Should You Cover Tattoos for a Job Interview?

When you’re job hunting, it’s important to put your best foot forward to increase your chances of getting the job you want. If you have a lot of tattoos, and are interviewing with a very conservative company, you may want to consider covering these for your interview. Here are some tips to help you.

1. Cover with clothes. If your tattoos can reasonably be covered by clothes, this is a simple method that won’t fail you later. If you are hired, and your tattoos are noticed later, it’s not awkward to explain that you didn’t try to hide them, rather they were under clothing at the interview.
2. Use tattoo cover up makeup. You can buy professional makeup designed for covering tattoos. This makeup works beautifully, and is a great option for neck and face tattoos that can’t easily be covered by clothing. If you go this route, you must decide if you’re committed to using tattoo cover up makeup every day after you get the job, or if you’ll expect your employer to accept these after you get the job.
3. Have the “talk”. One smart way to handle tattoos in a job interview is to cover these for the interview, but talk about them to your potential employer if you feel that the interview has gone well, or once you get a job offer. Many people choose to use tattoo cover up makeup for the interview, so that their tattoos do not distract a potential employer from their skills. However, before accepting the job, they disclose the tattoos so that there are no surprises or expectation that they will use makeup every day.

Whether you choose to cover your tattoos with makeup or clothing, or allow them to shine is a purely personal choice. However, it’s important to give the matter some thought to be prepared when the day comes.