What kind of job? If it is a professional one, I would probably advise against it.

yes, professional. it would be tucked inside the sleeve of a shirt, probably only visible for a few seconds. seems crazy, but some people i talked with thought it was a good idea.

If it ain't you, it's a bad move. Before you know it you'll be heading up some multiple thousand dollar fundraising campaign for live strong in your off hours to impress your boss.

long ago I had an interview on Monday in some new city. I went there over the weekend to get drunk with friends. Got hammered, fell down walking home from the pizza cart late one of those nights. Didn't even bother to stop my fall with my hands since i was holding the pizza in one hand and the paper plate in the other. Woke up with blood all over the hotel room and on towels. I wondered which one of my friends got beat up. Then looked in the mirror and had a vague recollection of the spill on the sidewalk. Ended up with couple real good scrapes on my face. Go to interview Monday. At end of interview, I said something like "I am impressed none of you asked anything about the blatant oozing wounds on my face." They replied, that yeah, they were wondering about it but didn't think it was appropriate or professional or whatever to ask. So I tell them I got knocked off my bike in a race the day before. Then we were able to chat a little bit about that lie. That started the conversation and made me "more interesting". Got the job.

Moral - go get bombed all weekend before your big interview.

Good move if the job is at Livestrong, Honey Stinger (or Tri Sports ;-)

Otherwise, it probably doesn't matter. I personally would never wear one of those while wearing a suit, just seems off to me.

What if the interviewer HATES cyclists. That's a sever strike against you. The odds it would help you I think are much lower than the odds it could hurt you.

Bad idea if I'm the interviewer.

Are going to spray tan, cock your hat a bit to the side and pop your collars?

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

That's all you need to know.

hmmm, good idea on the spray tan... ;)

kidding.

good advice here. thanks for the responses.

I would NOT wear it if you don't wear it already. Why risk being caught in a lie? What if you are thinking that the interviewer is thinking cycling when actually he/she is thinking cancer survival. No, don't wear it.

But yes, I would wear one because I wear one all the time.

When I interviewed for my current job I had a livestrong band, and it came up during the interview. I was wearing it because of a friend who had cancer asked me to. If you don't support that organization why would you wear the band, find another way that represents you that makes you stand out from the crowd. Also is the fact that you're a cyclist relevant to the role and will it help you land the position?

Just had one of my more brilliant thoughts. Why don't you get an Ironman tatoo on your forehead. I'm sure they would ask you about it; providing you with the opportunity to tell them how you use discipline and motivation to accomplish difficult tasks. :)

On a tangent to "forehead". My son is high-functioning autistic who sometimes struggles with using words properly. One day he was talking about something on someone's forehead, but he kept using the word "foreskin". It took me a minute to make sense of what he was saying.

Just got back from an interview. Didn't wear my fancy watch, forgot to put on my wedding ring, and didn't wear a piece of yellow rubber around my wrist. We still had plenty to talk about (including running since one of the interviewers had just gotten done taking a shower after his run - I asked if it was at work - which lead to a discussion about wellness and workplace policies - which lead to a discussion of me too being a runner....) No need to accessorize.


EDIT: Good luck!

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Eat right. Get lots of sleep. Drink plenty of fluids. Go like Hell.

Do a little internet-stalking first.
If you know the name of the person(s) that are interviewing you, throw it in Google. Check LinkedIn (if there is a profile picture you can probably tell if the person is into fitness or prefers to eat cheetos on the couch). Check Athlinks. Facebook profile.
You should have plenty to talk about without having to wear a plastic bracelet.

I always wear two.
A Livestrong band (yellow) and a Hope band (purple). I have a few people ask me about them, in which I told them my mother passed of cancer.
It is a part of who I am.
I wear a suit everyday, hasn't hurt my career in one bit.

I'm curious why you do not support livestrong nor do you think what they do is that great? Are you against fundraising for disease research in general or specific to Livestrong?

I think the whole colored bracelet fundraising thing jumped the shark about 10 years ago. I would not wear one whether it was for livestrong, AIDS awareness, or Lefthanders for Jesus since they are all just noise to me now. The novelty wore off long ago. Same with flag pins or red, yellow, or pink ribbon pins. I just donate money directly to those causes I want to support

Just get an M-dot tattoo on your forehead. That should make you more interesting. :-)


EDIT: Oops. Rick beat me to it. :-(

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"100% of the people who confuse correlation and causation end up dying."

Ah, quite the contrary.

I am very FOR fundraising for research. It is my understanding that this is not the objective of Livestrong. Rather, from what I have read in articles recently, Livestrong exists to raise awareness about Cancer. I don't have anything against that at all, but I don't think it is "that great" of an objective. RE: I don't see this as foolish, silly or worthless, I simply describe it as not "that great"; I would prefer to allocate my charity funds elsewhere, and thus I do.



To the other posters, it hadn't even crossed my mind that wearing the band would be in a sense "lying" about who I was. I know countless individuals that wear them who only do because they like LA or whatever. Because it could be construed to be a misrepresentation of who I am, I will not wear it. I had been thinking about the idea as a matter of connecting to other endurance athletes, not linking myself to an organization, or terrible disease.

If you wanted to do this, you could wear a black, slim Road ID. I probably wouldn't, but it might be a better option.

I agree it's a good idea to differentiate, in fact I think it's key. Maybe since you're not a fan of Livestrong, you could go this route:

Add a line at the bottom of your resume. Mine says something about being an avid distance runner, triathlete, scuba diver, skier and I play the violin.

In the last 3 or so interviews I've had, that little line has come up in conversation. (I've gotten every job I've ever interviewed for, luckily.)

In my first job in NYC, the guy interviewing me (later my boss) saw the bit about running. Turns out he had a running streak of some 38 years straight! Our conversation, which had so far been about 10 minutes long and about research, immediately went into running and stayed there. I walked out 2 hours later knowing I got the job. One day, after I had been there a few months, he told me I was in (for the interview) because I had a good resume, but that the interview was to see if he wanted to actually be around me every day. He said he was sold when he noticed the running.


On a related note, he later used to make fun of my "slow times" compared to "what guys ran back in his day" hahahaha. His running streak did eventually end (that was after I had left) but I didn't have the heart to ask why.

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

People still wear those Livestrong bracelets? is that because you donated a $1?

+1

I say don't wear it. Unless you have a very good story attached to it, it looks fakey fakey to me. Those bracelets jumped the shark, as was previously mentioned, so you better have a good reason to wear it other than you like to ride your bicycle.


Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Yes, we still wear them in support of friends who are fighting for their lives.

YaHey, you have a link in your posts to donate to millionaire Barack Obama. Is that to show your support of someone also fighting for their life?