What do employers of 20-somethings think of visible tattoos?

[rocio]

It would depend to a large extent on whether she is dealing with the public. Any kind of service job, sales job, anything where she has to work with clients, consultants, etc. external to the organization it will be more of an issue.

 

Iwork in a professional environment. I have a tattoo at the top of my back which is visible with several of the outfits I wear. Nobody has ever commented. We also have an engineer working here who has a lip piercing. But we don't work with the public so it's a bit of a non issue.

[rocio]

I don't want my doctor to have one of those 'tear-drop' tattoos.

 

I wouldn't mind. The midwife who delivered my baby had a snake climbing up her wrist and spiders dangling like earrings on her neck. Of course, midwives are expected to be hippies. But it certainly didn't make me question her professional abilities.

[annie24]

I wouldn't mind. The midwife who delivered my baby had a snake climbing up her wrist and spiders dangling like earrings on her neck. Of course, midwives are expected to be hippies. But it certainly didn't make me question her professional abilities.

 

The tear-drop means in gang culture that they have killed someone.

[rocio]

The tear-drop means in gang culture that they have killed someone.

 

You're obviously way cooler than I am. I didn't know that.

[thejigsup]

Tattoos are mostly verboten in the professional world. If they can be covered up at all times while at work, nothing much is said. I worked in the legal field and even tiny tatoos are frowned on there. It's best not to get a visible tattoo if you want to be a professional. If you want to work in the arts, they shouldn't be a problem.

[OptomisticGirl]

Wake up and smell the coffee. YES, your tattoo position DOES play bearing in your hirablility. It may not be a reason for them to not hire you, but as soon as they see something they don't like, they will then HUNT for a legitimate reason by which they CAN deny you entry into the field. And the best has already been pointed out by Annie; you will never know you were denied due to a tattoo. All you will know is :

 

It honestly wouldn't bother me. I guess becuase - even as American - I don't view someone who has a tattoo as not being able to do x role in the work force. Attorneys can have tattoos but have them covered up - does this mean that because they have that tattoo they are less of an attorney than the person standing next to them that doesn't? Or a doctor. Two people went to the same med school, both did well, both are excellent doctors, one just happens to have a tattoo. Is he less of a doctor than the other man? CS is in a highly qualified and professional field and he wears short sleeved dress shirts that show off his 4 tattoos. It hasn't hurt him in his professional setting - he's even working on a promotion now.

 

Now, a face tattoo I admit, is a bit extreme. It wouldn't bother me but it's one of those things. And I can see why some jobs would frown upon any that couldn't be hidden - a small reason I'm moving over there is I knew L WOULD have to hide his tattoos if he moved here - but I don't think just because someone HAS a tattoo in a certain field means they aren't just as capale of doing their job as someone who doesn't.

[Fudgie]

Yeah it's really the visible tattoos that are a problem in the "corporate" world. No one cares if you get a "tramp stamp" or a tattoo that you can see only if you wear a swimsuit or something. Heck, in the corporate world, everyone is wearing suits so you can get tattoos on your arms and legs if you wanted and no one would see because you would be wearing long-armed shirts and pants all the time. The only time this would be a problem would be if you went golfing or something, because the guys usually wear short-sleeved golf shirts then.

 

Best to just stay away from tattoos that are on the face/neck. Because those, unlike those anywhere else on your body, can't be hidden.

[greywolf]

I don't think anyone really thinks that someone with a tattoo is less competent with their job. But most employers want to present a 'professional' appearance to the public, and right now tattoos don't fit into society's view of 'professional.'

[90_hour_sleep]

I don't think anyone really thinks that someone with a tattoo is less competent with their job. But most employers want to present a 'professional' appearance to the public, and right now tattoos don't fit into society's view of 'professional.'

 

again...depends on how one defines the term 'professional'. as i see it at least.

 

i work in a field where i could be considered a 'professional'...and there are countless people in my profession that are very noticably tattooed and/or pierced. it simply has no bearing on their level of professionalism...or their hirability. while it's true there may be some customers/clients that choose to discriminate...it's by no means the norm. and for what it's worth...i happen to live in a very conservative region.

 

i'm still leaning towards the fact that this is fast becoming a non-issue. but who knows. my experience doesn't dictate the way it is. only offering a different perspective.

[OptomisticGirl]

This is how I see it to. I'm around 'customers' all day and am expected to be professional in doing my duities but there are a few of us with tattoos, one of us who has an arm tattoo up to their elbow - and we were short sleeved scrubs.

[greywolf]

I've noticed that piercings are becoming a lot more mainstream. I see a lot of nurses with helix piercings now.

[OptomisticGirl]

I've noticed that piercings are becoming a lot more mainstream. I see a lot of nurses with helix piercings now.

