Too Tattooed To Work?

[Miranda]

At Sara Champion's previous job as a project engineer for one of the country's top construction firms, visible tattoos for professional staff were against company policy. She found this ironic -- not to mention frustrating -- given that her position entailed inspecting job sites filled with tattooed construction workers.

"I was out on site all day, and I wasn't allowed to show any of my tattoos," says the 28-year-old Florida native, whose six large tattoos on her arms and back include a brightly colored sunflower, a marigold and a rendition of a Dia de los Muertos bride and groom on her upper left arm. "Ninety-eight degrees and long sleeves is not so cool when you're in Miami."

After six years with the construction firm, Champion decided to move north and find an employer that wouldn't needle her about her body art.

She found her "perfect job" in Danbury, Connecticut, as a project manager at a design and branding agency.

Now, "I have no problem showing up to meet a big client in a T-shirt and jeans," tattoos in plain view, she says. "I wish more companies were like this."

The times, they are not a-changing?

According to a 2006 report in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 24 percent of Americans ages 18 to 50 have at least one tattoo, and 14 percent have at least one body piercing. Researchers questioned 253 women and 247 men via random telephone survey.

So, does the fact that body art is as prevalent today as mullets were in the 1980s mean that the tattoo-friendly tide is turning in the workplace?

"That question is best answered by [corporate] culture and by industry," says Jackie Valent, director of human resources in the Milwaukee office of accounting giant Deloitte. "If you look at a company like Google, a very entrepreneurial, Silicon Valley organization, tattoos are more acceptable."

"But if you look at the other end of the spectrum, which is where I happen to [work]," says the 20-year human resources veteran, "the answer is absolutely not. If you have six piercings and a big tattoo, we're going to tell you to cover the tattoos and take out the piercings."

(For the record, a Google spokesperson said that the company does not have a policy on tattoos.)

Amy Derick, a dermatologist from Barrington, Illinois and a co-author of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology study, isn't surprised that a few companies or industries are still opposed to body art.

"Eight percent of people with tattoos report trouble at work," from being forced to hide them to being restricted from performing certain tasks, Derick says. For example, a grocery store employee with a tattoo on their hand might be asked to perform tasks less likely to bring them into contact with the public, like stocking shelves instead of working a register.

Better safe than cited

What's the solution for body art aficionados who work in one of the more conservative business sectors? Hide your body art or starve?

Pretty much, says Dave Kimelberg, who photographed 15 professionals with large-scale tattoos they conceal at work for the book "INKED Inc." and runs InkedInc.com, a related Web site.

"I think in some ways, it's a 'don't ask, don't tell' understanding," says the 37-year-old Boston lawyer, who works as general counsel for a venture capital firm. "There's kind of this Superman element to it, like this crazy blue and red skin-tight suit underneath my Clark Kent exterior."

Like many of the secretly inked doctors, lawyers, and architects he's met over the years, Kimelberg sticks to tattoos he can easily conceal under clothing at work -- in his case, three-quarter "ink sleeves" that extend from each shoulder to the middle of his forearms but allow him to roll up his shirt sleeves on warm days.

And while the ink's out of the bag now that Kimelberg's published his book, he still keeps his tats under wraps for fear of them being "a distraction in the workplace."

The same goes for Kasey Broach, a public relations specialist at a Phoenix law firm. To commemorate turning 25 and getting her MBA this year, she got a small omega symbol tattooed at the base of her neck in ultraviolet ink, which can only be seen with a black light.

"No one knows about it unless I show them," she says. "I have to bring the black light out from my high school years."

Where the body art roams

But what if you're not a doctor, lawyer, or accountant, but a creative type determined to find a job where you can bare your body ink?

That's when it's time to play detective, says career coach Janet Scarborough Civitelli.

"Visit the employee parking lot to see how they are dressed and whether many of the employees have visible tattoos," says the psychologist and founder of Bridgeway Career Development, a career counseling firm in Seattle. "Also ask colleagues and friends if they know anyone who works there who can give you some insider info."

"The Web is also a gold mine of information," she says, adding that the Web site ModifiedMind.com, which is dedicated to body art and other modifications, features a database of companies reportedly open to tattoos.

