Tattoos are somewhat a controversial topic depending on who you ask. Many people have problems with the connotations while others think it's a beautiful form of self-expression. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a couple of tattoos of my own. Most of my chest, left arm, and a bit of my back is inked with a variety of art from a number talented artists.
It's only been a couple of years since I've gotten these pieces done, but in that time, I've heard just about every comment a person can make about tattoos. One of the biggest headaches is when people ask me how I think I'm supposed to get a job with all of my tattoos...
Ugh. It just fills me with rage. I hear the question and my eyes roll so hard that it looks like my pupils' have been sucked away by the black hole that's formed by the act of my brain collapsing in on itself.
To answer your question though, oh I don't know . . . probably by being qualified for a job I apply for? I don't expect to work retail the rest of my life, or any position for that matter where I'll be judged on how I look. If you still think that's not possible, just look at my resume and tell me that you can't get a job with tattoos like me. As a junior in college I've already completed three internships, not to mention I'm currently working three jobs on top of going to school full time.
No, I'm not talking about some part-time sales associate or Starbucks barista position or whatever else you think millennials are only capable of. I write articles to be published on Odyssey, edit the technical writing of engineers who build satellites to be send to space and write intelligence reports for a business strategy firm which the leadership of multi-million dollar companies read to make multi-million dollar decisions. But I guess you should ignore all of that as an employer when you see a tattoo poking out from underneath my dress shirt sleeve, eh?
I'm all for the idea that companies should be able to run their business how they want as long as they are ethical about it, and that includes how they choose to hire people, but I really wish that we could get past tattoos. Doubly so for ones that people can hide oh so easily. All it takes is a long sleeved dress shirt, which is already part of most dress codes.
Is it too much to ask for people to hire people based on their capacity to work and their quality as a human being? One in five Americans have one or more tattoos, which means that it's time to move past the negative stigma surrounding body art. It's expanded well beyond its military and criminal roots and become a pivotal example of self-expression in modern society. Why can't we recognize that and be nice to one another?