 

I don't even know what that is, lol. One of our nurses has a pierced eyebrow, tongue ring, and nose piercing.

[Miss Firecracker]

I don't even know what that is, lol. One of our nurses has a pierced eyebrow, tongue ring, and nose piercing.

 

That sounds lovely.

[Lonewing]

i get the impression that this opinion of collective strength is something like a mass of brainless automotons mindlessly engaging in work which they've been brainwashed to joyously perform. sounds a bit brave new worldish. i imagine some will take the ''reality'' stance on this one. that's just how it is...right? personally...i find this line of thought to be a little out-dated. the world has in fact moved on in the past 50 or so years. perhaps what modern employers are really looking for is a balance (a blend) between the individual and the automoton.

 

Ok...so then why has manufacturing production moved to China, then? I'll tell you precisely what Modern employers are looking for: they're looking for the most efficient production line with the lowest possible wage. They want you to get out there and get your job, the one you were hired to do, done and done right. If they need innovation, they have people they hire to do that. They also have a number of people between you and them who are actively working on those solutions. Of course, nowadays you and I will not see any of this, because the whole machine moved to china. You think it's outmoded only because you don't see it, and yet, your entire world is still based upon this old model.

 

The real innovators are the enigneers - the people with the mechanical know how to produce new solutions. So if you want to be an innovator, and be taken seriously as an innovator, you go get a degree in engineering. And today's engineers are making products more and more reliant on robot assembly. These robots need maintenance, but the compnay overhead only wants these maintainers to do PRECISELY what they're supposed to do: fix the machine RIGHT the first time. They don't want technicians doing the engineer's job!! Why? Because industry has learned that monkeyed solutions ultimately cost more in the longrun in lost productivity, worker injury and product quality control.

 

Followers remain important because you cannot innovate a new solution in a field until after you learn how that field works. And in order to learn a field, you have to have role models who know the field and already work in it - new employees follow that example, and then do that example once they no longer need immediate supervision. You may be taking initiative by being a self starter and just doing what you're expected to do, but the reality is, you're following the procol provided by your employer [you do their job the way they want when they want it done] and you follow the clock; you come onto the line when it's time [and not earlier - union rules] and you do precisely what you are supposed to do. If you do well and show you're good at your job, they'll eventually promote you and then you'll be foreman. As foreman, you'll have the knowledge necessary to inform the engineers of ways they might be able to improve the machine - and if you're right, they'll reward you, though it might be a token in comparison to the benefits derived by the company.

 

Before you bank too deep into your modern ethos, I ask you to take a look at the national debts and deficits of the countries under which your desired culture exists, and then tell me if these cultures are sustainable or not.

 

A team of Individuals does not win football games.

 

for what it's worth...i don't personally see a correlation between ''individuality'' and lack of productivity. if anything, i think the modern 20-something has (by necessity) become quite skilled at maintaining separation between his personal and professional life. this means that he can live his life off the job in the ways he sees fit (within reason of course)...and still maintain the image (i'm more inclined to say attribute) of professionalism while on the job.

 

Most of them. And then you have those who have gone and put tattoos on their hands and face, or gauged their ears to the point that their ears look hideous without the gauges and not so universally appealing with the gauges. Something tells me I should be studying laser tattoo removal and plastic surgery right now, because the 15-30 crowd will be filling these coffers once they turn 30-45 and suddenly want these things all fixed!!!!

 

a world where our mistakes (even trivial mistakes such as a misplaced tattoo. because let's be realistic...as far as the big picture is concerned...this is beyond trivial) sentence us to a life of mediocrity isn't reality at all. mistakes carry with them consequences...but we're fast coming into a new world where people choose to accept that one mistake does not define a person (let's leave murder out of the equation for now). there is no one way to think that can be deemed correct.

 

If you choose to be that way, great. however, I have observed in my specific career field a trend in the opposite direction. In the old days, you could get an Article-15 and still have hopes to finishing a career of 20 or 30 years and make retirement. In the last couple years, they've moved to a new stricter policy; one DUI, and you essentially are on your way OUT of the service. No questions asked. Fail a PT test? You get one try to do it, and then it goes into your records. I've personally seen a couple people ended before their time due to PT failures. And I've also seen people who recieved punishment [article-15s] 4, 6, 8 years ago get "rolled back" aka removed from duty as well. In essence, this constriction in the economy has given employers more freedom than ever before to restrict who they hire!

