Is Your Tattoo Ink Killing Your Job Search?

June 22, 2012
By Shannon Smedstad
40 Comments

I’m a tattooed professional working in corporate America.

As a freshman in college, I didn’t think much about how it would affect my chances of becoming employed; I just knew that I didn’t want my new tattoo to be on display all the time. My second tattoo, however, is visible – a dragonfly on my left ankle that shows when wearing a skirt or capris. And, I am jonesing for a third.

But when do tattoos become an obstacle to gainful employment?

A recent cover story from my local Sunday paper, The Morning Call, illustrates how tattoos and stable employment don’t always mix. The article features a college student with several tattoos on her back and at the nape of her neck, along with a number of facial piercings. She’s quoted saying that she “felt discriminated against” because she did not get hired by a local amusement park, specifically because of her visible tattoos. What she’s calling discrimination, the park is calling their policy. And, the reality is that employers can have a policy regarding body art – tattoos, as well as piercings; it’s typically found within the dress code policy.

So what should you do if you’re all inked up?

If you are interviewing with an organization and you’re unsure of their policy on visible tattoos or piercings, from one tattooed professional to you, err on the side of being conservative. Wear long sleeves or a jacket to cover up arm tattoos, and pants to cover leg or ankle tattoos.

If you have a tattoo on the back of your neck and have long hair, wear your hair down. As far as facial piercings go (lip, nose, cheek, chin, eyebrow), consider removing them before your big interview day.

If you receive an offer and are concerned about your tattoos in the workplace, call your recruiter and ask about the company’s policy on body art. Talk about your tattoos and discuss your options. It may be that your tattoos are a welcome display of personal expression. Or maybe the company doesn’t care much about your tats, but they’ll request that you cover them up while you’re on the clock. If you can’t cover your tattoos and the company has a policy against visible ones, there are two options that I can think of: tattoo removal or trying to find a different employer.

Shannon Smedstad spends her days working in employment branding and social media for a major U.S. auto insurer, and has more than 12 years of HR and recruiting experience. She’s a work@home mom raising two awesome girls who also enjoys reading, yoga, traveling and her morning coffee. You can connect with her on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. (Views and opinions are her own, and not those of her company.)

Brazen Life is a lifestyle and career blog for ambitious young professionals. Hosted by Brazen Careerist, we offer edgy and fun ideas for navigating the changing world of work. Be Brazen!

TweetPin It

Category: Job Search

Tags: tattoos in the workplace

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003927145349 Macuk Jone

Many cultures and continents. Although most psychological studies of persons with tattoo have been restricted to psychiatric inpatients, prisoners in correctional institutions, and military personnel.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1418554429 Lester Bryant III

Of interest…
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=643073160 Jason Morningstar
  
  Which is why we need anti descrimination poloicies for the Modified…
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=643073160 Jason Morningstar
  
  And you could get an implant in both sides of your chest, the size of a honeydew melon, something as unmatural as anything could be (and maybe get a raise) but God forbid you have a metal ball on your chin the size of a poppyseed, assanine morons…
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=743895185 Brad Weikel

Counter perspective: One of the reasons I chose a visible place for my first tattoo was to prevent my future self from having the poor judgment of taking a job with an uptight office culture.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=25114548 Devonté G. Bigglesworth
  
  I’m inclined to agree with what the post below suggests…its only a matter of time before a (reasonable) display of tattoos in the workplace is a non-issue. Possibly as the Baby Boomers move towards extinction….
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5503395 Katelyn Buress

I am a young professional in corporate America as well and I have a tattoo on the arch of my foot. I cover it with bandaids when interacting with customers and my colleagues are the ones that tell me that I shouldn’t feel the need to do that. It makes me feel better to have it covered when I don’t know the mindset of the people I am interacting with. However it is a part of me and a part of the package that employers get when they hire me!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= Anonymous

I have a large tattoo on the top of my foot (a dragonfly) but haven’t yet noticed it being a source of contention for employers. However, I do cover it up with a fleshy sock if I’m unsure of the situation I will be in. Most often, it is a talking piece, that people seem to like, rather than think is tacky. Find me on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleowen.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1365461019 Lynn Morton

1-3 tattoos does not an “tattooed individual” make. You have tattoos, you aren’t tattooed.

