Job Search & Career Blog

Smoking- Sure way not to get a job?

May 1st, 2008

The smoking/non smoking divide is a wide as ever, and it’s pretty fair to say that neither side is budging. Smokers grumble about self righteous non-smokers, and non-smokers complain, more or less continuously, about smokers.

Regardless of which, the fact is that smoking is a big turn-off for most non-smokers, and that’s about 70% of the adult population. Unless your new boss is also a smoker, the probability is that if you’re seen as a smoker, you’re not even a possible candidate for the job. You’re disqualified on the spot.

One of the reasons for this is that the smoking controversy has included quite a lot of negative images provided by smokers themselves:

Smell: Smokers usually don’t notice it, but non-smokers do. It actually nauseates some people. The smell sticks to clothes, and in cars. The various chemical compounds in cigarettes are designed to oxidize, and it just so happens that people are naturally sensitive to the smell of oxides, like barbecues, fire, etc.

• The people outside smoking can be, and often are, resented by the non-smokers. They’re accused of laziness and costing money, even if it’s by people who seem to have the time to accuse them, and use up their own time on the net.
• Smoking actually infuriates a few non-smokers on principle. They have a sort of personal crusade against it, for whatever reason. Bizarre as it may appear to smokers, they are totally opposed to smoking, anywhere near them, anywhere on the planet. They want it banned, and they’re very clear about it. They definitely don’
• The workplace environment is a combination of attitudes from non-smokers, and you can assume that just about all of them are entirely negative, if not actively hostile.
• Unfortunately for smokers, it doesn’t matter what they think about it. Smoking isn’t an employment right. The negative reaction to smoking is a perception, a personal opinion… Exactly the sort of thing which can cost someone a job.

Suggestions for smokers:

• Dry clean everything before the interview, keep it in the bags until needed.
• Don’t smoke inside.
• Make sure you’re wearing a working cologne, perfumed wash.
• Don’t smoke prior to the interview.
• Don’t smoke in the vicinity of the employer or workplace.

The choice is yours, but do remember, the choice at the interview is theirs.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 9:19 am and is filed under Job Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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