Woman claims she was ‘unfairly judged’ for her face and neck tattoos at job interview

A woman took to TikTok to vent her frustration after not being selected for a job and claimed she was rejected because of the tattoos on her face and neck.

A woman’s claim that she was rejected from a job interview for her tattoos has gone viral. She took to TikTok to share that she was not selected for a role in the American department store chain TJ Maxx because of the visible tattoos on her face and neck.

The image shows Ash Putnam, who claimed she was rejected from a job because of her face and neck tattoos. (Instagram/@ashxobrien)

Ash Putnam shared her frustrations in the video, which has gathered more than seven million views, reported the Metro. According to the outlet, there were very few who supported her, as most people tried trolling her, calling the tattoos “scary and demonic”. Some argued that her body modifications would “scare” kids and suggested she try getting a job at a “tattoo parlour or a piercing studio”.

“I applied for a job at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago and they denied my application. They couldn’t even call me, they just sent me some automated email,” Putnam told Mirror.

"I went in today and was like, ‘So what was the reason why I didn’t get hired?’ She was like, ‘Oh you just don’t have enough experience there were candidates that had more experience than you’. I asked her if it was about my tattoos obviously because I know a lot of places don’t like tattoos. She said that wasn’t the reason, I don’t feel like that’s true but whatever I will leave it at that,” she added.

"I absolutely do think it’s about my tattoos because apparently my tattoos are demonic and scary to a lot of people. TJ Maxx did not say this to me – that’s just a lot of the comments I’ve gotten on my video. People are being extremely hateful on my TikTok saying I should work at a circus or Halloween stores", she further commented.

Presently, she works as an Uber Eats driver. She also earns from sites like TikTok and OnlyFans.

Do tattoos affect your chances of getting hired?

"Tattoos can make a big impact on how a candidate is perceived,” founder and CEO at Ignite SEO, Adam Collins, told Business Insider. "I wouldn't say that tattoos make or break an interview because it depends on the role. A candidate applying to be an account manager for our clients and is supposed to speak to our clients directly should definitely appear trustworthy and clean-cut, so face and neck tattoos would affect that,” he added.

He further explained that if someone is not working directly with clients and is associated with technical or operational roles, then most of the time, "it's not a big deal”.

Career coach Michelle Enjoli shared that the type and placement of the tattoos may matter during a job search. “Tattoos are personal and typically represent something for that person,” she said. “People represent companies, and therefore, if a tattoo represents something that a company would not want to be associated with, it can definitely be an issue for a hiring manager,” she added.

Enjoli further said that Putnam’s tattoos would be considered "extreme" and seem like a “big part of her identity”.

Justina Raskauskiene, HR lead at Omnisend, said, "Discriminating against those people (tattooed) would mean missing out on some talented people in the industry." Raskauskiene added that candidates having tattoos are becoming more and more common.