THV Extra: Tattoos & Piercings In The Workplace

It's Chelsea Castleberry's 18th birthday.

"Ok, sweetie close your mouth," asks the technician. You alright?"

The Pulaski Tech nursing student came to Psychodelic Butterfly Tattoo & Piercing to have her tongue pierced. It's a present from her boyfriend.

"I wanted a piercing, especially my tongue so it was like let's go. It hurt, but I think it is worth it."

This isn't her first encounter with a needle, not even her second.

"I did this one myself [nose] and I have like 6 piercings in my ears."

But Castleberry says she can take them out if she has too. That's why she has no worries about landing a nursing job in the next few years.

"If someone doesn't like it then they can get over it," she explains. "They don't have to have them."

Instead Castleberry's concerns are for those who have tattoos where hiding them may be more difficult. Like for Stephanie Drake. She's also a nursing student.

Drake says, "Each of them having a meaning behind them. I don't like jewelry. Jewelry is not a thing for me but I do love body art."

She has 10 tattoos and says, "I do have to strategically place them."

As for her three piercings, "I have to put a spacer in my nose whenever I go to clinical cause I can't wear it in the workplace," says Drake.

Indeed, skin art has crept into the white-collar world of accountants and high-powered executives. Just ask tattoo artist Chris Santa Cruz. He's been in the business for 11 years.

He says, "Clientele is a diverse group of the city. We tattoo everybody from doctors, lawyers. I have tattooed a municipal court judge before. Everybody is getting them now."

Many call it a view of personal expression and the numbers may surprise you. Research shows that 25 percent of adults 18 to 50 have at least one tattoo.

Yes they have become socially more acceptable, but even though times have changed, ReNae Patterson with Manpower employment agency, says most companies still want their employees to be discreet when it comes to body art.

And when it comes to landing a job she says, "You don't want to restrict your opportunities later in life because of something in life that you did one wild crazy college night."

Patterson works with dozens of Arkansas companies and says for young adults entering the workforce, that first impression could break the deal.

"The perspective employer may not see who you really are because they can't get past a tattoo or a piercing," explains Patterson. "For some companies it is not a problem whatsoever, but there are some companies that have a strict policy. No visible tattoos, no piercing."

In a recent poll of three dozen fortune 500 U.S. Companies, it showed invariably they have softened their attitudes to body ink and studded skin.

Tattoo addicts like 27-year-old Adam Grubb say that's because many companies aren't letting art get in the way of hiring the best qualified candidate. For several years, he was an account executive and was asked only once to cover up.

"That was the only time it was an issue. Like I said, business as usual. It never even came up," Grubb explains.

He's now an artist himself. Still though, with tens of tattoos he wants young adults to remember ink is permanent.

"Coming in here at 14 to get a tattoo on your hand, or your neck, or extreme cases your face, you can't hid that. Be careful where you put it. Be careful what you get and think before you act."

Only about 15 percent of people with tattoos have them on their face, neck or hands, the study showed, so the rest can be covered by clothing.

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