Tattoos and Body Piercings

After my Nephew finished his stint in the Marine Corps with 2 tours to the middle east he wasted no time and got all sorts of tattoos and numerous body piercings, although his tats are mainly on his arms, torso and legs, he has his tongue, under his bottom lip and ears all large gauge piercings. He has pigeon holed himself as far as employment. He did an apprenticeship at a tattoo parlor but decided he didn't like that sort of work. Here is my question...what sort of employment can he seek without being judged? He is getting ready to use his VA for school. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Just kidding...lol...Its more like this ...

reply to post by shells4u


Well really he should be able to do any job he wants.....in a perfect world.
What is his skill set? then we can advise you better.

reply to post by boymonkey74


What boymonkey said.

I have a tattoo on my leg...the kids at school love it.

I think the stigma associated with tattoos is fading....but if necessary could he wear clothing or even foundation to cover the tattoos?

After seeing his pic, he can just remove the piercings for work.

reply to post by boymonkey74

Herein lies the problem, other than what the Marine Corps taught him he is pretty much a blank slate. He joined the service less than a year after he graduated High School and I am pretty sure the only job he had back then was at a burger joint and the skills the USMC taught him are pretty much useless in the civilian world. He has come to his mom(my sister) and me for advice. All we could come up with was maybe a welder...lol...

reply to post by shells4u


Well, I remember my youngest son went through that faze at about 19. He didn't do the tattoos, but he wore the gage earrings, and he had plenty of piercings ( I thought it was horrible, but in the sixties, I too, had to beg my Mom to get my ears pierced).

Now he has matured, doesn't do the earrings and piercings, and has been promoted from within as a store manager of a growing drugstore chain. With the exceptions of the tattoos( which he didn't do) the holes from his younger years are not even noticeable.

Hopefully something like this will materialized for you too.

reply to post by shells4u


Barman...did me a lot of good when I was younger, can make a great wage and If he is a sociable person he will go far.

Man! That is pretty creepy! (the OP pictures)

I'm a Navy vet. I never got any tats cause I could never figure out where to put them. I look so good all over I just could not cover any of my skin up! Oh well.

Barman...did me a lot of good when I was younger, can make a great wage and If he is a sociable person he will go far.

reply to post by boymonkey74



He is the type of person that should not be around booze. He is seeing a councilor for PTSD and is making good progress but I don't think he is quite ready to work in a saloon. Good idea though great tips.

I HATE body piercings, and guages in the ears. I would NOT hire anyone displaying these. A hidden tattoo above the ankle, etc. is acceptable though.

He could get a manual labor job, but my bet is not an office job, or a job involving advancement.

After seeing his pic, he can just remove the piercings for work.

reply to post by smyleegrl



neither of the pics is of my nephew...just google images, but yes he could take them out but he is stubborn but we love him dearly and as far as it becoming more acceptable, I think that depends on where one lives. San Francisco, L.A., Florida...ect. But we live in Montana and folks around here are a might stuffy...

reply to post by shells4u

So much depends on his own mindset. Welders and mechanics can make very good money. So do drilling rig crews. However any large facial piercings could be considered a potential OHS hazard in some cases and they might have to come out. The tats shouldn't matter a damn, though.

On the other hand, he might like to try something totally different, like studying to do programming or software development. There's always room for good quality people in those fields and one of the perks is he might even be able to work from home. But home-based or not, plenty of the people in the field are pretty young and laid-back about appearance. They want to know that you can do the job and some businesses won't care so much about what you look like.

But back on the more manual skills thing, spray painters can do well, especially if they've done the extra training so they know how to match colors. (Very important for smash repair work on slightly older vehicles, for example.) And if he likes, he can specialize and do air-brush work, on motorcycles, helmets, tricked-up cars and so on, as well as special signage work.

EDIT: just saw your follow-up post.

Montana. Lots of land, lots of farms. Lots of big diesel motors. Diesel mechanics will always be needed.

reply to post by shells4u


You have to remember, most of the people who are in the position to hire are in the generation where tattoos were frowned upon. I really think people have to start thinking beyond their tattoos and think more about how it will affect or limit their choices going into the work force.