Though I appreciate the advice – as someone who works with corporate clients and has a fair amount of tattoos (in the minds of many, but 9 isn’t really that many over the whole body), navigating this can be difficult. 1-2 visible usually isn’t that big of a deal any more, especially if they are not polarizing in any way (butterflies, memorial tattoos, etc.).

However, I’ve learned, if the company isn’t cool with my tattoos, those places ended up being places that weren’t right for me anyways. Something to consider for the tattooed looking to switch it up.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=712991810 Jason David Pelker

This was crappy link bait. Please don’t lead with articles that propose NOTHING new or interesting. A better idea for your posts: http://thinktraffic.net/write-epic-shit.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1557573330 Susan Fignar

Thank you aro addressing tattoos. Your last sentence is on target… there are two options: tattoo removal or finding a different employer. For the last 20 years, I have consulted companies on appearance standards; some companies allow visible tattoos, however, employees may be asked to cover them for some clients / certain business events. Another group of clients do not allow visible tattoos at all, and the last group welcomes self-expression and visible tattoos from head to toe. We may not like, agree or support the company’s appearance standards, however, “it is what it is.” I encourage individuals to seek out companies that will meets their needs the same way a company seeks candidates to meet their needs.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1471297206 Shannon Smedstad
  
  Thanks for reading my post and commenting! I appreciate the conversation.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=656852081 Ellen Skagerberg

One way for a company to screen compatibility is to see which potential employees value their self-expression over the employer’s interests when on company time. If a company is seeking hard-working professionals, they might decide that screening out people with the coffee-shop pizza-delivery mindset saves a lot of conflict and trouble in the long run. Someone who knows early on that they will never compromise for an employer can make that position viscerally clear with a very visible, distinctive tattoo. Truth in advertising!
When you value your freedom above all else, there are many minimum-wage jobs available where you don’t have to make the inconvenient compromises you do when you’re committed to representing an employer’s interests.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=783632572 Barbara Saunders
  
  The assumptions you make in this post lead me (no visible tattoos, fwiw) back to the idea that it’s very, very important to screen employers. I would work for a company whose dress code banned tattoos. That’s a reasonable exercise of prerogative. A company whose people automatically associate tattoos with a “coffee-shop pizza delivery mindset” and with a culture that emphasizes the use of insulting power trips to determine “commitment” — NO THANKS. Been there and done that, in panty hose and suits.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=656852081 Ellen Skagerberg
  
  Don’t worry, Barbara — I don’t make hiring decisions any more, so any insulting power trips or revulsion at inflamed facial piercings are strictly my own.
  But what do you have against baristas and pizza delivery people? Are you denigrating career retail workers such as myself?
  The initial post points out that your average Brazen Careerist reader, one who wants a higher-paying job in corporate America, would do well to keep tabs on how high they fly their freak flag. It’s disingenuous to flaunt the marks of the counterculture like an adolescent (and like the “discriminated against” college student in the article), but then whine about not getting the perks of mainstream adulthood.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=783632572 Barbara Saunders
  
  Tattoos aren’t “flaunting the marks of a counterculture.” That was my point.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=783632572 Barbara Saunders
  
  By the way, my passion on this is not about tattoos. I’ve been a recruiter twice. In both (very different) workplaces, one retail, one a professional firm, employees I FOUGHT to hire were later recognized with performance awards. In all of those cases, I had to fight because people were snobs about them – about their non-conventional backgrounds, their schools, and, yes, their appearance. I have also been a manager at a place that starting “cracking down on” hairstyles, visible tattoos, piercings, and torn jeans while having a deficit of 6 figures per MONTH and a board member dealing with a manager who fired someone for “not looking ladylike” and later threatened lawsuits against the organization in an effort to extort a bonus.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= Anonymous

