Media

David Emin, mediaweek.co.uk, 10 November 2009, 09:00am

Should tattoo rule candidate out?

Q We are recruiting for a media buyer for one of our teams. The fact that we are able to recruit has come as a bit of a surprise, because our company has had a recruitment freeze in place for the past 12 months. After much moaning to my boss and complaining about my department's massive workload, she finally let us go ahead and recruit someone.

David Emin is director of advertising at Mirror

My dilemma is that we have nailed the selection process down to two candidates, but the one I believe is the best person for the job has a tattoo on the back of his hand. Unfortunately, my boss does not approve of this kind of thing. Do I risk upsetting my boss and employing the candidate I think is ideal for the job or should I go with the candidate who is not as well qualified, in my opinion, but will meet with the boss's approval?

ASurprisingly, some of the most unlikely people have tattoos. My late grandmother had a tattoo of a map of Britain that covered her whole back. She could be a bit grumpy at times and she wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but you always knew where you were with her.

Granny aside, this is not the easiest of dilemmas to solve because I always believe you should pick the best candidate for the job. However, an employee's appearance can sometimes be a major factor in determining how suited that person is to the job.

In a role that could involve a lot of external facing meetings, your employee will represent your business, and his or her appearance will have a significant effect on how clients view your company.

Whether we like it or not, we are all subconsciously influenced by this. If someone presents to you with "hate" tattooed on their knuckles, you will form an opinion of that person based on what you see, rather than what you know about that person. And it is more than likely that the opinion you form will not be positive.

On the other hand, a small tattoo of an innocuous design could be considered arty and creative, and might indicate there is a lot more to this person than meets the eye.

Rather than risk losing a potentially good candidate, my advice would be to explain the situation to your boss and ask her whether she would be prepared to meet both the candidates for a final interview so she can
form her own opinion.

Please don't think your boss will consider you indecisive - instead, she will hopefully assume that you are sensible enough to want to call for a second opinion.