It is still innate in most women to want have the man of her dreams (or the guy she settles for) give her a sparkly ring. We are girlie-girlie like that. Sometimes.
It is then worn with pride and often paraded around to all who are willing to congratulate us.
However, as a business woman, this beautiful shiny object can have devastating effects on your career potential and that is why you need to know when it’s time to “take your ring off”
Why? Because while a ring is a sign of eternal commitment to the one you love, it’s also a sign to a prospective employer that their company will not be number one in your life.
For example, when interviewing for a job, you can’t be asked marital status, age or if you intend on settling down to have kids. So they use techniques to find this information out.
One of them is to look at your hand and see if you’re engaged or married. They may then ask about your weekend and what you did… foolishly you might think they care about hiring a ‘well rounded person’ when in fact they are waiting for you to drop the line “we had a children’s birthday party”.
Regardless of claiming to be ‘family friendly’, it is a reality that most businesses want women who will put their jobs first. That you won’t be clock-watching to get away early for a romantic dinner, or a phone call from childcare won’t result in a project not being completed.
Bosses also know that when it comes to the stage of adding children to a household, it’s mostly the woman whose career is most likely to get the chop. To many bosses, this raises the concern of having to cover your role if you decide to up and leave for love and family.
Now whether this is right or wrong. It’s reality. Plain, cold, hard fact.
So next time you go to put your ring on for the day ask yourself whether the ring is going to add value or just hinder you in the meeting/event/interview.
