Piercings and tattoos at work

I understand a lot of where you're coming from.

When it comes to piercings, I have my eyebrow, septum, lip, tongue, and cheek (monroe) done... not to mention all the ear piercings (including gauges). With tattoos, I have my upper arms and my back.

Whenever I go to a job interview or anything, I take out my piercings. Well, I take out my eyebrow and my lip and I roll up the septum piercing (the monroe is modest enough that I don't take it out). I usually have my hair down too, just in case they are offended by my earrings. And my tattoos - are always hidden, unless I'm in a tank top. I take it all out because, I don't really

A few years ago I worked at a place where they didn't mind my piercings at all, it was never a problem. But when I got into a spat with the boss' wife (apparently she loved to pick fights with the young women in the office), it was my piercings that they decided to go after. They had no problem with them, until they needed to find something wrong with me. I tend to see that kind of thing more often. All of a sudden, I was asked to remove my piercings (where other co-workers with similar jewelry weren't asked). And I was so disgusted with it that I quit.

Of course, I have no problem removing my piercings if there is a valid reason for it. If I'm going to be out representing the company or working with customers - I will have no qualms with removing my piercings. But if I'm in a back room, using my mind, and my looks have nothing to do with it... I'll be a little bit put off if I'm told to remove them.

Even if I started a new job and they asked me to remove my piercings initially without any valid reason, I would.
It's just when they create a piercings policy just to discriminate - that's what irks me.

But, I've noticed, at least in my state, that a lot of companies are more open to piercings. The other day I was in a law firm waiting for an interview, and every other young person who walked by me had some sort of facial piercing.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


An employer's reaction to your body art should be a gauge on whether or not you want to work for them. Don't think of it as them denying you, you should be denying them if they hold those 1950's views still.

Don't forget, the people who pay you in currency are your employees. They provide a service to you (signing a payroll check) and they need you to pay them by performing duties. I've fired a few "bosses" for not performing up to human expectations.

Originally posted by ovumcranium
FYI: I understand that there can be problems if you need an MRI scan for medical treatment and have a tatoo because some of the inks have metallic particles in them, especially in tatoos over 20 years old. If you do a google search there are a lot of articles regarding this, one even said some hospitals will refuse to give treatment.

The MRI thing is a myth. I got about 75% of my body covered, and I've had two MRIs in the past three months. A lot of my tattoos are 25 years old, I'm also a tattoo artist, and Ink has not changed in chemistry in the last 50 years. A couple of companies tried vegetable matter pigments but they are terrible, dont retain their original color, and fade quickly. Nobody uses them. We are still basically using the same pigment as the pioneers in early Americana tattooing. All of which have trace metallic elements in them. None of them have enough to react magnetically. I was in the MRI tunnel for nearly three hours just last week, and nothing.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


You are allowed to express yourself and others are allowed to not to like it. In the work force you are there to please your clients so having all employees look neutral is the best way not to alienate people.

If one store has one guy with a jesus tattoo then some might see that business as a business that is for jesus. Others might love jesus but hate on the tattoo because they don' t like ink and think its dirty. Others will just hate jesus because of their hate for organized religion.

In this case you have only pleased one group and alienated two others. that is not good for business. Clients are fickle regardless of what you think. One of my gfs refused to buy a car from one sales man because his after shave smelled like her fathers after shave and she hated her father. yeah it was petty but people in general are petty when it comes to spending their bucks.

When you get a new job, you are usually trained on what topics to stay away from while at work. i have to leave my beliefs and thoughts at the door everyday. Tattoos and piercings are expressions of your thoughts and beliefs that you cannot leave at the door as they are a visual manifestation of who you are on the inside.

Clothing falls under the same category and that is why there is a dress code.. They don't want you expressing yourself there.. they want your labor and the image they want their business to portray.

I mean really why is this even a topic, grow up already. if you put a tattoo on your neck and you know people frown on that then don't complain when people give you crap... you did it to yourself.

