Didn’t know where to post this on the forum so move if it shouldn’t be here.
Basically, I want to know the deal with tattoos and Buxibans - are they against teachers having tattoos? visible tattoos? Is it frowned upon and may result in not getting a job.
I have two small ones on my back which aren’t visible. I’m planning to get a half sleeve tattoo done, which will be visible, before I come to Taiwan. I’ll postpone the tattoo if it’s going to cause complications.
Tattoos are very, very common among the younger sheeple here – you get them at the mall.
I’d say that you wouldn’t have a problem, unless you’re competing for a job with a non-tattooed person, in which case the other person would normally get the job.
I gotta agree with sandman here. Go ahead and get the tat.
A tattoo used to mean that you were hard, tough, part of a gang . . .
Now it means that you like pop music.
Seriously, you should have no problem finding a job at a school.
Unless, of course, they get an applicant that doesn’t have a tattoo or looks more like a teacher than you do.
And about the two on your back . . . some bushiban interviews require that you remove your shirt and pants and turn around slowly. Don’t worry. . . I think they are just checking for Hansen’s disease.
I have a theory:
neck tattoo + job interview = unemployment.
It all depends on the tat cat, what you got?
See this earlier thread: [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/opinions-on-visible-tattoos/48590/1 on visible tattoos[/url].
[quote=“Deuce Dropper”]I have a theory:
neck tattoo + job interview = unemployment.
It all depends on the tat cat, what you got?[/quote]
True! True!
For instance, if you want to get one on your forearm, and still want to be employable, maybe . . .
“I love kids!” with a little heart would be OK.
As with any job in any country, you will be more successful if you look the part. Teachers; it helps if you look like the stereotype of what a middle class, well educated person looks like. Not to do with tattoos or not, but it will always help you if you look credible. If you are teaching adults, you ought to dress ‘smart casual’, corporate drones, office wear.
For kids, do you look clean, respectable and someone you would leave your children with? If you were leaving your child with a random foreigner who may not speak your language, what would you be looking at to make yourself trust your kid with that person?
It won’t matter as much in a buxiban, but I doubt they’d take a tattooed teacher into the public school system if a non-tattooed teacher was available.
to be honest
Once a kid fell on the playground…I was waiting outside for her mother to break the news. At that moment my 4 visible tattoos felt like the chop of Satan.
[quote=“Battery9”]to be honest
Once a kid fell on the playground…I was waiting outside for her mother to break the news. At that moment my 4 visible tattoos felt like the chop of Satan.[/quote]
Er, I thought all your tats were under your clothes. So I’m not EVEN going to ask what you were doing in the school playground in the nude…
[quote=“burnerking”]Basically, I want to know the deal with tattoos and Buxibans - are they against teachers having tattoos? visible tattoos? Is it frowned upon and may result in not getting a job.
I have two small ones on my back which aren’t visible. I’m planning to get a half sleeve tattoo done, which will be visible, before I come to Taiwan. I’ll postpone the tattoo if it’s going to cause complications.[/quote]
I have seen a lot of Taiwanese people (men, really) with tattoos, so there isn’t a stigma against it as in some countries. Koreans (especially the religious types) view tattoos as either a sign of gang membership or “satanism”. Those entering the Korean military with tattoos will have them forcibly removed by lazer surgery.
On the other hand, visible tattoos are not likely to be accepted at a school. If you can’t cover it with a short sleeved shirt and pants, it’s probably not a good thing to have. Nobody at my school has ever seen my tattoo, and I intend to keep it that way.
And if someone had a tattoo on his face or neck, why even bother applying for a job? 
[quote=“burnerking”]Didn’t know where to post this on the forum so move if it shouldn’t be here.
Basically, I want to know the deal with tattoos and Buxibans - are they against teachers having tattoos? visible tattoos? Is it frowned upon and may result in not getting a job.
I have two small ones on my back which aren’t visible. I’m planning to get a half sleeve tattoo done, which will be visible, before I come to Taiwan. I’ll postpone the tattoo if it’s going to cause complications.[/quote]
Try to postpone your big tatoo plans until you get a job. When I came here my school administrator told me to get a smooth and straight hair because I had those Stevie Wonder kind of little braids. This kind of hairdo wasn’t very appropriate for a kindergarten teacher.