A Reddit thread caught my eye the other day – people arguing about neck tattoos in the workplace.
I have a sword tattooed on my neck. It’s not subtle. Every morning I see it in the mirror while fixing my collar. Ten years into my tech career, it’s become such a normal part of me that I sometimes forget it’s there – until someone new joins the team and tries not to stare during our first meeting.
In my current role as a staff engineer and engineering manager, I’ve found that competence quickly overshadows appearance. When you’re deep in discussion about system architecture or debugging a production issue, nobody cares about the art on your skin. They care about whether you can solve their problems.
My neck tattoo has oddly become a trust signal in some ways. In an industry full of polished LinkedIn profiles and carefully curated personal brands, it stands as a pretty clear statement: what you see is what you get. I’m not trying to fit into someone else’s idea of what an engineering leader should look like.
It’s also been a surprisingly good filter for company culture. If a workplace has issues with my tattoo, they’re probably not somewhere I’d thrive anyway. The companies that have hired me – including my current role – have consistently turned out to be places that value output over appearance.
Most days, my tattoo is just… there. Like wearing glasses or having a beard. Sometimes new team members ask about it. Sometimes they don’t. Either way, we move on to talking about code reviews or project timelines.
Visible tattoos still make some people uncomfortable. I see it occasionally in first meetings, especially with older executives or clients from more traditional industries. There’s that split-second glance, the slight adjustment in posture. But here’s what I’ve learned: it usually lasts about five minutes, right until we start talking about the actual work.
When I’m conducting technical interviews, I never judge candidates based on their appearance.
What matters is their problem-solving ability, coding skills, and basic professional conduct. If you can architect a solution and write clean code, I couldn’t care less about your tattoos, piercings, or hair color. Just maintain basic hygiene – that’s non-negotiable.