If you want to get around this become the best at whatever you do then you can call the shots. Till then get over it.

reply to post by yaluk


At the end of the day the customer has to decide if driving down the street to another store is worth it. If they do decide that, over a tattoo, imo they need to rethink life and give some of that cash to charity.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


well my gf didn't want to buy a car over after shave... when i was a bag boy a little old lady said that our store was farther but she liked the friendly atmosphere of our grocery/deli than the one near to her. by friendly she meant we said hi to her when she came in.. whoop dee doo she traveled further for a hello...

My sister always wanted me to go the convenience store with her as a kid because she said the clerk scared her. he would wear those colored eye contacts. she would get creeped out by it and would walk to a further store to avoid him if someone could not go with her.


I mean do you live on the same planet i live in??


and they may think that you need to rethink your life if you need that many piercings and tattoos to make you feel better about yourself. it is all point of view but you don't see that. Just get over it and accept it. Everyone does not have to get a long

reply to post by Evolutionsend


The way i see it is that no one is any better or worse than me, we are all equal. I have never looked at anyone and thought "I am better than them". By equal i mean we are all human beings and we all deserve respect (to a certain extent). While i may not care how anyone identifies themselves, not everyone will see it that way.

For instance, I work in a place that has a dress code, I have to look somewhat professional. Lets say my means of expressing myself is dressing in ripped, dirty clothes and an old dirty baseball hat (which around the house it is... lol). Now if i came to work dressed like that my manager would send me home as soon as he saw me. Reason being if he was to let me stay like that clients would begin to wonder if this is the kind of people they are going to have taking care of there business, people that don't have the gumption to make sure they look professional.

Business lost right there.

Now true i could choose my means of expressing myself over my job but then i could express myself under the nearest bridge and nobody would care but the police.

BTW no i have no tats but have one drawn and as soon as i get the $ it will be on my right arm where it can be covered by my sleeve, and since i wear sleeveless shirts half the time (off the job) then i will still be expressing myself.

Choose your battles, and make sure they are important and not pointless. God knows you will need your strength when whatever is coming in the near future arrives.

I've followed this post for awhile and I think that it shows the attitude that some people with tats and piercings have.

Personally, I could care less if you've been inked or pierced. However in a work environment, I don't want someone who is hard to get along with.

My gut reaction is that if you wear you attitude like you wear your ink, then that will determine your employ-ability. If you can cover it up and are discrete about it, you're probably going to fit into the work environment.

If you have to flaunt your ink, then perhaps you're not going to be easy to get along with in a work environment.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


I personally do not have any tattoos or body piercings. However I am currently in a class titled "How to get an Engineering job/ internship". The class just teaches useful tips on what employers are looking for. According to my instructor, who is also the guy here at WVU that organizes the career fairs, ear piercings on both males and females are usually OK with employers. They don't typically get a bad impression from that. On the flip side, tattoos should be concealed to your best ability, some conservative employers may still have bad notions towards body art. As for gauges, well, you'd better make yourself look really smart. Some employers consider this a clue to your unprofessional personality.

reply to post by yaluk


I have one tasteful piercing, read the thread.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


I used to, since i was like a teenager...I grew out of piercings, all of you will except women. Tattoo's is a different story.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


Of course! I have tatts, and my nipples are pierced, which shows through certain shirts. That has drawn a few sideways glances...and I work in show business! I have all of my tatts in places that can be covered by a long-sleeved shirt. I'm originally from the Mid-West, and I used to have long hair, and that was an issue back there. But I'm on the Left Coast now, and I'm growing my hair back out. I know that Transgendered people can have a difficult time as well, even if they're not sporting tatts and piercings.
This is all prejudice. They associate tatts and piercings with drug use, which is BS. I don't use drugs of any kind
( that's not to say that that wasn't true in my younger days, but still...)
Society is opening up, and in large metropolitan areas it's less of an issue. The Mid-West? The South? Rural locations? Well, let's be generous and say that they're not as 'worldly' and open-minded.
Good luck, I'm with ya. S&F, my friend. Stay strong. Move away if you have to...I did.

Originally posted by Cuervo
reply to post by Evolutionsend

 

An employer's reaction to your body art should be a gauge on whether or not you want to work for them. Don't think of it as them denying you, you should be denying them if they hold those 1950's views still.

