Tattoos In The Workplace

I've several tattoos I've gotten over the years, all premeditated for inconspicuous placement and easy coverage, save my most recent...( a long sleeve shirt will cover that one just fine ).

I know by now I'll most likely never work in a capacity or position that mandates ink-free presentation, but I still agree that while in the workplace (unless one works in a field where ink is widely accepted) it's best to keep ones art out of sight.

A shame though, I absolutely love hearing the backstories behind personal adornments/decorations.

reply to post by open_eyeballs

I have interviewed and hired hundreds of people in the last twenty years, during that time I have adapted to the changes in dress and body modifications. I have no tattoos but if I only hired people who looked or dressed like me I would be out of business in six months. The only quirk I have is facial or neck tattoos, I can't get past that one.

just my opinion - but tattooes are art - and art is subjective

we all bring our own predujudices to art that we view

and my view is [ specific to tattoes ] :

if a person made a " bad choice " in the past - do i trust him / her to make " good " choices now ?

If you are skinny, and have sleeves on both arms plus many other tats, i tend to think you are a junkie. If you have only a handful of tats though, then no worries. I don't care otherwise.

reply to post by univac500


for real. that sums up my atittude pretty good as well. I mean it depends on what kind of sleeve. Theres always limits.

But thats a huge difference in our generations way of thinking as opposed to older ones. And I know older generations is mostly where the money is.

If we (you and I) came into a business relationship, ya we'd prob swap stories with each other and have a beer after work or something.

But the vast majority of people with money are not the "tattoo toting lets get it in after work is over" type of people. It is either family man or retired man or investor man that has numbers. And knowing who it is you are dealing with is just as important as knowing all the facets of what you are trying to sell them.

I have no problem with acting like a roman while in Rome.

I mean Im not going to change myself or my values for each different individual client. But if Im dealing with old rich dad with a cute daughter thats living off of daddsys income, Im not going to try to pick up on his daugheter. Im going to act like the pro he hired and maybe a golf buddy or something which in most cases probably means hes not going to see my tattoos in any way.

If home boy gangster guy comes around, Im not going to try to be the preppy rich kid that the rich older guy wants to see.

So, its a case by case scenario. In all reality, a game. Ive never been one to be good at playing by all the little rules. But after all the stupid things Ive put myself through, its time I learned to play by those rules. I have learned from everything that I have seen and gone through that it is those little rules that get people the farthest. Not even the hardest working or most knowledgeable individual that will get the farthest. It is the one willing to play by the written and unwritten rules that gets the farthest.

kind of sick in my opinion, but absolutely the case. Golden Rule: "the one who has the gold makes the rules."

reply to post by pikypiky


aaahahaha..thats hilarious..kaliboso..ima have to remember that.

theres some truth to it, thats for sure...

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


i just want to throw this out there. maybe it will stoke you, maybe not.

to be completely honest, it is a turn off for me when I see a girl with one little crappy tattoo (like a tramp stamp, or some ugly trible piece or a little name on their wrist. We did so many of them it became annoying..this kind of thing goes on all the time in tattoo shops. the artists and workers start talking # about everyone that comes in with some lame-O idea, or some stupid little tattoo they want), but when a girl goes and makes a statement with something out there, like a large piece (as long as it isnt ugly, I like girls and I think they should have girly tattoos, theres some flexibility there as long as its a good tattoo, but usually...) or something that can not be covered up, I usually find it as a statement that she is confident and she doesn't give a F about what you or I think.

And that is hot...so good on you

Its something as Ive gotten older (Im only 26..ahaha) (and have gone through the relationships that I have) that I have noticed about most girls that have larger pieces. Its confidence and usually a down to earth attitude, and thats always cool.

reply to post by GENERAL EYES

A shame though, I absolutely love hearing the backstories behind personal adornments/decorations.

Yes, in the regard I think it is a shame they are not more accepted in the workplace. There are cases where the tattoos means something significant to the individual and something they are proud of and wish to share with others. Or maybe it is a symbol for what they blieve in and what not.

Still though, on the clock is not the time to be discussing that stuff... Not that I personally have an issue with any of that, just from the workplaces perspective, I could see them having issues with it.

Its not something I would personally do. As if I were to have a tattoo that was very significant to me (like if I got my son and daughters portrait, I would rather have that for myself and those that are close to me and love me) I would not want to share it with everyone.

To start, I have a tattoo on the top of one arm and I am looking to get another one on the other arm. My current and future tattoo are not the stupid kind. They mean important things to me, and I have made the decision to have them where I can decide who gets to see them and they can be covered up for business.

There will be people who would judge me first because of my tattoos (if they knew I had them) in business and some will let that cloud the decisions and opinions of me, and make it harder for me to sell what I offer.

Sad as they may be, I have the ability to cover my tattoos up and have custom made shirts with thicker material as off the peg shirts are too thin and with my jacket off, the outline can be seen.

I would never have a tattoo that I could not cover up for business. maybe that says more about me and society

reply to post by ignorant_ape


Well, I disagree with that logic when your basing your decision solely on his tattoos. You can make all sorts of bad decisions in the past but still be rich and have money and have no tattoos and have a bitchin car and all that.

