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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think that turning up to a job interview with waist-length hair (as a man)

114 replies

EdgarAllenSnow · 19/02/2010 20:21

is tantamount to walking in and saying plainly 'I do not want the job?'

I ask because my brother, reasonably well qualified, reasonably charming though he is, has not cut his hair to get a job, and despite having several interviews, has had no offers. He attends interviews otherwise tidy, suited and booted and with his manly locks tied back in a pony tail.

OP posts:
BelleDameSansMerci · 19/02/2010 20:51

Moros - of course. I was thinking of books not magazines or newspapers.

It's been a long week!

morningpaper · 19/02/2010 20:55

Job hunting is so competitive

I remember being given instructions once to disregard any CVs that mentioned chess or religion

When you've got 100 to go through, it's all a bit random

Hair would be a strike-out

janeite · 19/02/2010 20:57

at chess or religion!

OrmRenewed · 19/02/2010 20:57

Do people put hairstyle on CVs then MP?

morningpaper · 19/02/2010 20:59

Some people attach piccies

the fules

OrmRenewed · 19/02/2010 21:02

Bloody hell! I'd never do that. I'd want to give myself a fighting chance.

memoo · 19/02/2010 21:07

Maybe he doesn't really want the job

GothDetective · 19/02/2010 21:09

DD's male teacher last year had hair down his waist.

southeastastra · 19/02/2010 21:11

i really like men with long hair so can't comment on this thread but thanks for some nice daydreaming

WickedWench · 19/02/2010 21:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

heQet · 19/02/2010 21:22

It really shouldn't make a difference, but the reality is that it often does. A large number of people are very judgemental in that respect and you'd be surprised what they decide about you as a person based on something as silly as long hair (on a man)

So, wrong as it may be, he has to make a choice - chop it off or struggle to find work.

Or he could train as a youth worker or something. Scruffy and long haired is on the job description

scottishmummy · 19/02/2010 21:25

oh unclench grandma.its trendy the boys have long hair,girls have short hair.he has other obvious skills as you say well qualified and charming.the recession probably making getting a job hard too

BertieBotts · 19/02/2010 21:25

My old manager when I worked in a shop used to have long hair - it came about halfway down his back and was always very clean and tidy, tied up in a ponytail.

He was also very camp (he used to sort of break into a skip when he was walking fast-but-not-fast-enough-to-be-running) and I suspect this helped him pull it off, but still. (Also straight despite the campness)

MitsubishiWarrioress · 19/02/2010 21:26

My cousin has beautiful long hair and has worked his way up from labourer to now being a chartered surveyor in a very large building firm and he is highly respected.

UnquietDad · 19/02/2010 21:26

Depends on the job, surely?

I mean if the job was "Lead Guitarist In Metal Band", or "Store Assistant In Rock Vinyl Shop", it would surely be an advantage.

Miggsie · 19/02/2010 21:29

One of our male staff comes to work in a dress...always. He "prefers" it, he says.
Although his hair is short, and he has a beard.

Depressingly, his style is better than mine. I suppose as he has no kids, he has more time to shop.

ILovePlayingDarts · 19/02/2010 21:31

I would never judge anyone on the length of their hair. I find that those who do, make me feel sad for the sexist stereotyping they are displaying. We would not tell a woman she couldn't have short hair because she was not a man, so why are people so happy to tell a bloke to cut his hair?

2shoes · 19/02/2010 21:32

yabu
would you say a woman shouldn't have long hair?

heQet · 19/02/2010 21:32

that's going to be ds2 in a few years, Miggsie. How are the other staff about it?

SpeedyGonzalez · 19/02/2010 21:38

Oh, I can't bear long hair on men. Can't stand it. Especially on men over 40.

But if a man turned up to an interview looking well-presented but with a loathsomely long ponytail, and then did an amazing interview, I'd think: "Wow, what a brilliant candidate! But what a crappy hairdo!" Then I'd rofl about his hair behind his back, but offer him the post (not contingent upon the cutting of hair ). But then I am a meeja chick so it's more acceptable to look 'creative' in my world.

morningpaper · 19/02/2010 21:41

A man with long hair lacks gravitas

UnquietDad · 19/02/2010 21:44

It's funny how women with short hair don't, then.

I mean really short hair, like Annie Lennox, can look dead sexy on the right woman.

morningpaper · 19/02/2010 21:47

I've grown my hair for jobs

Mainly because moving from London to the Westcountry people started staring in the street....

SpeedyGonzalez · 19/02/2010 21:49

Shorter hairstyles (i.e. just above shoulders or shorter) flatter all faces better, IMO. I rarely see a woman with really long hair who I think wouldn't look better with a shorter cut to 'frame' her face. Maybe it depends in part on how good the hairdresser is.

ravenAK · 19/02/2010 21:53

It would need to be stunning long hair on a bloke approaching 30, though. Great cascading Titian waves or purple cyberlocks or something.

Averagely English mousy-brown long hair - well, you'd wonder what was so great about it that he needed to keep it at possible expense of losing jobs...