To be upset at interview feedback about my hair

[Namirya]

Got feedback after a fourth interview, sadly I didn't get the job. The recruiter said the company thought I was extremely well prepared, but I came across as a bit nervous. Fair enough - I know it wasn't my best performance, as I got virtually no sleep the night before (DD woke up in the middle of the night, then insomnia kicked in).

Then the recruiter said something that completely threw me off. She said the interviewer suggested I wear my hair down next time as my hairstyle was too "rigid" in combination with a formal interview suit. I had straightened my hair, and put it up in a sleek ponytail with a lovely elegant band. It was raining, my hair is long and I didn't want a frizzy mess.

The position I was interviewing for was quite senior, in a formal environment. I didn't want my hair to be a distraction. It wasn't messy, or unkempt. What was it commented on? It wouldn't be an issue for a man. I am so annoyed!

@Mirw

A woman gives you some gentle advice and you think it unreasonable. You need to get over yourself... 4th interview, no job. Maybe take the advice snd see if it makes a difference! Not sexist behaviour at all.

So after meeting someone 4 times you would judge them based on their ponytail...

Jesus.

How can it be against the law though

Otherwise models would be filing discrimination cases left right and centre!

@Mirw

A woman gives you some gentle advice and you think it unreasonable. You need to get over yourself... 4th interview, no job. Maybe take the advice snd see if it makes a difference! Not sexist behaviour at all.

Rejecting someone for a job is not giving them gentle advice.

Here’s some gentle advice mirw; you’re talking shit.

OP isn’t on here because some random has commented on her hair. She’s been rejected for a job after 4 interviews ffs.

It’s really poor practice and says a lot about the quality of the company and recruiters. I’ve known many people with shaved heads throughout my life and not one of them fit your ‘BMP Supporter’ stereotype (including two Dr’s who shaved their heads to support their niece under going chemo). It is a ridiculous criteria to refuse a great candidate a job on. And the logical conclusion of not discriminating against a person based on their hairstyle for a job isn’t (in any way shape or form) the ability to sue people for not wanting to date you. I’m going to presume that really you do get that but you felt the need to defend the poor recruitment practices at your firm.

With all due respect, how do you know that person doesn’t suffer with hair loss/alopecia?
Exactly. I have alopecia. Rejecting me because of this would be discrimination.

@Toanewstart22

How can it be against the law though

Otherwise models would be filing discrimination cases left right and centre!

Because for jobs such as modelling and acting, a certain appearance or physical characteristics can be central to the role. Similarly, there are positions that are exempt from the rules around protected characteristics such as gender, race etc. - for example, you can specify you are looking for a female personal care assistant or a non-white BAME Liaison Officer. Telling someone you don’t want to hire them as Finance Manager because you think they’d look better with a choppy Bob isn’t quite the same thing.

@rifling

With all due respect, how do you know that person doesn’t suffer with hair loss/alopecia? Exactly. I have alopecia. Rejecting me because of this would be discrimination.

I suffer with alopecia areata myself. When you have big patches appear, it can be limiting as to what you can do with your hair.

Fortunately, as a recruiter, I utilise fairer recruitment practices than the other poster and I also don’t recruit with a narrow mind nor pre-conceived ideas about someone based on their hairstyle.

@Toanewstart22

How can it be against the law though

Otherwise models would be filing discrimination cases left right and centre!

It’s worrying that you are responsible for recruitment decisions, unless of course you are recruiting models, and even then I’d hope you were a bit brighter.

@Toanewstart22

We interviewed for a very senior finance position He had a shaved head. Looked like a quintessential BNP supporter He was a great candidate but no bloody way would we put him in front of candidates We were all honest in our private discussions But we sure as heck didn’t tell the recruiter!

Ah, I wondered where the sort of people who judge DP for having lost his hair aged 22 had got to on this thread.

All that money from your senior positions, but too dim to know of early male pattern hair loss and how most men deal with it because the odd tufts and clumps and thinning looks scruffy as hell. Many feel shit enough as it is to lose their hair (and not just when it's by the time they're doing their finals, older men can be very distressed by it) and they're being bloody brave in clipping what's left right down and getting a razor out. The last thing they need is a shower of shite interviewer snarking about them and penalising them financially when they're trying to convince themselves that there aren't physically repellent to all women and judged by everybody.

I do hope you are really, really proud of yourself.

We interviewed for a very senior finance position
He had a shaved head. Looked like a quintessential BNP supporter
He was a great candidate but no bloody way would we put him in front of candidates
We were all honest in our private discussions
But we sure as heck didn’t tell the recruiter!
Wow, I certainly wasn’t expecting someone this scummy to hold up their hands and admit to it.

Awful.

