrote there. Married or single really only matters to an employer for withholding and health insurance purposes.

i'm with jessica. wedding rings have little to do with fashion, or social status (or shouldn't.) the statement they make is about one's relationship status.
it strikes me as peculiar and borderline dishonest to wear them if you're in the process of divorcing in order to get a job, and more, to impress the interviewer with your STBE's star power.
i don't think it should factor into interview process at all.
do you wear the rings daily now? if so, do you plan to continue to wear them after you're divorced? if the answers are no, there you have it.
khairete
S.

I think it doesn't matter one bit. The interviewer will not ask about your hubby so you won't be afforded any more social status than anyone else. One thing to think about - if it's big and flashy it may actually put the interviewer off.

I'd do whatever you want. It's none of their business if you're married, single, or divorcing, unless you're adding or taking someone off of employer sponsored health insurance! I do hiring and frankly never look for rings. It wouldn't influence me either way.

I say yes. It shows stability. It also shows that you are grounded in your married life and family.

When I was in my 20s, my boss found out on my first day that I was living with someone. She was SO HAPPY to know that I wouldn't be dating around the office like the person whose place I was filling. I thought that was so funny.

In the end, it really won't matter. No man who interviews you will notice. A woman, perhaps.

If you don't wear a ring, there will be 'the line' there anyway, so if you decide to not wear your wedding / engagement rings, you should at least wear some type of ring on the left hand.