Emilee Hardy, Photo by Jazmine Dirks
By Claire De Roin?
Self-expression is encouraged at a young age and is becoming more prevalent in today?s society. Many college students are embracing body modifications such as hair dying, body piercing, and tattooing as a form of self-expression. These students believe that employers are more open to body modifications than they ever have been before.
According to Kelsey Saboe, a Counseling Psychology major from Royal, Iowa, her piercings won?t affect her chances of getting a job. ?I think that the older generations in the business world are already starting to accept the fact that youth like body modification. It?s not seen as a distraction any more. It?s starting to become more common place.?
Saboe has twenty-five body piercings, twenty-one of them in her ears.
?I hear from my parents that they will have to come out some day,? Saboe says. Saboe is planning on going into music therapy and says of interviewing for jobs, ?Not everyone is willing to take out their eyebrow ring or get their tattoos removed for a job. I would like to think that, since my generation has showing a growing interest in body modification, the professional world will have to change to accept it.?
Emilee Hardy, a sophomore Religious Studies major from South Sioux City, Nebraska, believes that some career fields are more accepting of body modifications than others.
?I have hopes of one day teaching religious studies at a small, liberal arts college and typically, liberal arts schools are more open to diversity, even in the art of body modification?
Hardy has seven tattoos. These include the alpha and omega symbols, an outline of the state of Nebraska, a pictorial interpretation of a Bible verse, arrows to symbolize her religious views, an all-seeing eye, and a fleur de lis.
Emilee Hardy, Photo by Jazmine Dirks
Hardy understands the impact that piercings and tattoos can have on future employment.
?I think that it?s acceptable for employers to take looks into account. Thankfully, all of my tattoos can be easily covered up.?
According to Stacie Hays, Morningside?s Career Counselor, employers judge potential employees on their first impression.
?If you?re going to an interview, if you are able to take out or minimize piercings, cover tattoos, that?s the best thing to do.?
But what about those students who do not want to hide their body modifications?
?If you are a person who feels very strongly about expressing yourself in that way, it?s important for you to go to the interview like that.? Hays says that if a person has firmly decided that they want a certain tattoo for the rest of their life, to put it somewhere that can easily be covered.
?As we move forward, employers are more and more open to it,? Hays says.
When students are going into a career where personally connecting with clients of all sorts is a must, such as insurance sales, body modification may be an issue.
?If a piercing or tattoo doesn?t sit right with that person, it?s going to be difficult to overcome that first impression. It comes down to individual expectations and what people have strong opinions on,? Hays continues, ?Employment used to be formal, but it?s becoming more informal. We should still pay attention to it, though.?
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Post Published: 07 October 2011Author: crstaff
Found in section: Features
Source: http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/archives/2971
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