Seems everyone has one. Whether it’s a tramp stamp, a poem, butterfly or skull. A Pew Research poll from 2010 noted that nearly a quarter of all Americans have a tattoo, with nearly a third of 30- to 45-year-olds adorned with at least one piece of ink. Can ink sink your prospects for landing a job?
An annual survey by the Center for Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania noted that over 60 percent of HR managers regard tats as a negative.
The retail industry is a bit more tolerant when it comes to body ink. Jakob Hunt notes that while working in HR at H&M, “they cared about people being stylish,” said Hunt. “They saw my tattoos as a plus.” Conversely, Elana Goldberg, 22, an HR manager for Quantum Networks, was turned off by tattoos. “But my company has a very open culture,” said Goldberg, so she recently hired a graphic designer who had a number of tattoos. “When you’re introducing an employee to a client and you say ‘This is our designer,’ it’s assumed that that person may be a bit more artsy or free-spirited.”
Those who work in the corporate world often have to engage in some major cover-ups to conceal their ink. “I feel there’s the corporate Robert and the rock ’n’ roll Robert, and they are pretty much compartmentalized,” said Robert Conlin, 37, a senior health care practice manager in Chicago. His tats cover much of his body and include stars, skulls, the word “goblin,” and a quotation from Hamlet. “I put on a suit and tie to come to work and then I go home and put on the black T-shirt. I think, ‘If they only knew what I looked like under all this.’ ”
Older people are increasingly less tolerant of body ink. While just 22 percent of those under 25 regard tats as inappropriate, 63 percent of people 60 and over found tattoos objectionable in the workplace. HR managers are not blind to the fact that body ink goes up as education drops. While as many as 20 percent of high school grads have tattoos, that number is cut in half for those with bachelor’s degrees. And only 8 percent of advanced degree holders and 3 percent of PhDs have body ink.
Executive career coach Meredith Haberfeld advises job seekers to conceal their tats during an interview. "Each employer is going to vary from conservative to liberal when it comes to tolerance for their body art, so a good rule is to keep it covered in your interviews and even during your first few weeks in your job until you get a sense for the culture of the workplace," Haberfeld said.
Can ink sink your career? Depends. Best to play it safe and cover up if you’re applying for a corporate post. If you're interested in learning a little more about the topic, you can check out an interesting infographic on the cost of tattoos here.
Image courtesy of marin/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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