@Liesovertheocean

It’s really poor practice and says a lot about the quality of the company and recruiters. I’ve known many people with shaved heads throughout my life and not one of them fit your ‘BMP Supporter’ stereotype (including two Dr’s who shaved their heads to support their niece under going chemo). It is a ridiculous criteria to refuse a great candidate a job on. And the logical conclusion of not discriminating against a person based on their hairstyle for a job isn’t (in any way shape or form) the ability to sue people for not wanting to date you. I’m going to presume that really you do get that but you felt the need to defend the poor recruitment practices at your firm.

No matter what one might have thought of George Bush he deserved praise for this kind act.

eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/12/05/george-hw-bush-shaved-his-head-back-boy-leukemia/2213281002/

@Toanewstart22

I assume the reason you didn’t tell the recruiter is because you and your scumbag colleagues knew you were acting unlawfully?

Exactly!

Nick Griffin = fabulous head of hair
Dalai Lama = shaved head

It’s an embarrassingly poor barometer of a persons suitability for a job.

That is so outrageous. As long as your hair is generally neat and tidy, why would it matter? I suspect you had a lucky escape.

How can it be against the law though

Otherwise models would be filing discrimination cases left right and centre!
Your actions were indirect discrimination.

By discriminating against people with shaved heads, you are indirectly discriminating on the basis of sex (men are more likely than women to be bald), age (older people are more likely than younger people to be bald) and health (for example, people who have been through chemotherapy).

You were apparently savvy enough to avoid communication that your decision was based on the candidate’s baldness. Absent someone being ignorant enough to confess their decision was based on discrimination, discrimination claims can be hard to prove where candidates are otherwise comparable.

Can you be more specific about the sorts of discrimination you suspect take place in the fashion industry, with reference to protected characteristics?

HR professional here - I'm gobsmacked.

@36degrees

I was once told I wasn't 'glossy' enough for a local government admin job, madness!

#

I can't even begin to wonder which council has this ⬆️ expectation of "glossiness".

Don't tell me, 36 - I'll be happier for the not knowing.. . >sigh

@catfunk

HR professional here - I'm gobsmacked.

I’m sorry but that made me smile. Laws are not enforced, wages have been steadily falling out of sync with the true cost of living for 40 years, minimum wage has eroded the value of skilled work, zero hours are normalised and employment rights have gone down the pan in material fact. We are in a constant state of industrial revolutions with planned obsolescence. But discrimination in interviews surprises you?

The whole fashion industry is built on discrimination against women, who technically have the protected characteristic of sex. Most of it isn’t aimed at men is it!

I went for an interview at a very prestigious London (Mayfair) based hedge fund a few months ago. The HR Director, who frankly, should know better, fed back to the agency that she thought I was dressed too formally, and for the next interview, she would like to see me with my hair down 😳

I was wearing a shirt and had my hair in a ponytail. I looked suitably professional, how, in a sane world, one would be expected to dress for, you know…something as formal as an interview

I didn’t take the job as at the fifth interview, my would be boss, winked at me as he left the room.

Looking back, the initial comments on my appearance should have been enough 🚩 🚩 🚩 for me to 🏃🏽‍♀️ as fast as my little legs could carry me

@Hippophile, it sounds like we had the same experience

How can you be dressed too formally for a job interview in a fairly traditional field? Why should women have to wear their hair down?

I have long balayage hair at the moment. It would feel too casual to wear it down, I fear it would be a distraction. I don't want the interviewers to focus on Toni and Guy's colour techniques rather than my answers.

@ParsleySageRosemary yes it does. The fact that someone would be so stupidly obvious about it anyway.

[quote Namirya]@Hippophile, it sounds like we had the same experience

How can you be dressed too formally for a job interview in a fairly traditional field? Why should women have to wear their hair down?

I have long balayage hair at the moment. It would feel too casual to wear it down, I fear it would be a distraction. I don't want the interviewers to focus on Toni and Guy's colour techniques rather than my answers.[/quote]
I also have balayage hair!

Someone mentioned upthread that you may have looked too ‘Vicky Pollard’ for the company 🤦🏻‍♀️ I’m sure you were the antithesis of Ms Pollard.

Ponytails are chic 🤷🏻‍♀️

I applied for a job recently and it came down to me and one other person. The other person got the job because "she looked the part". I was furious. They also asked me how old I was at the interview but said it wouldn't affect my chance of getting the job, as if. The only compensation I have is that I saw the job advertised again after only a couple of months, so the other person may have "looked the part" but apparently couldn't cope with the job.

@librarian55

I applied for a job recently and it came down to me and one other person. The other person got the job because "she looked the part". I was furious. They also asked me how old I was at the interview but said it wouldn't affect my chance of getting the job, as if. The only compensation I have is that I saw the job advertised again after only a couple of months, so the other person may have "looked the part" but apparently couldn't cope with the job.

They asked how old you were during the interview??

They can’t ask that!! It can be classed as outright discrimination!

The only way they can ask something like that is if the role includes directly selling products like alcohol etc, but even then they can only really ask you if you’re over the legal age to do that. Otherwise asking someone’s age is a big no-no!