Obviously people WITH INK will have very different point of view than employers that do not consider it appropriate. It all depends on the type of job for which one is going after; i.e. if one wants to work in a White Collar world like a Bank, a Law Firm, most Doctors offices, or any profession where “image” is important to the customers, then INK cannot be visible, and certainly not METAL of any kind. HOWEVER, if someone is going to work in a “creative” industry where ‘Avant-Garde, Body Piercing, Body Art, Body Jewelry.’ does not matter, then it is a matter of choosing the right profession. MOST public figures do not have ostentatious Avant-Garde, Body Piercing, Body Art, Body Jewelry visible. SOME get away with it, Angelina Jolie for example. BUT even she had some removed and in some cased covered by makeup or wardrobe in her movies where it is not germane to the character. Fact is, many people simply cannot carry off extensive Avant-Garde, Body Piercing, Body Art, Body Jewelry. What most younger folks do not think about when getting their ‘stuff’ is what it will look like in 10-20-30-40 years down the road. All one has to do is look at military people that were inked say in WW2 or Vietnam, for instance. In most cases it is a blob of color and has no discernible form. PERSONALLY would I hire someone inked, maybe yes, maybe no. It would be on a case by case basis. Their other talents would have to be OUTSTANDING above and beyond other applicants. Will I get grief for this point of view, probably. BUT! as a business owner one has to look at the practical side of things on how the client is going to respond. If the inked person would never have personal contact with clients, probably more likely. Am I “uptight” as some have commented, I do not think so, I am looking at the bottom line.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= Anonymous

Branding is very important in the business world. Apple, Nordstrom’s, Toyota, McDonalds, etc. have spent years and countless millions of dollars developing brands that create feelings when people think of them. This is a major component of business. When you hear a company name and you automatically think of quality, integrity or value; that company has done a great job of branding. People with tattoos understand this instinctively, that is why they get tattoos in the first place. Of course they call it self-expression, but make no mistake; they are one and the same. They create an image of how they perceive themselves and how they want others to perceive them. Everyone does this, it is why we wear stylish clothes, and get nice haircuts. This being said, I am surprised by the demands of people with ink to be accepted for who they are; while at the same time suppressing the expression of others. A company that chooses to express itself in a way that does not include tattoos and piercings should have that right, just as the individual has the right to have tattoos. Respecting the right of someone to express themselves, does not mean that you should have to give up the right to be who you are as a business owner. You spend millions of dollars developing a brand identity and you have the right to expect people who work for you to not degrade that brand. We all have the right to express ourselves. We do not have the right to demand that we can act, dress, or present ourselves anyway that we choose when someone is paying us to act on their behalf and represent their company and their brand to the marketplace. You have a choice, you can choose to have tattoos or not have tattoos, but you make that choice with the recognition that others may choose not to hire you. This is their freedom of choice, and it is just as important to them as your choice is to you. If you want tolerance, you must tolerate those who disagree with you. One day I was listening to a debate about tolerance; one of the people involved said, “I hate intolerant people!” “There is no place in our society for people who are intolerant of others.” (Irony).
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=656852081 Ellen Skagerberg
  
  Well said, Mr. Jurman. Make your choices, but don’t whine that your options are limited because OTHER PEOPLE are narrow-minded and don’t accept you as you are. It’s not the company’s job to offer unconditional love to its employees or to hire someone just because that person wants the money.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1435004361 Brenda J. Moore

I’m always fascinated by the lack of common-sense some folks have about tattoos in general.
The statistics prove….many got more than they paid for, in the form of Hepatitis from dirty needles.
Those who carry “Hep” have now eliminated themselves from many choice career options and it is unfortunate. But it is reality!
Many tattoos are quite lovely, but a whole lot are down right disturbing. Too many tatts, on any ones’ person, soon starts to look like an “OCD” issue OR too much money and not enough investment planning. Many people covered with tattoos seem to be a walking contradiction to themselves!

So, this link isn’t crap, or unfair or biased…it is reality. Reality can suck and such is life.
Making permanent choices which visibly mark-up your body (whatever your reason), will also permanently impact your future career options. As my Dad said to me when I talked about getting one when I was in my 20s; “They look dirty, make a person look cheap, and will stop folks from wanting to shake your hand. Is that how you want to live your life?” I said No about 30 odd years ago, thought about it a few years ago and again recently still coming up with a no answer, but the reality is: options are options and I want as many as I can get!
- LEARN!
  
