Inkings can mar job chances

071013sp3 Amy Gracie has a tattoo on her arm which she hid when she was applying for a job. She felt she missed out on a job because of her tattoo.

Rotorua's Amy Gracie didn't think getting a tattoo on her forearm would affect her work prospects.

So when she went to give a Rotorua company her CV she unwittingly had the tattoo of three flowers and a bird in plain sight.

"When I handed my CV to the manager he said their clients don't like tattoos and that I wouldn't really suit the job."

Miss Gracie didn't hear back from the manager and wasn't told why she was an unsuccessful candidate, however the teenager has always felt it was the tattoo which held her back.

So much so, when she went for a position at her current place of employment, Fat Dog to Go, she covered up her tattoo.

"I felt like if I showed them at like the interview or whatever ... it would have an impact on, if I was to get the job or not."

It took her a week to pluck up the courage to ask the company on Arawa St what their policy was.

"Fat Dog management was really good. One of the guys here has a whole arm tattooed and they don't mind at all. They didn't say anything about it."

Miss Gracie is not alone in her experience of a tattoo having an impact on getting a job.

Maori language lecturer Erana Brewerton was turned away from a public bath in Japan last month because of her ta moko.

Public baths in Japan commonly ban tattoos because they are considered an antisocial statement or a sign of possible involvement with organised crime.

Another incident involved Maori woman Claire Nathan who was turned down for a job with Air New Zealand as an air hostess because of a ta moko on her forearm.

Miss Gracie said she got her tattoo about a year ago and it symbolised a special time in her life.

"It kind of represents, like me being free and everything. It's got the bird and the flowers. It's nothing obvious and it's my tattoo."

A 2009 UMR research poll found one in five Kiwis are tattooed, rising to one-in-three in the under-30 age bracket.

Rotorua ta moko artist Hira Young said his company always encouraged people to consider carefully where they placed a tattoo because there was always a chance it could have an impact on a person's career.