How to Hide Your Tattoos and Piercings During a Job Interview

How to Hide Your Tattoos and Piercings During a Job Interview

• Posted by Jean Louise

A practical way of getting away with tattoos and piercings in a stereotyped society

Hiding Your Piercings and Tattoos to Sell Your Qualifications

Body piercing and tattoos have been in our cultures even since the ancient times. They hold rich significance and meaning artistically and culturally. In our modern culture however, art and culture have stereotypically fell to a different category from professionalism. We see most of its consequences in applying for a job. We don’t want to work on a job wherein we are not allowed to be ourselves with our self-expressions in our tattoos and piercings, do we?


What could have gone in into the minds of employers to have such considerations anyway? Let’s face it. In job interviews, employers only see a tiny sneak peek of your whole personality and skills. Most companies rely most of the times on first impressions to protect the company’s name. Because you are applying for the company and not otherwise, you are subject to fit in to the company’s dress codes and even in their stereotypes.


We are well aware today that while piercings and tattoos have growing popularity and acceptance, some people still associate tattoos (especially those written on red ink) with gang members, criminals or ex-convicts and piercings with Goths and punks. And we can take some companies away from that list.


So the question is: Is it good to hide the piercings and tattoos or not? First and foremost, if you’re applying for a job to a company, you’re basically selling out your talents and skills for the company’s benefit and you don’t want their attention to be focused on the story behind your piercing or tattoo instead on your qualifications. So the best thing to do is to hide it. Interviews don’t last forever anyway.
If you are still planning to get tattooed, it’s good to place them in places that can be easily hidden with clothes such as on your chest or your legs or your lower back. You can hide the tattoos on your arms by wearing a long-sleeved polo or those on your neck by wearing a turtle-necked sweater. Others apply make up to conceal an openly placed tattoo.


While tattoos are easy to hide, piercings may require to be taken off especially those which have large studs or attractive rings. That’s good if the wound has already healed but it may be quite painful for those which are only pierced recently. You can conceal it however by using flesh-colored plastic balls or a smaller silver ball to be less conspicuous.


While most companies have issues with body art, others embrace it especially those which do not require you to interact with client or an artistic career. You might want to apply to those companies that share your passion for body art. Book sellers like Borders for example view persons with tattoos or piercings as interesting instead of threatening.


Indeed tattoos and piercing can never be a hindrance for success if determination and desire is there. You can be yourself and get the job you want. Let us just remember that qualification for a job is not skin deep. Your performance speaks for itself. It’s the sincerity for doing the job that counts.