Slashdot Mirror
Body Adornments and a Career?
termilitor asks: "I was thinking about decorating myself with a tatoo. The only argument that holds me back is whether this will affect my career of a mathematician / computer programmer negatively. I would like to ask readers of the Slashdot if they have such experiences, including other types of self decoration, like body piercings and dyeing hair." It's always important to look professional when in the work-environment. The big question, of course, is how many of you believe such things are mutually-exclusive. Wearing a tattoo is a non-issue with the right clothes, but what about piercings and hair coloring? Can a happy medium exist between self-expression and the professional environment?
Who cares what the tat looks like a few days out of the studio, under the proper lighting?
There are 30-60 year old people everywhere with fading ugly blotches on the skin that they thought were great when they got them.
A tattoo just screams insecurity. "I've gotta do something permanent to my skin, to show that I'm really serious about 'whatever' culture that I'm involved with right now."
I got a tatoo when I was 21 on my right bicep. If I wear a long or short sleave shirt (the type with a collar), it can't be seen. When my employers eventually saw it, they were not concerned. This is because wearing normal work attire, it is invisible.
I also got a tongue piercing, and it took a week for it to be noticed by my employers. They didn't seem to mind, and I was still allowed to meet clients because it wasn't obviously visible. I ended up taking it out (after a year) because I didn't want to chip my teeth.
I also dyed my hair black (from dark brown)... it wasn't a big change and my employers didn't mind.
If you do get something done, don't make a big deal about it. Get it done for personal reasons, not to impress your colleagues. Don't go to extremes, be subtle and decorate a location on your body that is hidden by business clothing, but not by recreational clothing (if possible).
PS: Don't EVER get a girl's name on a tatoo... If you want to impress her, get a heart tatoo and write her name across it every day with a permanent marker. You *will* thank me one day.
you should find some older person whose tattoos are
a couple decades old.
take a close look at that 20-year-old tattoo.
really. you want that?
it may look fresh and lovely when it's new --
but it's not always gonna be new.
Wait a minute. Didn't I say that on the other side of the record? I'd better check
Good post.
I worked for an IT company that was sold to IBM, with all employees becoming IBMers.
A large portion of our firm, including me, were young and "hip". I had a nose and eyebrow ring, others had dyed hair, wild haircuts, or tattoos.
We stuck out like a sore thumb in IBM, a company that suits the description of borg-like grey drones far more than MS does.
After around 2 years it became clear people with less talent but better suits were getting promotions we should be getting.
Most of us started to clean up our image to get promotions, the ones that didn't ended up in dead end jobs blaming society rather than their inability to wear a long sleeved shirt to cover up their tats.
Self expression is a great thing, as long as whatever you do can be covered up, or will heal when you get bored with it. Many companies don't care what you look like, many, especially bigger blue chip corps do care. At some point you may want to work for such a company even if you don't now, so don't do anything too drastically permanent to your appearance
I really can't see how a tattoo can affect your career, unless showering with the CEO is mandatory, or you're planning to decorate your forehead or hands with neo nazi slogans.
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. --Albert Einstein