When my brother passed, I didn’t think twice and got a tattoo on my neck to symbolize my commitment to remember him as often as possible. It was a clear path in doing that and has honestly helped me achieve that goal.<p>On the flip side, I wonder, without regret, how I would be perceived in general to potential employers.<p>Have you seen these sorts of things lead to hiring decisions? If not tattoos, what other physical factors contribute? Unprofessional appearance, facial hair, clothing choices, hair dye, piercings?<p>Is there a list of employers somewhere that don’t let these factors affect hiring decisions?<p>Is punk rock dead? :-)
I put visible tattoos in the same class as branded clothing and bumper stickers— you either want passers by to see it as a part of “you” or you think so little of the medium that you’ll toss anything on.<p>In either case it says _something_ about you. I think most would agree that, on its own, it doesn’t say enough to make a judgment on you as a person.<p>But given that most people judge others within the first few minutes of meeting them it’s def a component.<p>I don’t know if companies that make it a policy to ignore, but I wouldn’t trust such a list. The world is full of firms that state “core values” that can only hope to approximate what the rank and file believe
Even living in a state with a lot of tech workers who are LDS/ "mormon" (they specifically outlaw tattoos for practicing members) I have never seen nor heard of a single instance of someone feeling negative pressure for their tattoos either in hiring, or as a full time employee. There are other people beyond slightly more fundamental Christians that might have an issue with tattoos but I feel like if you don't have an issue in Utah it's a strong signal.
I have many tattoos (but none on hands/neck) and pretty long hair. I did have facial piercings which I removed during grad school because people really did not care for the piercings. I've never had the tattoos be an issue in the corporate world. The only person I know with hand tattoos is a software engineer and he is plenty successful. I think if you are good enough at your job and good to work with employers will care about that more.
By "our industry" I think you mean tech, but a forum created by a VC firm will also attract some people from the financial industry, in which I work. I almost never see visible tattoos on colleagues. When you are trying to raise money from investors, I think visible tattoos have only downside.