  Where are these “statistics” coming from? One option you could consider: Reading more to improve your awful spelling and grammar. I think the writing skills demonstrated above are far more offensive than many tattoos I’ve seen, and I’m sure many employers would agree.
  - Gjeorge
    
    I think most employers would take the bad grammar. I do not hire tattoo folk. They look dirty, low class and cheap and that is just the tattoos.. lmao. Seriously, it affects my bottomline . Your rights end where my rights to make money begin.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1135172939 Ellen Reeves

But please don’t take your nose ring out, get hired, put it back in and wonder why the employer is dismayed. I have a few thoughts on this. In fact, a whole book: CAN I WEAR MY NOSE RING TO THE INTERVIEW?
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=673155846 Sue Guiney
  
  I have been meeting more and more people with visible tattoos, but anything goes in the arts Some of them are beautiful, though. I’m trying to get my head around the whole tattoo thing, but I’m still struggling with it.
  - Gjeorge
    
    I agree . It is just stupid and people are basically sheep, following another Hollyweird trend.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=539681208 Joelle Nebbe-Mornod

This is a situation that will vanish with history – even at my age group here in Europe there are probably as many people with tattoos as without – some had it in their youth, others are picking and adding them now. And if you look at people in their 20s, I suspect people without a tattoo or piercing are slowly becoming a minority. I have no tattoo – partly because I cannot imagine picking 1 image I have to wear for life – not having a tattoo says more about me than having a tattoo says about people who have them.

Just like it used to be kind of normal in the 50s or 60s to pre-judge and discriminate in hiring younger people based on them having hair too long or too short to be “conform”, or age, or colour, or gender… the assumptions about what a tattoo means will vanish when more than half the working population has one. If you think a tattoo means something specific that has any impact on their ethics or ability to work, and that can be assumed globally about all people with a tattoo, then you are on the wrong side of history. In 10 years, it won’t matter.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=500510854 Jean-Marc Liotier
  
  I disagree – a tatoo does express the failure of the wearer to consider the changes he will get through in the rest of his life. Will his twenty years older self want to put the same piece of self-expression in the limelight ? Unlikely. Failing to acknowledge that says something about long-term outlook.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=539681208 Joelle Nebbe-Mornod
  
  This says that you and I have a similar personality when it comes to tattoo choices. But many people are different. Someone could play devil’s advocate and say that having children expresses a similar failure to allow for change and growth as an individual. And that would be equally absurd. There are many reasons and ways to get a tattoo and one cannot lump it all in one and make a judgment. I mean on a personal level one can make all the judgments one wants, but on a professional level it is narrow minded and short sighted and something that will be considered as outdated in 10 years as not hiring someone for having Beatles-length hair seems to us now.
  The more uniformising the world becomes, and it has become very uniformising in the last 20 years, the more people will embrace ways of establishing a bit of “me-ness”. Hence why elaborate hair constructions, tattoos, tribal ear loops, piercings etc. are so common in youth. And for a while the old guard can still frown on it with suspicion (as one these subversively long Beatles haircuts) but eventually it will become more normal.
  When your boss has a tattoo, things will change. And your boss might already have a tattoo.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=25114548 Devonté G. Bigglesworth
  
  Jean-Marc Liotier I would have a tough time hiring someone who was not clean shaven (with a recent haircut) or physically fit (assuming they are able-bodied). To me it suggests a lack of discipline and poor hygiene.
  
  The worst thing a tattoo can say to me is that the wearer had a temporary lapse in judgement. On the other hand, when I see a scruffy, overweight 30 something I think: “That’s a decision he makes every day”.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=681560365 Amanda DeLyser
  
  Jean-Marc Liotier don’t you think that depends on the piece of self expression? unlikely? really? i have one tattoo and another i’m ready to get. the new one will be visible (on my wrist) and it’s a dedication (whether a stranger looking at it would know or not) to my dead sister. i’m pretty sure in 20 years i’m not going to regret having that piece of self expression in the limelight.
  
  judging someone for having tattoos (like claiming that their long-term outlook is skewed just because they have one) says more about the judger than the person with the tattoos. my boyfriend has a large knife tattoo on his forearm. You would see that and probably think he was a punk. But that tattoo is a memorial to his grandfather, who made colonial knives his whole life. THAT says more about my bf than anything else.
  
