Does looking different hurt your tech career? IT workers share their stories
In IT, it’s normal!
«You can be an unconventional-looking person and still be the nicest colleague in the office»
Anna*, QA tester:
«I have many tattoos (though who’s surprised by that nowadays) in visible places. Some are cartoonish, others rough, and a few contain controversial inscriptions. I got them all impulsively (and quite a long time ago) — now I’m planning to cover them up.
This hasn’t caused any problems at my current workplace, despite my company being fairly conservative.
I also went through a phase of dyeing my hair in various bright colors and had facial piercings (like a black lip ring). My rebellious phase came after I turned 22, but professionally it didn’t affect anything. It’s all about personal qualities, not appearance. You can wear formal suits and beige sweaters while gossiping and causing drama, or you can look alternative and be the nicest person in the office. But being nice doesn’t mean being a flatterer or a people-pleaser.»
My colleagues have occasionally asked about my tattoos and the circumstances behind getting them — but not at work, only when we transitioned to more friendly, informal communication. And there wasn’t any negativity in their questions.
«From colleagues, I only ever heard the standard questions: 'How much did it cost?' and 'Did it hurt?'»
Lucy, website moderator:
«I consider myself someone with a non-standard appearance: I have tattoos, piercings, and no eyebrows or eyelashes — but I’ve never had problems finding work. Though jobs have always come through connections. From colleagues, I’ve only heard standard questions about my tattoos: 'How much did it cost?' and 'Did it hurt?'»
«The product owner said I’d be perfect for a biker role in 'Sons of Anarchy'»
Arkady, frontend engineer:
«I’m tattooed from head to toe. All my professional social media profiles and some resumes have photos where my tattoos are visible.
I don’t know if recruiters filtered me out specifically because of this, since rejections usually come with template responses. But what I can say for sure is that in all the places I’ve worked (both in the CIS and the USA), hiring managers and team members have never been prejudiced toward me. Either healthy curiosity or simple neutrality.
However, on the streets, I’ve encountered situations where people reacted strongly to my tattoos.
The mildest reactions came from elderly ladies who, upon seeing me, have the courage to voice their opinions out loud. For example, I hear «Oh, Lord!» almost every day, and some even cross themselves. There were also a couple of incidents with tipsy men over 40 who «questioned me about my tattoos» and tried to count how many times I’d been to prison.
There were also a couple of cases when police officers, presumably just because of my appearance, asked for my ID and called colleagues to check me in their database. But the funniest thing I remember was an elderly lady who asked: «Did you just get out of prison?»
But all such reactions came only from people over 40, which is quite logical. Younger people tend to have different perspectives and, for the most part, show little stigmatization. By the way, some colleagues said I reminded them of Zombie Boy, and my previous product owner said I’d be perfect for a biker role in «Sons of Anarchy.»
«I overheard a hysterical, categorical remark: 'You won’t work with her! She’s too beautiful!'»
Alina*, IT sales manager:
«I have a very ordinary appearance (I’m neither Anya Taylor-Joy nor Gal Gadot), and yet once I was rejected because of it.
It was during the time of in-person interviews — before COVID. I had already passed the HR interview and was chatting with the department head in a meeting room. He was explaining the tasks when a woman casually walked in, looked me over, and asked to speak with him «for a minute.» They stepped out, and through the thin partition, I overheard a hysterical and categorical: «You won’t work with her! She’s too beautiful.»
He returned and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened, promising at the end that they would call me back. Of course, nobody ever did.
But I left that interview feeling pleased: it may have been unsuccessful, but at least I was considered beautiful. My friend didn’t believe me when I told her about this — she thought I made it all up.
«If a candidate has more than two tattoos in visible places, better reject them»
Oksana, frontend developer:
One of my colleagues believed that having many tattoos was a sign of psychological problems: supposedly, if a candidate has more than two in visible places, it’s better to reject them — we don’t need such a person on the team. «They don’t even accept such people as astronauts,» he liked to repeat (thank goodness, he wasn’t involved in hiring in any capacity). He said the same about piercings, ear tunnels, and scars.
I actually have several tattoos, but they’re not visible. Hearing his comments, I couldn’t help but respond that the absence of tattoos doesn’t guarantee mental health.
He decided this was a dig at him, got offended and stopped talking to me directly (instead using others: «Tell Oksana that…»).
Overall, I’ve never again encountered anyone at work who hated me or others in my presence because of appearance.
«She looked at me carefully, grimaced and said: 'I don’t rent to people with tattoos'»
Anton*, tester:
«I remember an amusing incident: my mom has been going to the same hairdresser for many years, and this hairdresser rents out an apartment. Somehow, after chatting «about everything under the sun» with my mom, she decided I would be the perfect tenant (because I’m in IT). She approached my mom repeatedly until my mom asked me: «Please, just go take a look. Maybe you’ll be interested in her offer.»
So I went. The hairdresser opened the door, looked at me carefully, grimaced, and said: «I don’t rent to people with tattoos.» I only have one tattooed arm, and the tattoos are very beautiful, in my opinion (plus I have a pierced eyebrow). I laughed and said: «You should decide whether you need an IT specialist or someone without tattoos.»
During job interviews, my tattoos have never been brought up, and I’ve never been rejected based on this criterion (possibly because recruiters cared more about me being an IT specialist). And it’s never interfered with my work either.
«A team leader shouldn’t come to work wearing ripped pants»
Kirill*, former employee at a major product company’s Minsk office:
«My story is about dress code. Our office had very democratic ideas about it, as most other IT companies probably do. Employees could come to work wearing whatever they felt comfortable working in (of course, without extremes like showing a bare chest). Shorts, T-shirts — and when necessary, for example for meetings, suits. This applied to both regular employees and managers, who weren’t required to adhere to business style.
Then one day, our team leader returned to our office looking shocked — he genuinely appeared disoriented. When we asked what happened, he explained that he had encountered his new direct supervisor, a top manager who had recently transferred to Minsk either from Cyprus or London, in the elevator. Right there in the elevator, the manager reprimanded him for having an inappropriate appearance for a leader. The reason? His fashionable ripped jeans. Apparently, «a team leader shouldn’t come to work in ripped jeans.»
And no, after that incident, the team leader didn’t stop wearing his ripped jeans but continued to wear them. Moreover, I think the office actually saw more people in ripped jeans afterward. And nobody ever received further comments from that top manager about it.
* Names of speakers have been changed at their request
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