Dress code

[UsrBinPRL]

The whole piercings and tattoos malarkey is strongly linked with mental health problems though.

I'm stuffed then, six rings in my left ear, stud in my tongue, ink on my right shoulder blade (21st birthday present from my mum), beard and pony tail.

Been contracting 12 and a half years, generally defence, research labs and about a third commercial. In all that time, as far as I know, I've only lost one role due to my appearance and that was with an IB so it didn't bother me too much.

YMMV

UBP

[TestMangler]

The whole piercings and tattoos malarkey is strongly linked with mental health problems though.

I've got tattoos and piercings and I don't have any f**king mental health problems, ya c**t

You've made me so f**king angry now, I'll spend the rest of the night stabbing my own arm while picturing your burning corpse.

[jmo21]

I don't have piercings or tattoos, can't stand them to be honest.

But who the **** am I to judge someone who wants to have them?

If the person can do the job, great.

The only time when visible I would think they were inappropriate is when dealing with a customer who may be old fashioned and it might cost you some business.

After that, why do people care? It's like the whole wearing suits thing, who cares, can you do the job? How many times have you worked with some ludicrously overpaid accidenture consultant, suited & booted who is total tulip.

[DieScum]

I must have stuck my head round the corner in over a hundred offices in the last ten years and suit wearing is rare in IT circles. Only seen it once outside of the obvious management.

I wear a suit for interview and the rest of the time I fit in with normal smart casual.

It's clear you can make a career out of all the office politics BS, a big part of which is having the correct appearance, and I've seen plenty of people do it. It's probably hard to be a director or VP in the permie world without it.

Not my scene though and there are other ways of making decent money.

[Wanderer]

After that, why do people care? It's like the whole wearing suits thing, who cares, can you do the job? How many times have you worked with some ludicrously overpaid accidenture consultant, suited & booted who is total tulip.

True, I've often seen that the way someone is dressed is inversely proportional to their ability to do their job...

[GillsMan]

So you'd rather wear an earring than secure a role. That must be one sentimental piece of jewellery. Its the sort of attitude I have seen in the young who think they should be able do or wear what they want, or have outlandish hair dos without being judged. Usually contractors are over a certain age (to have the experience) and have left that sort of thinking behind.

You would be derided at the places Ive worked if you wore an ear ring, is it worth it?

Yes, it's 100% worth it not to work in a place where people would "deride" me based on my appearance which, let's face it, is hardly radical. I could understand it if I had a spiderweb tattooed on my face, bright blue-dyed mohawk, or piercings all in my face, but it's one small subtle earing. Obviously if that's the object of derision in your office, then that's down to you and your chums.

The whole piercings and tattoos malarkey is strongly linked with mental health problems though.

Oh, grow up fgs.

It's clear you can make a career out of all the office politics BS, a big part of which is having the correct appearance, and I've seen plenty of people do it. It's probably hard to be a director or VP in the permie world without it.

Not my scene though and there are other ways of making decent money.

Totally agree.

[Normie]

Scruffy = cheap in my book.

True - 6 pints of lager and a kebab and I'm any ones.

Scruffy also means I'm under the radar, indistinguishable from the others here - 4 years of billing 450 a day at my current client and they mostly still haven't got a clue as to what I actually do.

[northernladuk]

I've got tattoos and piercings and I don't have any f**king mental health problems, ya c**t

You've made me so f**king angry now, I'll spend the rest of the night stabbing my own arm while picturing your burning corpse.

Bet your piercings ainy anything like these

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[GillsMan]

Bet your piercings ainy anything like these

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****.

[craig1]

Some companies/markets make dress an essential part of working in that environment. Take for example the bulk of the legal market where all permies and contractors are expected to wear "business casual", which for most London legal firms is defined as suit without a tie, jacket does not need to be worn around the office. Even then, if you're going near any client accessible areas of the firm, e.g. meeting rooms, then you're expected to wear either a tie or jacket, preferably both.

It's not a problem for me, they insist on that dress for all third party suppliers, regardless of size, and those that don't comply don't get work. Those that don't want to dress to the client's standards just reduce the competition for those roles, entirely their choice and they're perfectly entitled to that choice.