That person could be way less trustworthy than someone with tons of bad tattoos. Ive seen millionaire bikers that are covered in just old crap tattoos that i would trust with my money over some uppity prick that has never lived a real day in his life.

reply to post by Somehumanbeing


lol..

if you are skin and bones with no meat, ur either a computer geek hacker or a junkie or anorexic...no matter if theres tattoos or not

if the sleeves are good, they probably cost a lot of money (upwards of $1000 per arm)..doesnt mean they arent a junkie, doesnt mean they are but it measn at somepoint they had money. Id work to make him a client! lol

you probably know someone that has skewed your judgement so you are superimposing a generalization over skinny guys with sleeves.

reply to post by Freedom ERP


wait, you buy thicker shirts so the outline cant be seen? whoa! thats a whole new level..have never heard that before...

ive never seen a tattoo through a colored shirt..maybe that will save you some money..lol

reply to post by open_eyeballs


You might you wear coloured shirts for business? Got to be a white shirt in business for me and off the peg white shirts are too thin. Even with some of the off the peg lighter coloured shirts, my tattoo can be seen.

reply to post by Freedom ERP


ok, i see what you are saying ,a white undershirt...

yes. colored collared long sleeve shirts are acceptable. and no ive never seen a tattoo through a colored shirt.

even if you could see through a white collared long sleeve shirt to the tattoo, I would not have a problem with that , in my opinion you are showing your professionalism by your attire, and what is underneath should not matter at that point.

a collared short sleeve shirt would again be another story. its going to suck where I live, because it gets hot in the summer, and I hate sweating in clothes. Id love to wear a short sleeved shirt. But i just dont think it would be appropriate. dammit.

reply to post by open_eyeballs


Forgive me if this is a little off topic but tattoos in the workplace is an interesting subject.

Before our yearly national meeting of Operation Managers we were given an assignment to pose workplace conundrums to the gathering and see how each of us would handle the situation. Mine was as follows; How would one handle a short sleeved worker with " God Bless America" on their forearm? The answers were as you would expect (being in Kansas). The second part of the question was; What if the short sleeved worker to the right of him had "Allah Akbar" and the one to the left had "Satan Rocks"? This time the answers were split. The majority opined that they should wear long sleeves. What surprised me was that they would elect to address them individually starting with "Allah Akbar" instead of bringing anyone with a visible tattoo together and address them as a whole.

Peace.........yak055h

reply to post by yak055h


that is reeeaaally interesting! thanks for sharing that. I agree though, I think it should be taken as a case by case scenario depending on the workplace atmosphere.

I think some would be surprised at how many ceos and execs are rocking full sleeves under their armani suit.

but ya, i dont think theres anything wrong with the god bless america tattoo (or the satan rocks one...:roll being displayed in the workplace. But something where large groups of people (christians in reference to the satan rocks tattoo) could find offensive should be limited in the workplace. It could cause a distraction. And that is obviously not the best for the company.

In that same line of thinking, maybe that god bless america tattoo should be covered up if your outside of america?

When I was a young man I wore my hair down to my waist. I resented people who "judged me" because I thought it should not matter. I also resisted wearing a suit & tie. I considered it restricting, expensive, and bowing to conformity. I grew of age in the sixties, the Woodstock generation.

Then one day an older gentleman sat me down and said, "Look. A suit & tie does not mean you conform. That's not the point. It makes you a social equal. If two people meet and both are wearing a conventional suit & tie, then baring any other give-aways, neither knows the social status of the other. You don't know whether the other guy comes from a rich family or a poor one. You don't know if he went to Harvard or Whatsamattah U. You don't know if he is a conservative or a liberal. Unless you otherwise give it away, at least you start on an equal basis."

He also told me, "Besides, you are wearing a uniform on your sleeve. You're giving away your politics, your attitude, and your overall approach to society just by the way you dress."

The idea of "suit = equality" had never occurred to me. I hadn't ever thought about it that way. Yet it made perfect sense to me. It's just one less pre-judgment made about you that gives you a better chance to pull off what you want to (sell stuff, for example). I guess people, such as myself, are not willing to hear this advice until they are ready to. It took me awhile and on hindsight, I wish I had understood the issue much earlier. I say that selfishly because it would have saved me a lot of grief.

Just my personal experience. Of course, I'm retired now and never wear a suit--and I still have my tattoo, though it isn't quite as bright as it was forty years ago. My hair is short, too, but (cough) I really had no choice! Sometimes nature makes those kind of choices for you.

reply to post by open_eyeballs


The discussion evolved into opinions as to workplace lawsuits. It ended with "if you ban one you must ban all". As a side note I got my tat at the age of sixty. My son corrected me by saying there is no "a" tat, just a "first" tat.

Peace..........yak055h

reply to post by schuyler


thats was really good. im sure there are many more that need to hear something similar.

reply to post by yak055h


ha! ya, hes got a point. a majority of the time, if you get one you will go back and get somethin gelse..maybe a little bit of narcissism in everyone? u like the way it looks in the mirror, you like the reaction you get from people etc.,.

tattoo artists are some of THEE most narcissistic people I have ever met in my life. some to a point of disgust to me.