by Bethan Jones

Created on: June 03, 2009

As an experience reviewer for BME I read the submissions before they are placed on the site. One thing I have noticed is that there are a lot of articles written by people complaining about modifications preventing them from getting jobs. The common theme in these articles is how unfair it is that modified people are prevented from getting work because of the way they look, but is this really the case? In this article I want to look at the attitudes of the people getting the modifications rather than the attitudes of those offering the jobs to see where the problem really lies.

How many times have you heard the phrase 'I can't get a job because of my piercings/tattoos'? How many times have you thought that yourself? Be honest. It's a thought that crosses the minds of many modified people, particularly when you've just left your last job and have been trying to find a new place to work for the last five months. But it's not always about how you look.

I worked at a call centre where I could wear my piercings, tattoos and odd hair colour without anyone batting an eyelid. But I left and spent five months being unemployed and searching for jobs. I had a few interviews, none of which ended with success, and I became thoroughly fed up with the whole process. But even though I complained about it being because I look different I know that wasn't the case. How did I know? I turned up for the interviews wearing smart clothes, with my piercings in, and I asked what their company policy on modifications was. Each place told me that they didn't have a problem with them, and I also saw modified employees there which proved that those organisations weren't paying me lip service. I got turned down for those jobs because I wasn't the right person, not because of my appearance. After those five months I went for an interview at a school. Again I left my piercings in and my tattoos on show, and this time I got offered, and accepted the job, with the proviso that I remove or hide my piercings when at work.

'But I shouldn't have to remove/hide my mods; they're a part of me!' Would be the response of a lot of people. Maybe, but mods can still be a part of you even if you have to wear a retainer for a few hours a day. Sometimes reaching a compromise is the best - indeed the only - thing to do. I'd been out of work for 5 months and money was dwindling. I wasn't going to turn down a job, that it turns out I enjoyed, because I was too proud to hide my piercings for a few hours. Admittedly

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