- A tattooed content creator has sparked a debate about hiring bias after being rejected by TJ Maxx.
- Experts say tattoos can impact hiring decisions, especially in customer-facing roles.
- But overall, personality and cultural fit are more important.
TikToker Ash Putnam was frustrated after TJ Maxx turned down her application – and she thinks her tattoos were to blame.
Some of its visible designs include a skull with horns on its neck, solid black spots on its arms, and a pattern on its forehead. Putnam, 23, also has several facial piercings, including a large silver ring hanging from his septum.
“I hate that my tattoos are a deciding factor in whether I get a job or not,” she said in a recent TikTok. “Just because I have tattoos doesn’t mean I won’t be a good worker.”
Putnam, from California, said she went into the store to ask why she didn’t get the job, and the hiring manager told her she didn’t have enough experience. The hiring manager also denied that his tattoos played a role in the rejection. TJ Maxx did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Putnam wasn’t convinced and took to TikTok to complain. Many commenters claimed that perhaps it was his attitude that was to blame, rather than his tattoos. Others thought her body art probably played a role in the rejection.
While the jury is out on whether tattoos can hurt your chances of getting hired, experts told BI that a potential candidate’s personality is likely more important to recruiters.
Putnam’s story went viral
Putnam’s video has been viewed 7.4 million times and struck a chord.
“HR supervisor here,” one person commented. “There’s no way a company will introduce you to customers like TJ Maxx.”
Another commenter, who said she had been a recruiting manager for the store, said: “I’ll tell you it’s the facial piercings and tattoos.”
Some other content creators have also criticized Putnam’s approach.
Ivy Johnson, for example, who also has numerous tattoos, said she worked in corporate America as a recruiting manager before starting her apothecary business.
“Your tattoos are very aggressive,” she says. With customer-facing positions, she says, “it doesn’t go well.”
Johnson said she also thought Putnam had “a really bad attitude.”
“If you had come to my company after an interview, or even after applying and talking on the phone, even if I didn’t even know that you are a very tattooed person, I would say to you, goodbye, here’s the door,” says -She.
“You should do your best in an interview, no matter what you do, what you’re applying for, or what you look like.”
It depends on the role
Nearly a third (32%) of Americans have one tattoo, and 22% have more than one, according to the Pew Research Center.
Some studies suggest that tattoos can affect a person’s career progression. In 2018, a LinkedIn survey found that 40% of respondents said they had rejected a job candidate because they had a visible tattoo. 88% of responding recruiters and HR professionals said they believe tattoos limit a candidate’s prospects.
However, a study conducted the same year by the University of Miami found that job seekers with tattoos were no less likely to be employed than those without tattoos.
The stigma of tattoos is decreasing every day, and many employers no longer have a problem hiring employees with tattoos, according to Indeed.
There may still be a line, however, and some viewers have argued that Putnam has crossed it. Putnam has not officially commented on this article, but she told British publication The Daily Star: “I’m not going to change who I am for minimum wage jobs.”
Adam Collins, founder and CEO of Ignite SEO, told BI that as someone who hires people to work at his company, “tattoos can have a big impact on how a candidate is perceived.” .
“I wouldn’t say tattoos make or break an interview because it depends on the role,” he said. “A candidate applying to become an account manager for our clients and expected to speak directly to our clients absolutely needs to appear trustworthy and clean, so face and neck tattoos would affect this.”
On the other hand, with someone who doesn’t work directly with clients, appearance is less important.
In technical and operational roles, for example, “it’s not a big deal,” he said.
Career coach Michelle Enjoli told BI that the visibility and type of tattoos a person has can make a difference.
“Tattoos are personal and usually mean something to that person,” she said. “People represent companies and so if a tattoo represents something that a company wouldn’t want to be associated with, that can certainly pose a problem for a hiring manager.”
The likelihood of a tattoo making or breaking an interview depends on its visibility and what it may represent, Enjoli added. Tattoos aren’t as taboo as they used to be, but some people still judge them.
In Putnam’s case, his tattoos were considered extreme, Enjoli said, and “seemed to be a big part of his identity.”
“In other cases, where someone may have a smaller tattoo on their arm or in a visible area, it doesn’t matter because it’s less obvious,” she said.
“I think a company requiring that an employee not wear any tattoos, regardless of their visibility or meaning, is definitely outdated as they have become an important part of modern culture.”
Personality matters more
Justina Raskauskiene, head of the HR team at Omnisend, told BI that as tattoos have become more common, it’s likely that recruiters and hiring managers barely pay attention to them “unless they’re offensive or distracting.
“Sometimes hiring managers may even prefer an employee with a tattoo because it can speak to an interesting personality,” she said.
“Discriminating against these people would mean missing out on some talented people in the industry.”
Rachel Pelta, editor-in-chief of virtual work experience platform Forage, told BI that overall, hiring managers look at skills and abilities.
“The fact is, everyone who interviews probably has the skills and abilities I’m looking for,” she said. “So, at the end of the day, how well do you sell yourself in the interview? Explain why you are the best person for the role? If you don’t do that, you won’t get the job. “
When it comes to tattoos, piercings or anything that could be considered unusual, such as bright hair colors, hiring managers “should not evaluate a candidate on their appearance,” Pelta added.
But some companies are traditional or conservative, and for them, these things might be a “big deal.”
“Unless you want to cover them up or remove them, you’ll have to keep looking until you find a company that accepts you as yourself,” she said. “And they are out there, it might take you a little longer to find one.”
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