Saturday, April 6, 2013

Rougher Then Rough Drafts



            At age 18 majority of adolescents are graduating high school and becoming with what people call these days ‘adults’. At age 18 you have spent more than half of your life in school; 12 out of the 18 years you have lived you have spent them getting an education. But at age 18 do you really know what you want to do for the rest of your life? At age 18 do you really want that tattoo on your body; because it is going to be there the rest of your life?
            To get ink tattooed onto a person’s body you need to be at least 18 to get it done without parent consent. But did anyone every stop and think about it that the tattoo age is to young? At age 18 we have not had enough freedom to know that we want something to be permanent on our bodies for the rest of our lives. The only thing that we have done at age 18 is go to school, and that’s all we really know. A person is considered an adult at age 18, at age 18 you can vote in the presidential election, buy tabacco, enlist in the army, and get a tattoo. But what makes age 18 so different from age 17 or 19, we do not have enough experience to learn from or know that is we want to do these things that adults can do, like, enlist in the army and get tattoos.
            At age 18 society also wants us to go to college and figure out what we want to do for the rest of our lives. But has anyone ever took a step back and really thought about that 18 is to young of an age to do some of these things. To get a tattoo 18 is to young of an age to permeantly mark something on your body. Getting a tattoo is a really important decision. You never just want to go into a tattoo parlor and pick something out of a book. At age 18 that is how a lot of people pick how they get their tattoos, they just want a tattoo so they just pick anything. Also 18 years get tattoos when things such as peer pressure and alcohol are involved and that is just never a good mix. Having a tattoo affects job opportunities, and it automatically give people the right to pass judgement on you just because you have a tattoo, at age 18 do you think you can handle all of that?



           
            Do you know what you want to do for the rest of your life? Well if you do that’s great, but if you don’t then you need to think long and hard before you get a tattoo. Depending on what you want to do with the rest of your life and where you work depending on the tattoo placement you cannot be hired for a job because of that. Getting a tattoo requires a lot of thought. Before putting permanent ink onto your body make sure you think about your future and if having a tattoo in that place are appropriate for what you would like to do later in life.
            As time change companies are changing their dress codes, but they are still strict when it comes to tattoos. A rule that seems to be pretty general in all work places is the “Don’t Show, Don’t Tell” policy. If a tattoo cannot be seen when wearing appropriate dress attire then do not tell anyone you have a tattoo. Companies these days also go with as long as they cannot see the tattoo then they have no problem with you having it. Even though companies may be changing their dress codes you still need to think long and hard about the placement of a future tattoo.
            Also evaluate what you want to do with your life because the judgment of having a tattoo is all based upon where you choose to work. I you are looking to do something in the music and arts environment as jobs then they are more accepting of you having a tattoo. If you wish to become a business man and work on Wall Street one day they do not like tattoos showing at all. They want to keep it extremely professional and they feel tattoos are unacceptable.


            First impressions are everything. By first glance a person will pass their judgment on you just by the way you look at that moment and time when they first see you. When going into an important job interview they always say make a good first impression because that is what stays in there head. But why it is when a person with a tattoo comes in to apply for a job and goes into for an interview they automatically make a bad first impression? If their resume is the exact same as they person sitting next to them why is it that the person without tattoos will get the job?
            While tattoos are becoming more up and coming in today’s society a lot of companies are still extremely closed minded to their employers having them. If a person comes into an interview with a tattoo they are most likely not going to get the job. Even if they are all the qualifications to have the job they will not get the job because in the corporate world appearance in everything to them. It all comes down to what you are wearing and how you are going to represent the company. Now a days people are so caught up in appearance they could mostly care less if you ever had the qualifications for the job!
            It is sickening to the fact that someone will not be hired because of their tattoo, these just show that a company will hire over appearance instead of qualification. An employer would rather you have your tattoo removed and then they would hire you in comparison to just hiring you because you are qualified. Tattoo removal is not the solution to the problem.