 

i love the reference to "group think"...but one may also recall that the members of that society...the automotons...were not really living. fear. it was conditioning. be this way...or pay the consequences. i can't think of a stance that contradicts humanity more than that one. while the greater good is admirable...there are other ways to achieve it. this idea that success is built on raising oneself above others is morally objectionable to say the least. there are those that continue to peddle this mentality...some even under the guise of altruism. i'm a firm believe that those who are staunchly opposed to a shift in human consciousness will soon be in a minority. this way of living...of being...it's not working anymore. we're approaching critical mass as a species.

 

And when critical mass is achieved, the same solution will occur as it occurred the last couple thousands times human civilizations have reached critical mass. Why do you think wars happen? You think it's entirely because one guy wants to rule the world??? A number of conflicts have occurred merely because one nation is too crowded, hungry, or in any way impoverished and their next door neighbor has what the first country needs. The only difference between these countries is the fact that countries of automatons turn out to be REALLY GOOD soldiers. This way of being may not work for you, but I ask you, who's stronger - 100,000 who all think like the Leader does in regards to your presence, or you and the 100,000 next to you who all regard yourselves as individuals and enforce your little 3-foot personal space zones? By the time your group has a unified response to The Leader, you had better hope your techonology is superior because most of you will be dead, your land will be in their hands, and all you have left is whatever you can carry! And those automatons have been essentially told that if they kill you, they will get your house, your food, your cars, and everything else you have that they may want - and as people these are things they have never had!!

 

I hate to say this, though, if the adversary is China, we're in trouble because their technology is currently as good or better than the wesstern world's. We thought it would take them until 2015 or 2020 to make a jet fighter equivalent to our F-22; they rolled the T-28 out here in 2011. They also have something like an excess of 23 Million males - 23 million males of which many will no doubt desire a wife sometime in their life. Watch out...

 

with 6 billion people on the planet...it's safe to say that there are at least 6 billion distinct ways to look at any situation. to suggest that one stance is ''just how it is'' borders on insanity.

 

And yet this has been how the majority has lived, and thrived - they accepted the rules of a few and fall in line. For their faithful reverance, they are rewarded with life and a means to sustain it. For now, you're pretty safe - the Western world has done a good job building a strong society. But at the same time, we see the rough parts and I'm not so sure it's as stable as it appears.

[90_hour_sleep]

ah, lonewing. your absence on this forum has been missed (at least by me). i've truly come to appreciate your condescending cynicism. it reminds me of why i spend time here.

 

thanks for picking apart my opinion and replacing it with the only logical explanation for how things truly are. i humbly withdraw my opinion and concede to your omnipotence regarding such worldly affairs. how i forget myself in the presence of god.

[Lonewing]

Haha...well, I follow the rules now, and guess what: I got to move off based ~8 months ahead of schedule.

 

You can apply negative labels all you wish to things you don't like, but ultimately, it may be valueable to look into the longterm outlook versus temporary shortrun pleasure.

[90_hour_sleep]

Haha...well, I follow the rules now, and guess what: I got to move off based ~8 months ahead of schedule.

 

You can apply negative labels all you wish to things you don't like, but ultimately, it may be valueable to look into the longterm outlook versus temporary shortrun pleasure.

 

yes! that's exactly what i'm talking about!! lol. love it. and actually, i couldn't agree more with that statement...although i imagine we're sitting on very different sides of the fence. well...truthfully...i don't think it's the same fence at all. but who knows.

[civilservant]

I hate to say this, though, if the adversary is China, we're in trouble because their technology is currently as good or better than the wesstern world's. We thought it would take them until 2015 or 2020 to make a jet fighter equivalent to our F-22; they rolled the T-28 out here in 2011. They also have something like an excess of 23 Million males - 23 million males of which many will no doubt desire a wife sometime in their life. Watch out...

 

As a bonified aviation buff I like to keep up to date with developments in tech, and I've never even heard of a "T-28" Chinese aircraft. Care to provide a source for this?

 

Were you referring to this? If you were you'll note the projected in service dates of the later end of the decade, similar to the predictions you said were incorrect.

 

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[Lonewing]

...Yeah, that would be the one...the J-20...I got my letters off.

 

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Everything we've projected about this Chinese jet has thus far been wrong. You still believe that it will be in service later in the decade? Look long and hard at the Chinese developments before you blow them off; they're aiming towards Carriers, Antiship missles [the carrier buster, for example], and they have 23-24 million excess males between the ages of 20 and 30...We can be politically polite all we wish, but I'd suggest we'd be best to maintain vigilance!!!

[civilservant]

I'm not dismissing them, I agree that they have the means and the will to be a major player of the world stage. To be honest they should be a major player, the size and population alone demand it.

 

What I will say though is that for a stealth fighter it's not very stealthy. With those canards and simple rear exhaust engines you'd see that thing on a radar return at your local airport. They have alot to learn there.

[greywolf]

This thread has run its course.