Blog post #3: Impact of Tattoos on your Job Search

Having or getting a tattoo is awesome. More and more people get ink nowadays, but tattoos are still considered a taboo by the majority. The real questions are about the consequences that may acquire if you get visible tattoos and how it may affect you future when you are looking for a job.

As I researched about it, I was able to find an article entitled "Will having a tattoo cost you a job? Maybe, researcher says" by Victoria Taylor from the site www.nydailynews.com

New research out of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland suggests that having a tattoo may reduce your chances of getting a job, but it also depends on the design of the tattoo and where it is located, and what kind of job are you wanting to get.

Dr. Andrew Timming interviewed 15 managers involved in the hiring process at different organizations, including a bank, hotel, prison, university and bookstore. Most managers agreed that there are problems attached on having a visible tattoos, and one of the managers says that it makes a person look dirty. But the main and  most important thing is how customers might view employees with visible body art, because we all judge people by first impressions.

But in some industries having visible ink works to the applicants advantage. For example, a HR manager at a prison. Other organizations have said that having a tattoo is fine as long as it's hidden under clothes, while others said only certain kinds of tats would negatively affect the applicant.

"Tattooed applicants can take comfort in the fact that the stigma associated with body art appears to be on the wane and that, as a corollary, there will likely be an increase in the number of potentially sympathetic tattooed hiring managers," said  Victoria Taylor.

So if you want a tattoo, maybe you should get it in a place where it can't be seen. Also, just remember that it still depends on the job that you are applying for. But at the end of the day, it's still your personal choice because you are the one that should be making decisions for yourself.

In addition to this topic, I found another article entitled "Tattoos and Piercings in the Workplace" by Erika Icon from the site www.workingworld.com.

Tattoos and piercings are becoming more accepted as a form of art and expression. At this point in time, they have occupied a big part of the cultural landscape in big cities like Los Angeles. While most of society is becoming more and more liberated and expressive, and piercings and tattoos are considered part of the mainstream culture, some employers are still hesitant and having a hard time to accept people with body art in the workplace.

If a company tells you that you are prohibited to show off your tattoos or piercings at work, they are not doing anything illegal. There is no legal system that protects workers who have body art. The law surrounding discrimination is only in regards to race, color, religion, age, nationality, origin and gender. There are some exceptions like if you have body art because your religion requires you to.

Of course there are limits. Companies cannot fire you just because they discovered you have tattoos or piercings. On the other hand, they can use it as an excuse not to hire you. That is another reason why you should just cover around the workplace.

"Many companies have policies that prohibit tats and piercings that are generally outlined in their handboook and/or employee manual," says Erika Icon.

I understand why employers still have hesitance in hiring people with tattoos and piercings. These people are not the most professional looking. So just try to hide them as much as possible because, if it affects your job search, you can't really do anything about it since there are no laws or regulations regarding this issue.