So I recently applied for a job at American Eagle. For those of you who don’t know what that is, its a clothing store that is in most major malls. I had the interview and they said I did great but they couldn’t hire me because of my showing tattoos. I was just shocked that a place like that would discriminate against tattoos. So my response was ” thank you, I don’t want to work somewhere that discriminates against people with tattoos anyways.”
Has anyone else had problems like this before?
Sadly it is a common theme.
I have been given a verbal warning for my tattoos showing through a white shirt (not even on display). I still wear a white shirt :p
But yes many places I have applied state no visible tattoos due to ‘customer service standards’. This is why I have never gone for forearm sleeves.
Take Care
Matthew
I don’t have a problem with an employer who does not allow visible tattoos. In fact I believe that any non-gonvernment owned business should be able to discriminate with respect to hiring on any basis. I may choose not to work for them or patronize them, but it is still their right.
That being said it still sucks. Anyway, if you CHOOSE to get tattoos that are not easily covered hands/neck then you made your bed so you gotta lie in it. Time to pony up for some laser sessions or get a job where they don’t care.
That being said it still sucks. Anyway, if you CHOOSE to get tattoos that are not easily covered hands/neck then you made your bed so you gotta lie in it. Time to pony up for some laser sessions or get a job where they don’t care.
I have a half sleeve that is easily covered, they specifically asked if i have any tattoos that cannot be covered by a t-shirt. I said yes and they said that they will not be able to hire me. Thats what pissed me off. I could understand if they were all over my hands and not coverable but mine are.
I worked in retail (Express) and they said you couldn’t have visible tattoos. I saw a girl at Starbucks and she puts a band-aid over her neck tattoos every time she works.
I worked at a dessert diner and they didn’t care about tattoos. At my job now (Finance) you see some people walking about with small tattoos and no one really cares…we don’t talk to customers. If I went to a meeting I would have to cover them up because most of the salespeople I work with look pretty conservative.
I have seen visible tattoos at Juicy Couture, Tower Records (no longer around) and Nordstrom (certain depts). I guess it just depends on the place.
Unfortunately yes, alot of places do not allow visible facial piercings and tattoos. I would not get a tattoo somewhere I couldn’t hide it because I don’t want to limit my job choices.
im a physical therapist and work in a nursing home full time and the hospital on the weekends. Both places i have to wear long sleeve shirts. in the nursing home the old navy residents love tattoos. i think it reminds them of their younger days. the older women and administration kinda frown on them. but hey what are you gonna do. In the hospital, there is alot of staff that have visible ink. Nothing like full sleeves though. Personally i want to keep mine covered. I guess its just the industry im in. I dont want patients or residents to have the wrong idea about me before they meet me. Clothing stores like american eagle discriminating against ink is crazy. you would think that they wanted their image to be hip and little edgy, like their clothes.
Patrick
True, I worked at a sporting good store located in a mall years ago as a shoe salesmen! Plenty of pretty women I got to help!
I work in retail and I don’t bother to cover up my tattoos. Only 1 of my managers told me to cover up, I just ignored him and went back to work. I have customers come up to me every day and ask about my tattoos. Not one of them has ever said anything bad or complained to management. Companies should learn that tattoos are more and more common everywhere, they aren’t taboo anymore.
As soon as I get my next full sleeve done though I will be covering up while in work.
Well I tend to think work isn’t the place to express yourself artistically and I agree with vaglocker (nice name, btw) about a company’s right to say what goes. If you make the choice to get a tattoo in a place that cannot be easily covered, you have to be prepared to live with the consequences.
That said, I think it’s lame that American Eagle thinks a tattoo is going to offend their customers. It’s a crappy mall store (no offense), not corporate headquarters of a Fortune 500 company.
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