Ink and metal: Should you hide tattoos and piercings in an interview?

Tattoos and piercings are nothing new; from Ötzi, the European Tyrolean Iceman dating back to 3250 B.C. who had 61 tattoos and also sported one of the oldest piercings known to man, to Roman soldiers who reportedly pierced their nipples as a sign of strength and unity, humankind’s fascination with body art has been around for millennia. While in the modern world, tattoos and piercings (other than the classic earlobes) existed on the edges of society for many years, a recent study shows that they are now increasingly a symbol of belonging. While back in 2016, research found that 37% of hiring managers were less likely to have a positive view of someone who has tattoos, in 2022 more research demonstrated that in some white-collar roles, specifically more creative roles, they might actually create a more positive impression than not having them. So what’s the best advice? Should you hide your tattoos and piercings in interviews?

When it comes to the workplace, the idea of visible tattoos is also changing. Lee Padgett, Navy Veteran and founder and CEO of Busted Bra Shop, a chain of Lingerie stores, shares her experiences in the fashion retail industry to help you decide whether to hide your tattoos and piercings.

Diversity and inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are important for any company, and visible tattoos and piercings are part of that policy. Padgett believes, “At this point in the world, people need good employees, they need employees who are going to do the job well. And if they decide they’re going to do that in a black dress every day, who cares?” The point is of course that it shouldn’t matter how you dress, or how you choose to decorate your body. What’s important is how well you can do your job and if you’re capable of doing it in the clothes you’re wearing.

Padgett isn’t alone either. In 2021 both Disney and UPS relaxed their dress code to allow visible tattoos (with some restrictions) alongside things like facial hair. Disney added inclusion as a fifth key for its park workers alongside safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency.

While tattoos may have been a rite of passage for many years in the military, visible tattoos were frowned upon until recent years. Whereas now, the only tattoo restrictions in the US Army apply to the face and neck. Additionally, in the police force, relaxing dress codes is aimed at breaking down stereotypes and allowing a broader range of candidates to apply for the roles. Even in the world of banking, hiring managers are being urged to look beyond body art.

These days, employees want more from the company they work for—they want a workplace where they can feel calm and serene, and an inclusive dress code is part of this.

Are clients bothered by tattoos and piercings?

For customer-facing roles, how your visible tattoos and piercings are perceived by clients will determine whether your workplace will accept them. For her business, Padgett explains, “We look at the culture in the areas we’re located in. We’re between Chicago and Detroit. We’ve been around [for] 10 years and we started in the city of Detroit, Michigan, which is a pretty fashion-forward place. Body positivity is a big deal, art is a big deal. We have a lot of graffiti artists as well as recording artists that come from here. So that’s exciting when you have very open-minded people, it makes the fashion more fun. Tattoos and piercings are on everything—they’re in magazines, they’re on newscasts. There really aren’t that many places here that you can look around and you don’t see some form of personal expression in the way people are decorating themselves.”

Enrica Ruggs, associate professor at the University of Houston C.T. has demonstrated that even when there were negative stereotypes about tattoos generally, that did not affect customers’ perceptions of the organization employing the tattooed worker or the products they were selling.

These responses aren’t limited to the world of fashion either. Research by medical professionals in an emergency department in Pennsylvania concluded that visible body art has no discernible impact on perceived professionalism or competence. Jenny, a gynecologist, agrees: “I’ve never taken my piercings out. They’re all above the neck and fairly visible. I work with them every day. I’ve never had a negative response to them, and I’ve had positive responses on several occasions. I feel they’re part of my personal identity and that’s important to me. I think they make me seem more human and possibly more approachable to some people. I’ve always had good patient feedback. I’ve also been through several interviews with them in with no issues.”

Positive comments incoming!

