May 26; An Artful Display Depends On The Canvas Background;
MANAGEMENT BY THE BOOK:
365 Daily Bible Verse &
One-Minute Management Lessons For The Busy Faithful

Chapter Five: May Hiring; 26 May

Do not cut your bodies for the dead
or put tattoo marks on yourselves.
I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:28

An Artful Display Depends On The Canvas Background

Tats

Our US Army is getting more recruits with tattoos. And so is your organization.

A third of Millennials, those 25 to 29, have a tattoo. Your Business Professor is a bit outside this age range and our five-kid penta-posse has wisely not demanded needles with ink. But this is an exploding fad that will affect business hiring.

Here I will review only the deliberate body modifications. Not the accidental scar or dismemberment.

We had just hired a number of employees. Not one of the attractive young women had any body art. There was no large volume of ear hangings or super-sized body piercings. That I noticed.

My concern is less with my outdated preferences — and more with those potential candidates who would know my preferences. If I control cutting the check, I’ll control the body cutting.

I’d like some input in what peeps I be hangin’ wit’.

I prefer non-smokers with no (visible) body art. And please, no “Adult Language.” Conjugated verbs are a plus. Yes, I am an intolerant elitist in that one percent. Call me a non-conformist.

Job seekers must remember that symmetry and chemistry between interview-er and interview-ee is what gets hired. It is not fair. But remember, I’m writing the check. You’re not.

So tattoos and other self-mutilations are not for me. And it’s not likely that I would hire such decorations. But one of my managers with hiring authority might. One of my clients might. But not me.

(And please don’t ask me about trans-gender-bending: If you take a meat cleaver to your manhood, there would probably not be a fit between us. Because I think you would be crazy.)

And I’m not the only fuddy-duddie. Those “progressives” at Starbucks® make what many consider outrageous demands in the Barista job description.

Coffee guys behind the counter must, “comply with a dress code that prohibits displaying tattoos, piercings in excess of two per ear, and unnatural hair colors, such as blue or pink.”

The billion-dollar organization also demands that employees show up to work on time. The staffer must maintain “regular and punctual attendance” as a condition of employment.

The nerve.

So what’s right? What is wrong with tattoos?

Sometime ago I questioned my Rabbi, Daniel Lapin, on the issue of tattoos. Yes, I’m a conservative Presbyterian who adheres to the Five Points of Calvinism. But everyone, including Your Business Professor, needs a Rabbi; a teacher.

My Rabbi said that ancient Jewish tradition held that a person’s body does not belong to him. The body belongs to the Creator and this earthly vessel is loaned to us for a while. Why put graffiti on the Temple of the Holy Spirit? Which is why the tattooing of identification numbers during the Holocaust was so humiliating to Jews.

So if I interview you, or some other old codger interviews you, don’t tell us about your tattoos. It is not part of the job description.

You will be hired for your wisdom and your judgment. That attention-grabbing tat on your neck tells me you have neither.

To get hired, get covered.

Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:28

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