your work, just a picture Why do employers give a monkeys about things like tattoos. They don’t interfear with your work, just a picture
Like its going to effect your wpm typing or ability to design a jet engine or effect your ability to help a customer
Generally if I or anyone else sees a tattoo thats half decent it is a good converstation starter which could help sales .
like did it hurt, does it have meaning etc
@
Some poeple are really stupid they think if you look neat and pro without any tattoos you wil be good in your work but that is not true
Okay, two points to make here.
First off, if you’re disagreeing with someone, in particular, widespread policies set by institutions, it helps if you can string a coherent sentence together with at least enough grammar to indicate you got your GED.
Second off, they care for the same reasons most professional jobs insist you wear slacks and a dress shirt: it gives an air of professionalism. It shows you’re serious about your work, and that you’re bland enough not to insult anyone’s sensibilities. In short, a responsible adult.
Now, do I agree with this? Hell no. But you can’t dismiss their reasoning out of hand. As I’ve stated many times before, many, many people HATE tattoos, and will not work with you if you have them visible. That can effect the bottom line, and the bottom line my friend *IS* the bottom line.
It’s one of the things we in the club have to be adult about and deal with, reguardless of whether it’s right or wrong.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
I agree with KnightHawk entirely.
Your point of view is fairly naive. Firstly, while tattoos are a great conversation starter with many, this is not the case with all. A lot of people dislike tattoos, and will not be tempted by a salesperson covered in them.
There are a wide range of social stereotypes associated with tattoos. Drugs, bikers, gangs, prison. Mostly incorrect. But when somebody is running a business, are they going to take a chance? If 2 people apply for a job, equally qualified, but one is covered in visible ink, who are they more likely to pick? The one with least risk associated with them. And as for anything that deals face to face with the public – it is good business sense. If I was running a business and hiring employees to deal with the public, despite the fact that I love tattoos and am entirely pro-tattoos, I would not want to hire someone with their work on show. Because I know a lot of people DO sadly have a problem with it. And I know it will send some customers running back out through the door. Wrongly so, yes, but this is the world in which we live. I’m studying to be a teacher and I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll have to wear long sleeves for work. Don’t like the idea, when it’s hot, but it’s a sacrifice I’m happy to make. There are a lot of parents who wouldn’t be happy with their children being taught by someone covered in tattoos, for the reason I listed above (stereotypes). And although I don’t believe in these stereotypes, the world has moved on since tattoos were exclusive to prisoners and druggies, I can completely understand why a parent, who only has their child’s best interests at heart, would not want to take the chance.
And back to professional work environments – even I can admit that tattoos do not look professional. Just like I can admit that I don’t look classy in an evening dress any more. It doesn’t mean I don’t love them. But they shout ‘here, look at this thing that I love to do in my social life’. The point of being professional is having no hint of social pastimes evident in the workplace. And it is not unreasonable for an employer to want to present a respectable looking workforce. It’s just common sense. If you can’t deal with the fact that you’ll have to cover up for work, then perhaps you shouldn’t be getting tattooed.
my daughter is a beautian and she told her boss 2 days before she was getting her neck tattooed behind her ear
next day she got a letter saying no tattoos were 2 be visable
when she got the tattoo her boss loved it and has never botherd since but hey not all people are like this i keep mine coverd unless i have a tee shirt on my boss is cool about it
the more its on Tv and people watch La Ink and the like it becomes more mainstream
look at footballers they all have them now
I work in an environment that has a zero visible ink policy.
When I asked about this I was told that simply too many people dislike tattoos and since my city is very multi-cultural we have many cultures where the whole thing is a massive taboo and would cause them offense.
I was also told that as a big bloke who rarely smiles in my job and a broken nose I am intimidating enough without flashing lots of ink.
It is all perception I may not agree with it but it does not kill me to keep the covered. Most of my colleagues are anti-ink anyway.
That is why I bless places like this where like minded ppl can discuss our love of ink without the usual restraints of institutional policy.
Tattooing is becoming more mainstream but it will be several years before it becomes acceptable in the UK workplace where it is public customer focussed.
Take Care
Matt
I’ll use the last job I had as an example… I worked in a shop, where not just sold items, but also created items… in the creation process I normally ended up having to hold a conversation with the customers anything from 2 minutes to half an hour.
I know for a fact that if I had ink on show, a lot of the customers would have choosen not to use the shop I worked at. I also know that tattoos are a great conversation point… however: The people who would have talked to me about ink would have bought something there anyway, whereas the ones who are opposed to tattoos would not. Instead they would have found it ackward to hold a conversation with me whilst waiting for the creation process to take place. And we would have lost all the customers that find visible tattoos (or any tattoos for that matter) offensive, but would not have gained any customers by having tattoos on show.
As it was, no-one knew I had a tattoo, unless a customer came in with ink on show, and we then normally started chatting about it (once a customer stripped down to his underwear to show me his tats… ROFL!)… and yes, if asked, I had no objection pulling my trousers down a bit to show mine.
Only once did customers spot my tattoo without us chatting about it, and that was my trying to eel myself under some shelves to pull out some stuff for two lovely elderly ladies… shirt came up, trousers got pulled down, and my lower back was on full display – next thing I heard was the two ladies cracking up laughing, and it was the conversation point until they left about 10 minutes later. But… they didn’t buy beacuse I had a tattoo, and luckily they found the humour in it (it is fairly funny), instead of finding it offensive.
It’s a sad reflection of our times that people are so judgemental, and look at the tattoos rather than the person -but that is the way it is.
The view I take is that you will only change those peoples attitudes one step at a time. Show them that despite the fact you have tattoos, you take your job seriously, you do it well and in a professional manner.
They soon stop seeing the tattoos and start seeing the person. Next time they see someone with tattoos, they are not so quick to leap to conclusions.
As far as employers are concerned, they are paying your wages, and they need to feel that they are getting value. If they think their customers are going to shy away from you because you have a tattoo, they won’t feel that they are getting value for their investment….. not necessarily fair but it is how people see it.
You must be logged in to create new topics.