I personally don't care for tattoos or piercings, and I've been in the position to hire people. Companies have a corporate "image" they want to project to the public. If tattoos or piercings can offend or turn someone away, that's losing business for the company. Not everyone likes tattoos and if you're going to represent a company in sales, or as a representative, it can very much reduce your chances of getting a job.

reply to post by shells4u
Tattoos can always be covered (with clothing, make-up or bandages) and piercings can always be taken out. Both of my kids haven't had any problems other than some jobs not allowing certain piercings, but they have always just worn spacers while at work.

Originally posted by JustMike
reply to post by shells4u

 

So much depends on his own mindset. Welders and mechanics can make very good money. So do drilling rig crews. However any large facial piercings could be considered a potential OHS hazard in some cases and they might have to come out. The tats shouldn't matter a damn, though.

On the other hand, he might like to try something totally different, like studying to do programming or software development. There's always room for good quality people in those fields and one of the perks is he might even be able to work from home. But home-based or not, plenty of the people in the field are pretty young and laid-back about appearance. They want to know that you can do the job and some businesses won't care so much about what you look like.

But back on the more manual skills thing, spray painters can do well, especially if they've done the extra training so they know how to match colors. (Very important for smash repair work on slightly older vehicles, for example.) And if he likes, he can specialize and do air-brush work, on motorcycles, helmets, tricked-up cars and so on, as well as special signage work.

EDIT: just saw your follow-up post.

Montana. Lots of land, lots of farms. Lots of big diesel motors. Diesel mechanics will always be needed.

edit on 15/6/13 by JustMike because: (no reason given)

All of these things are great jobs, but they all require that he LEARN how to do them. This would be a good start: Welding school, diesel mechanic school, etc.

Originally posted by JustMike
reply to post by shells4u

 

So much depends on his own mindset. Welders and mechanics can make very good money. So do drilling rig crews. However any large facial piercings could be considered a potential OHS hazard in some cases and they might have to come out. The tats shouldn't matter a damn, though.

On the other hand, he might like to try something totally different, like studying to do programming or software development. There's always room for good quality people in those fields and one of the perks is he might even be able to work from home. But home-based or not, plenty of the people in the field are pretty young and laid-back about appearance. They want to know that you can do the job and some businesses won't care so much about what you look like.

But back on the more manual skills thing, spray painters can do well, especially if they've done the extra training so they know how to match colors. (Very important for smash repair work on slightly older vehicles, for example.) And if he likes, he can specialize and do air-brush work, on motorcycles, helmets, tricked-up cars and so on, as well as special signage work.

EDIT: just saw your follow-up post.

Montana. Lots of land, lots of farms. Lots of big diesel motors. Diesel mechanics will always be needed.

edit on 15/6/13 by JustMike because: (no reason given)

All of these things are great jobs, but they all require that he LEARN how to do them. This would be a good start: Welding school, diesel mechanic school, etc.

I was going to suggest something in "new media" or "internet" because piercings and tattoos are pretty standard in those type of jobs - then I read you live in "Montana", one of the 6 states I haven't visited. So I have no clue what the local industries are except for agriculture/ranching.

On the other hand, maybe he could become a dental floss tycoon!
(Sorry, couldn't resist the Zappa reference)

ganjoa

Other than peoples personal opinions, what exactly is wrong with piercings and tattoos? Okay... Yes, I can understand that some tats can be offensive. However, I would very much like to know how exactly a human can rationalize finding piercings such as those on the singer in the bottom picture, to be offensive. That really sounds a lot like stuck up people trying to be butt hurt about things not worth worrying about to me...

Originally posted by CaptChaos
[Removed my own quoted post to save space. It's just up the page if anyone wants to read it.

]
All of these things are great jobs, but they all require that he LEARN how to do them. This would be a good start: Welding school, diesel mechanic school, etc.

Yes, I understand that would need to learn how to do them. And the OP says:

He is getting ready to use his VA for school.

So from that, I would have thought it was clear he's ready to go and do some learning. I was offering some occupational options, most of which first require schooling.

Mike