Don't forget, the people who pay you in currency are your employees. They provide a service to you (signing a payroll check) and they need you to pay them by performing duties. I've fired a few "bosses" for not performing up to human expectations.

Me Too! Life is too short. If they can't accept the high caliber of work that I provide, then they don't deserve me. And yes, I'm humble and discrete at work. I get along with all kinds of people very well. I'm always polite and considerate.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


That's how I got into the cooking industry...
Back when I was 18 and had a face full of piercings and brightly coloured hair... heh, obviously working in customer service wasn't an option.
I'v stuck with it, working on getting my red seal... Can't deal with customers, and working online is usually fun.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


I know that my workplace prohibits both tattoos and having odd colored hair, only normal hair colors are allowed. The idea in most jobs is that it will cause friction in the workplace or with customers. Believe it or not there are still a lot of people out there who look at piercings and tattoos as disgusting or socially unacceptable and will judge you for it. Now in some jobs piercings could be potentially dangerous but as for tattoos I can't think of a legitimate reason why it's okay to discriminate against someone for colorful images on their skin, unless those images are obscene in some way.

Society has a lot of growing up to do.

reply to post by Titen-Sxull

I can't think of a legitimate reason why it's okay to discriminate against someone for colorful images on their skin, unless those images are obscene in some way.

Society has a lot of growing up to do.

Why does society have a lot of growing up to do? If the tattoos are a personal statement, and that personal statement is to go against the norm, and to send a message that has historically meant something scary to some people, then it seems the statement is made.

Why would anyone get a tattoo and then not expect some reaction to it? If my tattoos become mainstream, I will be pissed, LOL!

reply to post by Evolutionsend


I have a tattoo that I got illegaly in High School and I dont have any problems with it...
Its also on bellybutton so..... Yeah, unless im a stripper, I dont have a problem.

Also, dont some jobs like bartenders and strippers WANT you to have tattoos?

Those at the top are the Baby Boomers, and when they die, this country will change.

I'm a baby boomer, I'm definitely *not* at the top, and I think ink and piercings are disgusting. Maybe it's a generational thing, but when I was your age, the only people with tats were WWII Navy vets who got drunk and inked at a tattoo parlor in Subic Bay, and had a dark blue blob left 30 years later. Most of the time you couldn't tell what the tat was supposed to be. It looked especially gross when wrinkled and covered with liver spots. The only people with piercings in places other than their ears were BDSM freaks. Because of the social norms in existence when I was younger, I have a natural aversion to permanent body modifications and find people who wear them repellent. With other fashions, you can always get a haircut, take a bath, or change your clothes, but once you've got the tat or the piercing, you're stuck with it. I have shirts I bought six months or a year ago that I don't like anymore. I cannot imagine having some idiotic picture permanently posted on my body that I would have to live with for the rest of my life. It just makes no sense to me and is indicative of BAD JUDGMENT. I support Ron Paul and I support your right to do whatever you like to your body, but I also support my right to find your appearance gross and nasty and refuse to hang out with you (or hire you for a job). Anyone who would permanently modify his or her body without medical necessity would probably engage in other conduct I do not condone. It's like waving a red cape in front of a bull when someone walks into my office with tats and piercings. I immediately turn off, shut down, and become incapable of taking that person seriously, regardless of his or her creds.

This video perfectly expresses my feelings: goo.gl...

You have the right to your opinion that tattoos are pretty (I agree), Your Employer has the right to have his own opinion whatever that may be, If its HIS opinion that tattoo's are unproffessional; then he has the right to enforce his opinion because he's YOUR boss, if you dont like it you have the right to find a new boss. Or become the boss and make your own rules. god I love this country, LOL

Originally posted by ICEKOHLD
reply to post by Evolutionsend

 

yeah. i have a lot of "weird" tattoos AS YOU CAN SEE HERE and catch all kinds of flack about some of them. those aren't even all of them.

know what tattoos i catch the most
bad" looks about? Jesus. the aliens and huge gorilla on my back...i get questions. the Jesus...i either get love or i get a cold shoulder.

the sight of Jesus repulses the evil inside lost people.