Then again, if a no-tattoo policy is your deal breaker, you could take a gamble like Sara Champion did during the interview for her current position:

"I said, 'Are you tattoo friendly?'"

Fortunately, the answer was yes.

By Michelle Goodman for LifeWire.

[creatureofthenyte]

I guess it pays to get tatts in areas that can be covered if need be.

I did see this one man, while I was at work one day, he had his face tattooed.

I know body art and or modification is a form of expression, but people have to realize that they still need to be employable.

[Msterbeau]

Totally off topic... But damn... she's cute!!

I think this is yet another way in which the conservative corporate world lags behind the times. Stop judging on appearance and let the quality of their work determine if they deserve a job.

[Morbid Side]

Totally off topic... But damn... she's cute!!

I think this is yet another way in which the conservative corporate world lags behind the times. Stop judging on appearance and let the quality of their work determine if they deserve a job.

Well said Marc. I think the problem is that it causes to much distraction if you look like a living billboard advertisement. I say, thumbs up their asses. If you're not working around the public, why the hell should it matter anyway?

[Morbid Side]

BTW, it looks like a turkey on her arm.

[sass_in_the_pants]

I work in finance. I handle millions of dollars of transactions every day. If I make a mistake, we lose money, lots and lots and lots of money. It's very important, for me to do my job effectively, that I am trusted by senior management. And how do I garner their trust? Well, by kicking ass at my job of course, but I also have to LOOK the part. I get it. I need to LOOK like someone you could trust. I don't want it to look like I am anything BUT stodgy and uptight - I deal with money and it's a stodgy and uptight business, as well it should be. Do you really want people who feel free to express themselves handling your company's finances? Really?

By the way, my boss is the VP of finance and he has tattoos.

He covers them.

That's why he gets to be the VP.

[TygerLili]

Totally off topic... But damn... she's cute!!

Bwahahaha! That just made me laught out loud because it was so...well...Marc!

I think companies are within their rights to ask you to cover tattoos or take out piercings. Every company has their own idea of what does or does not look professional, and in some jobs it looks really inappropriate. It's like wearing your PVC club dress to work.

[sass_in_the_pants]

And then there's the issue of, well, okay you allow tattoos.

And now Billy has a tattoo of, I don't know, a naked lady. And a swastika. And the word 'fuck'.

On what grounds do you disallow HIS tattoos, but allow Sally's sunflower?

It just creates a mess.

I don't want people at work to know me anyway. You know, I don't even have pictures of my children at work. Not one. There is not one shred of evidence that I even EXIST outside of work. I think it makes my work life MUCH much easier.

[Burrich1]

I don't want people at work to know me anyway. You know, I don't even have pictures of my children at work. Not one. There is not one shred of evidence that I even EXIST outside of work. I think it makes my work life MUCH much easier.

Same here. In eight years at my full time job, there is only one person I have ever hung out and had a few drinks with. Work and personal life is best kept separate.

[TheOsakaKoneko]

I work in finance. I handle millions of dollars of transactions every day. If I make a mistake, we lose money, lots and lots and lots of money. It's very important, for me to do my job effectively, that I am trusted by senior management. And how do I garner their trust? Well, by kicking ass at my job of course, but I also have to LOOK the part. I get it. I need to LOOK like someone you could trust. I don't want it to look like I am anything BUT stodgy and uptight - I deal with money and it's a stodgy and uptight business, as well it should be. Do you really want people who feel free to express themselves handling your company's finances? Really?

By the way, my boss is the VP of finance and he has tattoos.

He covers them.

That's why he gets to be the VP.

I think this is exactly right. You have to dress your part at work. Humans judge other people to a great extent the moment they see them - this may be silly and it may at times be unjust, but it's the way it is.

At least it's not like Japan, where if you have tattoos you're assumed to be yakuza, and you can't even swim in public pools or join most gyms or go to the public bath. Here it's mostly accepted on personal time, though I suppose a few old timers might think you were...a biker? haha

[Goth Brooks]

http://uscobm.com/

There's your safety net.

[pheramoans]

My mother sells cars, and including her latest, she has 4 tattoos, all pretty large pieces. They are all easily covered, being located on her stomach, back, thigh, and side.

[Destroit]

I think this is exactly right. You have to dress your part at work. Humans judge other people to a great extent the moment they see them - this may be silly and it may at times be unjust, but it's the way it is.

