Tattoos
As a professional, it’s really hard to justify them. I have nothing against you having one personally, but here’s the thing: the courts (in the US, anyway) have found legal a company’s ability to have you cover it up for jobs facing customers. Since customer facing jobs are almost always more powerful than those that aren’t, you have to be willing to balance your personal interest in physical self-expression with your ability to be successful at work. Isn't it hard enough already to get ahead? Aren't there a thousand other ways to express oneself that don't create a problem?
There will never be any reliable data on the effect of tattoos in an interview, but I can tell you: they not only hurt when you get them (so I'm told), they hurt when interviewers see them. Betcha thousands have been ruled out not for the tattoo but for the decision to get one that would show in normal work attire.
And the reason why there won't be any reliable data is that interviewers find other reasons to say no.
A well-regarded future NBA player (where clearly tattoos are NOT inversely correlated to marketability/success) had this to say about his LACK thereof: you ever see a tattoo on a Maybach?
Well said.
I have heard from many folks that got tattoos many years ago that they regret them. (These were WW2 veterans, a lot of them from the US Navy.) Perhaps times have changed, and younger people getting tattoos now will not regret them. I think at least part of the issue was lack of clarity of the tattoos over the years - they literally can't make out what they originally were. The tattoo technology may have changed. But I didn't get the sense that was what they were saying (and, I think it's not the technology but our skin that does the changing). They were saying, it made sense then, but doesn't now, and I regret it.
When it comes to listening to experience about this, it's hard to hear when you're 20. But, I have to admit, just about everything my dad ever told me about stuff that I would change my mind about later in life has turned out to be pretty true.
The experience and feelings of people who have had tattoos for many years reminds me of a quote that at first would seem unrelated: quitting is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I think tattoos are a permanent reminder of a temporary situation...because so much of life is temporary.
Some bottom lines:
Would I hire someone with a tattoo? Sure I would. But they’d have to overcome the decision about the tattoo.
So, if you’re tattooed, and we can see it, be very, very good. It does happen.
If you can't be talked out of it, make sure no interviewer or colleague will ever see it.
I hope you never regret it. NEVER.
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