Hi, I’m Sky – I’m 25 and I have 15 tattoos, something that I’ve come to find is so often frowned upon during interviews. Employers judge you, after all that’s why they’ve brought you to an interview. If nobody cared about appearance wouldn’t all job interviews be conducted over the telephone? I thought I’d write this blog to help anyone who is thinking of getting a tattoo or piercing in the near future, not to put you off, but to give advice for your long-term career. Please do comment below with your views on this!
Seemingly mandatory for rock stars and the like, body art such as tattoos and piercings has infiltrated the refined society, increasingly visible on bodies of all ages and walks of life. “Getting inked,” once the domain of sailors, soldiers, and prison inmates, has escaped the boundaries, moving to the workplace. The explosion of skin decorations, punctures, and untamed hair colours and styles presents business owners and HR departments across the country with a challenge: “Can we trust these people if we hire them?”
Showing a tattoo or a body piercing makes a statement, intentional or not, about the wearer. Public opinion polls consistently show that the general public has a negative image of people with multiple, visible tattoos or extreme body piercings. It is one thing to have a dainty butterfly tattooed on the edge of your shoulder blade, and quite another to have a flaming skull glaring from your forearm.
If you have a visible tattoo or an unusual piercing, you become a walking stereotype, begging strangers to judge you. While in some cases, the opinion you get is the one you seek, it is overwhelmingly negative in most business environments.
Despite the opinions of psychologists and business gurus, rebels and freethinkers do not fare well in most business environments. A business owner or a company manager wants to work with people who can take directions and follow rules, who fit in and don’t make waves. Body art, however, screams, “I am different!” In competitive markets where image and customer serviceare paramount, there is little reason to hire or promote a person who goes his or her own way or may turn into a problem once hired.
According to a study by CareerBuilder, 60% of employers will not hire candidates with tattoos or body piercings. The same study indicated that tattoos were the third most common reason used by employersnotto promote an employee, just behind bad breath.
Even though tattoos and piercings are more popular, they appear to be limited almost exclusively to people under the age of 40. Most business leaders and company managers are older and decidedly more conservative. Tattoos, to an older person, are more likely to conjure images of prisons and drunkenness than youthful indiscretion and facial piercings are apt to be associated with skinheads, outlaws, and outcasts, none of which are likely to be sought after by an employer.
People with tattoos and piercings are not protected under employment rules, so unless your art is religiously necessary, don’t expect any sympathy from a recruiter or boss when you complain about discrimination.
Despite the misconceptions some employers may have of those with tattoos, there are careers and companies that accept and even welcome those who have body art. Tattoos and piercings are popular in the creative arts – music, painting, writing, acting – as well as in athletic, design, and culinary fields.
How to Minimize the Impact of Body Art in the Workplace
- Choose a Small, Noncontroversial Design
Large tattoos are not only expensive, they are difficult to conceal. Don’t get offensive words or pictures anywhere on your body. If you are ashamed to show the art to your mother, you are probably better off without it. - Ensure the Tattooist Has the Necessary Permits and Follows Proper Procedures
A good practice is to talk with other people who have been inked by the artist about his or her materials and their experience before undergoing the tattoo procedure. - Get a Tattoo That Can Be Easily Covered
Don’t even think about putting a tattoo on your face unless you are Mike Tyson or a Maori warrior. Hands and fingers are another no-no, unless you are prepared to wear gloves on every job interview. The same holds true for piercings – don’t have your teeth filed into points, horns inserted into your forehead, or stretch your earlobes to co*ke bottle diameters.
Body art is a controversial subject and is likely to remain so in coming years. Once viewed as a sign of rebellion, it is becoming the norm for the younger generation. Perhaps the following generation seeking their own way to stand apart from their parents and grandparents will proclaim their nonconformity with theabsenceof tattoos and body piercings.