Padgett can’t think of a single time where visible tattoos or piercings have had a negative reaction from a customer across her six stores. “We have positive comments about tattoos a lot, especially if you have something very beautiful. Just like any kind of art, people do comment on it, but I haven’t heard anyone say anything offensive. No one’s ever taken me to one side and said, ‘Listen, Lee, I’ll never shop in your store again because everyone has tattoos.’ People can choose not to shop with me, but no one’s ever said that in ten years. It’s never been a problem.”

Cyber security copywriter Pete Hugh agrees: “I’ve never had a negative experience. When I was employed, I had one interviewer mention my piercings and ask if I’d be willing to take them out for specific public-facing circumstances—which I was fine with, but it never ended up being necessary. As a business owner, if anything, [tattoos and piercings] are an advantage because they’re distinctive and make me easier to remember.”

Keep it clean and respectful

It stands to reason that if you’ve chosen to have something tattooed onto your skin that people are likely to find offensive, showing it in an interview, or indeed at work is likely to lead to trouble. Padgett shares her view: “Piercings and tattoos are pretty common with us, I don’t restrict them, but with that, I say ‘nothing offensive’. When I say offensive I mean religious, political views, swastikas … anything like that should not be visible.” That isn’t restricted to body art either. “I did have someone wear a hat or face mask one time that said, ‘Kiss my ass’ on it and that got a lot of negative comments.”

Is it a red flag if you feel the need to hide?

With body art being seemingly so accepted, should you worry if you feel the need to hide it in an interview? After all, what does that say about a company as a whole? Padgett takes a pragmatic approach: “If I had to hide my tattoos in a job interview I would see that as a red flag. For me, it’s the same as the color of your hair, I don’t feel like it should be anybody’s business.”

However, before you set about crossing a company off your list, she recommends you find out why the company has the rule it does. “Dressing appropriately has been a thing that I’ve watched happen in many companies. Do your research before you apply for a job. While I’m happy with tattoos and piercings, I have a couple of things I’m a stickler on, We don’t allow crop tops in the workplace because, as a bra shop, we’re working with people who have to take their clothes off, so if our skin touches their skin it’s really weird. You have to find out reasons why companies have different dress codes—sometimes it’s for safety. If it does cause a red flag for you find out the reason behind it, and if that doesn’t work for you, find another company.”

Making the choice

While the latest research is overwhelmingly positive, it still isn’t always easy to decide whether to hide your tattoos and piercings in a job interview, Consultant Dave says, “I’ve always taken my earrings out and worn long sleeves when going for interviews. I don’t know if this is because I would normally have been interviewed by folks 10-15 years older than me and they tend to be more socially conservative. In my current role, every member of my team has tattoos.”

Stuck on what to do? Run through this checklist:

• Do your research:Look into the company and your industry, check out other employees on LinkedIn, and find out what the dress code, DEI policy, and general feeling is.
• Check out the person interviewing you: An external recruiter may have a bias that isn’t connected to the company you want to work for.
• Make an informed decision: Once you have the information, if it points to hiding your body art, decide how you feel about that. Do you want to work for a company that forces you to hide part of who you are? Are you happy playing different roles in different places?
• Do the benefits outweigh the positives? If your tattoos or piercings are going to help people remember you from a sea of candidates, it might be worth the risk.
• Is your body art offensive? If it is, cover up.
• Better safe than sorry: Don’t feel bad for erring on the side of caution, as long as it doesn’t make you uncomfortable.

There’s no definitive answer as to whether you should hide your tattoos or piercings in a job interview. It depends on the area you work in, the type of work you’re doing, and how confident and comfortable you are. What’s positive is that times are changing and that if we’re asking the question, it’s a great sign of how much more inclusive the workplace is becoming. For Padgett it’s also about fashion: it goes around and comes around. Things are popular and then they’re not. It could be that body art goes out of favor again, but as so many people love it, and generally it’s pretty permanent, companies have to adapt to the times. Excluding people because they have tattoos or piercings could mean missing out on an ever-increasing pool of talented candidates.

Photo: Welcome to the Jungle

Follow Welcome to the Jungle on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and subscribe to our newsletter to get our latest articles every week!