Tattooed woman 'told to put bag over head by Jobcentre'

[Blue_Tires]

Hayley O'Neil, 23, - who also has 20 body piercings - says was also advised to ''stand behind a wall'' when she asked a job centre official what post she could apply for.

She eventually left the Job Centre Plus centre in Blackburn Lancs in tears without any interviews lined up after the advisor concluded: ''Who would hire you looking like that?''

Miss O'Neil, who got her first tattoo from her mother as an 18th birthday present said: ''I just felt so humiliated. I couldn't believe what this guy was saying.

''I said I could take the piercings out but they look a lot worse when they are out."

"The guy said: 'on first impressions do you think anyone would hire you?' He said: 'look at it this way if you were to stand behind a wall - or put a paper bag over your face do you think you would have a better chance?'

"He then backtracked and tried to say that he was sorry and hoped I wasn't offended but I was.

"He talked to me as though I was just going through a phase in my life, but this is my lifestyle choice, and this is who I am."

However a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions denied any inappropriate remarks had been made during the interview, adding "Job Centre Plus offers standard job hunting tips which include dressing appropriately when going for an interview or visiting a potential employer."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8020254/Tattooed-woman-told-to-put-bag-over-head-by-Jobcentre.html

[Dash87]

1. What a jerk

That must have been such a humiliating experience. :( :hug:

♥

[hobbit709]

2. well that "lifestyle choice" probably includes never getting a day job.

[Iggo]

5. Even so, that guy is still a fuckwad.

[Love Bug]

3. Insensitive, but unfortunately, probably true

People have the right to decorate themselves however they wish, but it's naive of them to think they won't be judged for it, especially if they plan to work in most corporations.

[Rhythm]

4. He could have handled this better... but he's right.

...and this is coming from someone who has spent 30 hours under the tattooist's gun.

The job service admin could have been more tactful, but in the end what he said is true.

This young lady's "lifestyle choice" is going to severely limit her employment prospects, with the exception of within certain circles where such visible mods are common, like night clubs, body-mod studios, or within the music industry perhaps. It's unfortunate, but it will be a while (think a decade or two) before mainstream society -- where most desk-job HR folks exist -- no longer finds self-expression involving immutable body modification to be a detracting element.

I see this on campus at my university too, and i shake my head. These folks are spending their's and their parents money for higher education, but then tattooing and body-modding themselves right out of the job market they will enter after graduation. That big ol' script tattoo on the neck, or earlobes stretched out beyond 00-gague are not going to get them in the door of a job paying enough to pay back student loans and live on.

[grace0418]

6. I agree. The guy was definitely an asshole but she cannot have been surprised

that her job prospects are diminished by her choices. And if she was actually surprised, she's incredibly naive.

Unless she is seeking work in the fields you mentioned, she's going to have a near impossible time in this economy. People who look the part, dress the part, have all the qualifications and right experience are still having trouble finding jobs. I prefer wearing converse low-tops, jeans and silly t-shirts. That's who I am. But I know if I walk into an interview like that I'm probably not going to be considered. Even at places with no particular dress code, unless you're specifically told otherwise, you should show up looking like you want the job and that you spent time thinking about making a good impression. That's just a fact of life.

I have no issues with tattoos or body-mod. Although I personally get a little grossed out by the stretched earlobes I recognize that's just my own personal preference and I don't think ill of someone for liking it. But I think their increase in popularity over the past decade has caused too many young kids to get them as more of a "fitting in" "me too" kind of thing, and those kids don't seem to realize that it's a public and (mostly) permanent statement about yourself. For people my age, we could make statements that were easy to change. I had a partially shaved head with purple hair and black eyeliner and Doc Martins and a leather motorcycle jacket with band stickers on it. Lots of my friends got tattoos but on their shoulders or ankles so they were easy to cover if needed (I was always too broke and indecisive to get one). Now that sounds so banal but in the 80s that was pretty bad ass. However I'm not stuck at forty years old having to wear the clothes and hairstyle I was wearing in 1986 to a meeting with a client. Super visible attoos and such are a whole different ball of wax and I don't think kids get that. They *all* say "That's who I am" but we *all* thought we knew who we were when we were 18.

[Rhythm]

9. I had a mohawk off-and-on until i was in my late 20's

Now that sounds so banal but in the '80s that was pretty bad ass.

I graduated high school in '85, and probably didn't look much different than you did. Except for my tattoos. *L*

To be fair, though, when i decided to get inked, i had the presence of mind to have them done in places easily covered by a simple t-shirt. Women's formal evening wear is a bit trickier, but that's the price i pay for my decision. I doubt i'll be invited to a state dinner or anything any time soon.

[grace0418]

11. That's what my friends did. Some have some tattoos on their fingers but none of them

have huge tattoos on their faces or throats. And some tattoos look pretty cool with formal wear. I think all my friends had the same presence of mind that you did. But I think that was partially because it was a lot less popular back in our day. Kids now see tons of people with all kinds of body art and maybe they think the entire world at large is totally cool with it. Or maybe they thing they're never going to work for The Man.

I definitely looked pretty funky all through my twenties. I think I look pretty boring now but I still stand out as being "arty" when I leave the city limits. :)

[Taverner]

7. What a dick.

[Tobin S.]

8. I could get her on at a trucking outfit

I think trucking employers actually expect a driver to at least have tattoos. :) I saw a driver the other night who was covered with them and probably had about 20 piercings in his ears and face. If he has a little experience and a safe record he can get a job at most trucking companies. They'll probably hire him without even seeing him if his background and work history checks out. I've had 8 jobs in trucking and only one employer wanted to do an interview in person before they hired me.

[Rhythm]

10. With the right training, there are a lot of things she could do

Goodness knows, at the customer-service cube-farm where i worked for a while (we were banking CSRs), the only thing the management cared about was doing the job well, and customer satisfaction with their experience on the phone with the CSRs. The HR department was unconcerned with such things as body mods, so long as the applicant could pass an FBI background check (we had unlimited access to account info for all clients) and learn to do the job well.

That said, she shouldn't be surprised at the difficulties she is bound to face in finding a workplace which is accepting of those who make these kind of permanent choices about their appearance. It's going to take time to find that fit.

[baldguy]

12. Like piercings & tattoos have everything to do with a person's ability to work.

[Shell Beau]

13. They certainly don't, but the fact of the matter is she is now limited

to jobs out there. It is just the way it is. He didn't have to be so assy about it though.