Tattoos have become a trending fad over the years, but their appearance isn’t welcomed by everyone.
An annual survey for human resource professionals showed that 60 percent of respondents viewed tattoos negatively and cited them as one of the reasons not hire applicants, according to the Pew Research Center.
“I cannot talk about what are the policies of Schlumberger, but I can tell you one thing: That at the time of interview, if I look at a candidate with tattoos, I will consider it in a negative way,” said Schlumberger engineering adviser and Global Metier Manager of Modeling and Simulation Jadideva Goswami.
“When the tattoos are visible, it really doesn’t give a professional feeling. I interview a lot of interns and, putting legal reasons aside, how professional an intern seems is very important in the hiring process, and in my field of work — in the research field — I don’t see many interns with tattoos.”
However, Forbes recently published an article that claims that tolerance seems to be increasing at corporate, medical and educational facilities such as Bank of America and the University of New Mexico. In other situations, the fine line is between what positions people would be able to work in.
“If I was hiring a warehouse guy, I wouldn’t care, but if I was hiring someone who has a lot of visibility, it would be an issue I’d have to consider,” said Mathew Minamyer, national sales manager for one of the leading piping companies.
“Visibility with the customer base is most important. If I was going to hire a salesperson and they (had a lot of tattoos), it would be an issue I’d have to consider. If it was an internal job that didn’t have much customer contact … then it wouldn’t really matter.”
For most tattooed adults from ages 18 to 25, the tattoos are not usually visible. The tension of having a tattoo in the workplace is a reason some college students are careful about where they place their tattoos.
“As long as I can hide it, I’ll consider it,” said sociology senior Gabriella Coronel. “I always think, if I want a grown-up job, I should probably wait until I get (the job) and then see if I can get it.”
Pew Research Center also shows that in non-professional settings, the increase of people getting tattoos is still controversial to some, with 40 percent of people thinking this increase is a change for the worse. However, 40 to 45 percent believe it makes no difference, and 7 percent think it is a change for the better.
“It’s just about the art for me,” said graphic communications major Juan Martinez III. “It’s not about the social commentary for me. If I could get more, I’d get more.”
Tattoos are rarely a good idea.
Someone would have to be really ugly, if they were “improved” by tattoos.
It is sad that people will not hire the best qualified candidates over something as petty as having a small flower tattooed on their arm.
What about people with tattoos that hire others because they like their tattoos? It can happen both ways. Most hires are due to unqualified people getting jobs due to connections, nepotism, and quotas. This happens all the time at UH.
Ah, yes, the body as canvas. Why couldn’t the Masters be more like us when they were looking for work? Then it would all be okay.
What about if the applicant has tattoos all over their body including his face such like some of the people shown in Prison? They are just as qualified as anyone else. People even lose on job interviews if they wear unmatching or otherwise “inapropriate clothing” to work. I personally know of women who didn’t get hired because they wore clothing that revealed their underwear(which is still clothing). It shouldn’t matter. Everyone should be forced to tolerate whatever we feel others should tolerate. People should be thrown in gulags if they are exposed as intolerant. Comrades, we cannot tolerate the intolerant!