Originally Posted by
logdrum
..But historically it was not really that (symbol for murdering or membership in some of the Latino gangs). It was a mourning symbol. Just as the swastika is on display without creating apprehension in India as you know. My response was to tattoos in general and the perception that you won't get hired if you had one. My colleague is a DBA with the bushing on his ear and some noticeable ink on his arm. Hired out of college in 2001. He has been promoted too 2 pay grades since then. I was in the interview team and I was told by the HR to look past the ear-ring and ink and just grill him technically.
Different professions have different standards. Tech professions are far looser about appearances to the point that looking sharp is frowned up. People won't find it strange if I wear tevas, shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, or a leather jacket when I'm on a podium and it seems like most people I work with have ink. But any of these things could hold you back quite a bit in other professions.
The problem is that you need context to make sense out of those things, and first impressions don't give you a chance to deliver context. There are swastikas all over India (actually it appears in many traditions, including Western ones), and only an idiot would connect any of these with Nazism. But I think it's also fair to say that just because some people can pull something off because it's part of their cultural heritage does not mean that others can simply adopt these customs and expect the same treatment.