At least it's not like Japan, where if you have tattoos you're assumed to be yakuza, and you can't even swim in public pools or join most gyms or go to the public bath. Here it's mostly accepted on personal time, though I suppose a few old timers might think you were...a biker? haha

Damn...it's still that uptight in Japan with that? I figured they would have gotten a little more lax about it, but then they are a culture built alot on tradition and honor. Interesting share, I did not know that.

[Rev.Reverence]

..I don't think skin color MATTERS...whether it is pigmented by melanin OR ink.....PERIOD!

..it's not like a plastic dress you can take off...and when did a plastic dress become an artistic means of expressing one's spirituality...?...is THAT how those two things are similar?

[thewhiterecluse]

The normal people arn't ready for tatoos in their little facist world.

[Head Wreck]

i dont have tatoo's.

i'm a regular blood donor and if i had a tatoo i would not b able to give blood

[Homicidalheathen]

Mine are all going to be in places easily covered for office work. Thats just the way life is.

[Homicidalheathen]

Really? I did not know that

i dont have tatoo's.

i'm a regular blood donor and if i had a tatoo i would not b able to give blood

[Fin]

i dont have tatoo's.

i'm a regular blood donor and if i had a tatoo i would not b able to give blood

Not entirely true.

I am a regular blood donor as well.

I AM inked. The Red Cross requires you wait 12 months after your tattoo placement to donate again.

[TheOsakaKoneko]

Not entirely true.

I am a regular blood donor as well.

I AM inked. The Red Cross requires you wait 12 months after your tattoo placement to donate again.

That's really good to hear. I was appalled for a moment. I don't have any tattoos nor do I plan particularly to get one (though there is one design I would love, but I won't do it..I'm too much of a wimp (socially more than physically)), but it would suck if you couldn't give blood. That would be pretty stupid. We need all the donors we can get.

Which reminds me, I need to give - I used to give twice a year since I was 17 and legally allowed, but I never gave in Japan because I didn't trust it as much as here. I'm overdue.

[Rev.Reverence]

Not entirely true.

I am a regular blood donor as well.

I AM inked. The Red Cross requires you wait 12 months after your tattoo placement to donate again.

This is why I have not given' blood in too long...someday though...I'll be covered...then...they can have my pretty blood!

I donated often before I settled no my first designs...

[Rayne]

i dont have tatoo's.

i'm a regular blood donor and if i had a tatoo i would not b able to give blood

Are the rules different over there HW? Here you just have to wait 12 months.

I can't give blood because of my Anemia.

[Rev.Reverence]

The normal people arn't ready for tatoos in their little facist world.

Talkin' like THAT won't make anyone change their minds Bro...

[xbittergracex]

And then there's the issue of, well, okay you allow tattoos.

And now Billy has a tattoo of, I don't know, a naked lady. And a swastika. And the word 'fuck'.

On what grounds do you disallow HIS tattoos, but allow Sally's sunflower?

It just creates a mess.

I don't want people at work to know me anyway. You know, I don't even have pictures of my children at work. Not one. There is not one shred of evidence that I even EXIST outside of work. I think it makes my work life MUCH much easier.

You know, I generally disagree with having to cover up your tattoo's at work, but when I read this, I definitely see why. You're completely right. The small star I have on my wrist isn't such a big deal, but if you add a swastika or Fuck....I guess you're right.

[livininxtcgoth]

I have a small tattoo of the japanese symbol for dance on my right hip bone. I'm the manager of a dance store. I generally try to cover it up but I don't go crazy about it. The owner doesn't care but I still make sure my shirt is down and my pants are up if i notice it's exposed. But if people see it they ask what it means. And when i tell them they're like "ohhh well in that case...."

And the point sass in the pants made about the swastika was a very good one.

I was working at a strip club for a while a year or so ago and the owner told this one girl she had to cover up her tramp stamp because it was a tribal design encasing a swastika. The owner found out because a customer asked the girl "is that really a swastika on your back?" and the girl said "ya of course, white is right" and the guy gave her the money for the dance and immediately told her to get away from him. If a stripper of all people has got to cover herself than I think we can all agree that certain things just aren't appropriate.