  everyone needs to stop being so judgmental…
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=13962602 Ellen Burns-Johnson
  
  Jean-Marc Liotier I totally disagree with the idea that a tattoo implies a lapse in judgement, or a “failure of the wearer to consider the changes he [or she]” will experience throughout life. People get tattoos for a wide variety of reasons. Some people get tattoos during a time of personal crisis and/or redefinition. For others, tattoos are simply another form of adornment, like jewelry. Some, like me, consider tattoos a means of reminding oneself (and expressing to others) what one finds important. I got my first tattoo when I was 19 after considering it carefully for two years. At 26 I’m still happy with my decision. Does this speak to my long-term outlook? Absolutely.
  
  The rule is simple: don’t make assumptions about others based on their appearance. No excuses–just don’t do it. The things that are important to know about a person are not things you can learn from the presence or absence of a tattoo.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=4904246 Liza Eckert
  
  Larell Atkins You do realize expecting someone to fit your criteria of “physically fit” is discrimination. Also you can’t actually tell someone’s fitness level by looking at them. The only thing you can measure is your own prejudice.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1270505051 Amandah Blackwell

I agree with Brad. If you’re getting a tattoo, chances are you’re not uptight and don’t have a stick up your butt. Corporate America would most likely drive nuts. Go into a creative field like graphic or web design or become a tattoo artist. It worked for Ami and Kat Von D.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=783632572 Barbara Saunders
  
  For the sake of evenhandedness, I must admit that I know a few uptight people WITH tattoos
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=160716000622849 Leslie Ayres, The Job Search Guru

Professional is about who you are and the kind of job you do, and in this age, perpetuating the myths of the uninformed that tattoo = bad hire is, well, ridiculous. I’m a career coach and lifelong recruiter, and my advice is to be true to yourself first, and then find the right culture to work in.

I recently wrote about the Great Tattoo Debate at http://work.lifegoesstrong.com/article/tattoos-workplace-great-debate talks about the reality that a large and growing percentage of talented young people have tattoos… and companies who continue to think it’s some kind of subculture of bikers and baristas are going to be left behind when they pass up great talent.

Don’t like tattoos? Then don’t get on. But ff you want to build a cutting edge company, worry about brains, creativity and ability, not if someone has a danged dragonfly on their ankle. The most tattooed person I know worked for Microsoft.
Pingback: #Tattoo Contest at #DadChat | #Dadchat | A Dad's Point Of View | www.BruceSallan.com
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=658626507 Noah Stewart

It was a big decision for me to get visible tattoos, something that I considered for years before I did so. It was during a period of self-rediscovery in my mid-twenties. I bargained with myself: go back to college, graduate with honours, get braces to correct teeth, get the sleeve – not in that order. The idea was to counter the negative perception with achievement and ability. I was very nervous about job interviews as visible tattoos were much less common for professionals 7 years ago. Now that I’ve lived with them for many years, I consider it an excellent metrestick: if someone is bigoted enough to judge you by the colour of your skin, they’re not worth your time anyway.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000887768213 Brian Rinkel
  
  I just thought you had a unusual rash
Gjeorge

Even if 95% of the population had tattoos , which is very hypothetical; It does not mean certain jobs will just bypass it as normal appearance. Most people do not wear a suit or certain uniform for a job and yet that is appearance for certain jobs ,. I do not expect appearance acceptance for jobs will suddenly include tattoos necessarily. In fact , it has gone the opposite in many cases with jobs that are municipal in many cases, stressing that they are not hiring tattoo people PERIOD. These people do not owe you a job, they owe it to their families and themselves to make as much money as possible and if visible tattoos impede that, they have the right to not hire you based on appearance.

Is Your Tattoo Ink Killing Your Job Search?

Ready to be Brazen?

Archives

Resources

Write For Us

Advertise With Us

Join the Community

Is Your Tattoo Ink Killing Your Job Search?

You might also like ...

Ready to be Brazen?

Archives

Resources

Write For Us

Advertise With Us

Join the Community