While many employers are stereotypically under the “no tattoos allowed” policy, there are more up and coming employers who are a little more lenient when it comes to their employees having tattoos. In today’s society it is more common and open for the younger generation to get tattoos and them not to judge each other for having tattoos; in comparison is older generations they feel tattoos are unacceptable and you should not permanently put something like that on your body. It is much more common for a person to go into a interview and having a tattoo and them possible still have the chance of getting hired rather then back in the old days they wouldn’t even consider hiring someone who has a tattoo.
Many places will hire a person with tattoos such as the YMCA and Disney. These companies look at tattoos in different ways but will still hire you if you have a tattoo. Disney Company will hire someone with a tattoo as long as it is covered and cannot be seen. YMCA will hire people with tattoos depending where they are placed and what they are. The YMCA hires many lifeguards every year to watch the pools and majority of their lifeguards are between the ages of 21-30 and have tattoos. With their employees having tattoos they first must be approved because they will be seen by many children. If they have profanity, racial slurs, or a marijuana leaf tattooed on them then it needs to be covered because they are unacceptable to have. There are also many restaurants and other jobs who do hire plenty of employees who are tattooed and they are shown and they do not have a problem with it.
It is now 2013 and things are completely different now. Technology has changed, society has changed, and so it the way people look at others for having tattoos. While there still is a big part of companies who think having tattoos is unprofessional and they cannot be seen in the work place, there still are plenty of other companies who think the opposite. If a tattoo is what you wish to put onto your body don’t have the fear they you will never be hired, know that it may be harder. Times and people are changing and in today’s society employers are way more accepting of tattoos.


            You look at me and what are the first things you notice. All you see is a short girl with long curly brown hair. I open my mouth and you hear this loud voice come out of this little body. You look at my resume and see that I am a very involved person and a leader in many different activities. When you look at me do you think I would have a tattoo? To answer that simple question I have a tattoo. When you look at my with a t-shirt and shorts on you would never be able to see it, but when it comes to summer and I am in a bathing suit you would be able to see my tattoo.
            When getting hired for a job these days, a big part of getting the job is based on appearance. When looking at my appearance an employer would never be able to guess if I had a tattoo or not, nor would they know the meaning behind it. My tattoo has meaning behind it, it was not just put on my body to be there. When a person puts ink onto their body there is always a meaning whether or not it is just for art or if it has a personal meaning.
            My tattoo is not only on my skin but also on my two sisters skin as well. Together we all have a matching tattoo. On our sixteenth birthday my older sister had bought myself and my twin all matching necklaces. Little did I know two years later that the three of us would get that all tattooed onto our bodies. The necklace is a big heart with three little hearts inside of the big heart. Each little heart represents on of us and the big heart is the love that we all share for each other. Now around the side of the necklace it says “Chance made us sisters, hearts made us friends”. This just states that yes we are connected all by the same mother and father, but with out hearts we all became the best of friends.
            Looking at my tattoo some people just see blank ink tattoo on my rib cage, but once they ask they find out that the blank ink isn’t only on my rib cage but two other peoples rib cage; and if they just give me two minutes of their time they will know the meaning behind it. At first glance I do not stereotypically look like a girl that has a tattoo. Once you see my tattoo it is real and it does have meaning. When you get tattooed you do not get tattooed just for the hell of it, while some people may say that it has no meaning it most likely does whether it is a personal meaning or just an art for there is a meaning and sometimes a story behind every tattoo.


Tattoos come in all types of shape, sizes, and color. Some have meaning, while others are just a form of art. Coming into the corporate world, your future employer most likely will not appreciate if you have tattoos that are in spots that cannot be covered. They tend to be considered ‘unprofessional’ to have. What is the main reason behind not letting tattoos show in the corporate world?  Why are the considered ‘unprofessional’? To a person a tattoo can mean a thousand things while to your employer it can just mean one thing; that is a no when it comes to hiring you for a job.
Tattoos carry the stigma of being ‘unprofessional’. They also are carried with bad reputations, such as gangs. When it comes to dealing with gangs that is something no employer wants to take any part in. Having a company see an employer that has a tattoo that is gang related puts a horrible stereotype not only for the employer with that tattoo but also for the whole entire company. Gangs carry a stereotype that is much worse than tattoos because they deal with guns and violence.
An indicator to an employer that a tattoo can possible be gang related is based on color. In an article in The New York Times it states “To many bosses, red ink on the skin means “gang colors”. The next stereotype that an employer sees is the color of the tattoo they think of the background and history that is carried with that tattoo. No employer wants to deal with a criminal, someone who was in person, or the violence that they can bring. They will automatically pass judgment and say that gangs are without a doubt ‘unprofessional’.
Having a tattoo automatically puts you in a bad placement no matter what the meaning may be behind it.

No comments:

Post a Comment