Hey, dude, save the casual talk for later

Reality television and social networking Web sites get the blame for everything. Turns out we can add young people’s poor job search habits to the list, as well. So says Ellen Gordon Reeves, career adviser at the Web site www.jobs.change.org and author of the book “Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?: A Crash Course in Finding, Landing, and Keeping Your First Real Job” (Workman, $14).

In a culture where everything is on display all the time, it seems like we’ve failed young people, she says: “A lot of them don’t understand the boundaries of professional behavior.”

Young people have always been doing stupid stuff, of course. The problem now, she argues, is that popular culture has encouraged a new level of exhibitionism. “There’s this idea that everyone is your friend and it’s kind of a ‘Hey, dude’ attitude,” she says. “They pick up their cells no matter where they are, and it’s ‘Hey, dude, what’s up?’ to a recruiter.”

“When you’re job hunting,” she warns, “every act is on display.”

But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Let loose, just not when job searching and not in a public space that anyone can access, such as Facebook.

It’s a balance at the heart of the title of the book, which Reeves explains is a metaphor about being yourself, but also a literal question she’s often asked. “Unlike most people out there, I tell them go ahead and wear the nose ring,” she says. “Just understand that 50 percent or more of the people out there aren’t going to hire you. To thine own self be true, but there are consequences.”

New York Metro