Cropp, a 19-year-old father, has however, accepted an offer to have the large inking removed for free.
An Auckland company contacted him after reading about his plight. After previously refusing to have it lasered off by New Zealand prison authorities, he now says he'll get rid of it before he starts work.
Scaffolding contractor Douglas George Hebert is one of those who contacted Cropp last week, offering him a $22-an-hour building site job.
"We've all made bad choices, doesn't mean we are bad people," Hebert told the Herald.
"I'm a big brown man covered in tattoos myself, and I have been on the receiving end of judgment from people who don't even know me.
"All my guys have got pasts, but we're all united on the job site, where you are only as good as the man beside you."
Cropp says he is considering taking up the scaffolding job once the tattoo is lasered off. He also needs permission from his probation officer before he can start, he said.
Cropp got the tattoo one night in prison while drunk on home-brew.
His brother, who shared his cell, used a makeshift needle and fermented food to make the ink. It took eight and a half hours to complete and Cropp admitted some of the motivation was to avoid being bullied by other inmates.
"It was only supposed to cover up what was originally on my jawline," Cropp said.
"Once it was started, I thought, I can't go back on it now.
"I wish I had stopped while the outline was there to be quite honest."
Applying for work after prison, he said prospective employers had laughed in his face after seeing his tattoo, and he was forced to turn to Facebook in desperation.
He was jailed at 17 for aggravated robbery, claiming he needed money to support his pregnant girlfriend. He is now battling to get off the dole and reclaim his young daughter from state care.
"I was quite angry at myself because ... I said I wouldn't let her do it alone. And I pretty much failed.
"I didn't want my daughter to have the same upbringing that I did."
- news.com.au
