Ink-lusivity
You've got tattoos. Which jobs will welcome you with open arms?As Dave Berry reminded us recently, tattoos stubbornly remain something of an obstacle between people and certain careers. We still seem light years away from a world where CEOs strut about with full sleeves of intertwining skulls and snakes.
Tattoos still carry a poor reputation in the eyes of employers and the general public, despite estimates suggesting that about one in four people have actually been ‘inked’.
The majority of these tattoos are, of course, not visible in your typical work environment. (Your secret dolphin butt tattoo is safe with us.)
A survey by Careerbuilder reported that 31% of HRMs said visible tattoos would negatively impact their decision to hire. Many retail and professional environments in particular are very reluctant to hire those with tattoos.
While we all know that ink on your skin says nothing about whether you’re a good person, tattoos still carry a historical association with criminality and violence.
Doctors are allowed to have tattoos but are told to cover them up in order to foment a comfortable and trusting environment between patient and care provider. Especially when that tattoo is a Grim Reaper.
Yet if anyone should be at the forefront of knowing it’s what on the inside that counts, it’s HR. And sometimes, people like to see people with tattoos. Here’s a few jobs where a tattoo probably counts in your favour.
Mechanic
Would you trust a meticulously groomed, preppy looking mechanic to get down and dirty under your car? There’s just something suspicious going on when your mechanic doesn’t even have an anchor or pierced heart tattoo.
Bouncer
If you can(’t) beat ‘em, join ‘em. If people get intimidated by tattoos, then a bouncer is an ideal way to leverage your PAIN/HATE knuckle tattoos and get paid into the bargain.
Graphic Designer
If you’re in design, a tattoo is better than carrying your portfolio around. That you can design your own tattoos is just icing on the cake. Really nice tattoos on a graphic designer are like a statement of aesthetic values, and could even help you find a job.
Chef
A tough workplace culture away from customers, kitchens are ideal environments for tattoos to flourish. Like many true creatives, chefs do their talking through their work rather than through their mouths. Here are a few on display.
Construction
Tattoos probably come as standard issue with your first bricklaying trowel. Safe to say that we’d have no houses at all if people frowned on builders with tattoos.
Personal Trainer
Tattoos and rippling muscles are happy bedfellows. There’s a mysterious crossover between tattoos and a love of physical fitness, so there’s something credible about personal trainers even if they have really heinous tribal tattoos, or some butchered Mandarin characters. “What do you mean it says ‘Ancient Duck’?”
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