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

[EdgarAllenSnow]

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.

To me it would be the equivalent of a woman turning up to an interview wearing floral DM boots and a bagpuss rucksack. You just wouldn't.

Though saying that I would always take into account the individual's personality...they could be utterly fantastic at the job despite being a social and sartorial disaster.

lowenergy of course it's ridiculous and it shouldn't make a difference but it does. It's the real world.

I shouldn't be paid less for what I do than a man in an equivalent position but I have been (not how - hah!). That's wrong too. I'm certain people still discrimnate against ethnicity, sex, weight and attractiveness. None of it's right

"If you are going to be judged on your appearance like that then maybe the company isn't such a great place to work."

I would agree in some circs but it totally depends - in many roles the employer would be totally naive to disregard the employee's appearance. If you're in a client facing role then your appearance is part of your ability to do the job well.

It totally depends on the role. If you're working as a sales executive for (say) a business or lifestyle publisher then your appearance will be expected to fit the corporate image.

Tis crap to a certain extent, but the way of the world.

I had an ex with long hair at uni, I thought he'd have to get it cut before getting a job. He went on to get a vip job at a british defence company and now is a director at a NY bank. And still has stooopid long hair.

... and makes more money a month than I make in a year. What a twat I was for dumping him.

IMO (and not having read the thread) YABU. Nothing wrong with long hair on a man, as long as it is as well-kempt as you would expect it to be on a woman.

FWIW, most techy/geeky type depts have several long-haired men in them. There are, I'm sure, many roles were conformity is expected, but you would be outraged if a woman was expected to ,say, wear makeup to get a job, so why shouldn't the barriers go down for hairloength as well?

I work in book publishing and I have to say we see all sorts in the company I work for! Long hair on men would not IMHO be a particular barrier there - certainly I've seen a goth lady on teetering goth boots with dreads and black & white stripey clothes - in the workplace - very striking but not most people's idea of "corporate" clothing! I suspect we are slightly more open to eccentricities of various sorts than many places are, but certainly publishing in itself is not necessarily a "corporate feeling" type of employment. I would suggest that because it intrinsically includes creative & media types you'd expect a bit more flexibility in dress and behaviour.

I personally don't normally like long hair on men (though there are exceptions) but I wouldn't expect it to prevent someone in my workplace from getting a job if they were otherwise the right candidate. However, I could imagine it might put some people off initially and it could be an extra thing to work against in the interview (I do wonder how the goth lady mentioned above dressed in her interview?) but it shouldn't be the deciding factor and it's certainly not saying "I don't want the job". I'm not someone who interviews candidates of course but still...

I don't really see that having long hair is like wearing some kind of alternative clothing - you can change your clothes for work, but you can't exactly chop your hair off during the week and stick it back on at the weekends.

So I think if you can make the hair look neat and tidy then that should be good enough. It at least shows you have made an effort.

"A man with long hair lacks gravitas "

Tell that to Dumbledore

One of my husbands colleagues was told to shave off his perfectly respectable and neat beard because it wasn't professional.
I almost started a campaign backing his beard, was all ready to write to Richard Branson and everyfink

"Pogophobia!
The worst disease!
You can't wear facial hair you want in times like these..."

Corporate-look is so stupid! Just as some men look daft in suits, some men look daft in 'casual'. As is the case with some of the older men who work for a certain smoothie company when forced to wear open shirts, jeans and no ties all the time

Long hair wouldn't bother me but at the same time I decided to grow my (very short) hair long in my last year at uni in preparation for job interviews. No point in giving another candidate an edge over you unnecessarily! Hair can always be changed again once you've got the job....

Did anyone see Jonathan Ross last night - wasn't really paying attention but some rapper was taking the p* out of him for dressing outlandishly at the Brits when the rappers were all wearing smart suits!

I would think that tidy with hair pulled back away from his face should be fine for any job, unless he's after being a baker or something which would find long hair unhygienic, even then he'd be wearing a hat wouldn't he.

I personally don't see why his hair length should affect his aibility to do a job, or negatively influence the outcome of an interview.

Currently its very difficult getting a job tho.

Well my husband has managed to combine fairly senior positions in large companies with long hair.

I, and his parents, know he looks much better and younger with short hair but that is a different matter!

well, i think he has gone too long..he's gone from Eomer to blond rasta

that was fine when he was a student - sitting an interview for junior editor of an academic journal i think it could only count against him...men are very judgey about even slight differences in dress (even dbro ..i went shopping with him for shoes..and he rejected several pairs near-identical to the ones he got, on the grounds that 'they would only be worn by a twat.'

his wife said she would cry if he cut it. (she is a pagan hippy type with three jobs in meeja...some professions are much more forgiving)

interestingly enough, whilst working in a supermarket i was told to cut my hair.

i think the sacrifices we make in terms of appearance to fit in at work, are generally much less troubling than those in terms of the amount of our lives we sacrifice to doing jobs we may not particularly enjoy.

curently, Brother mine is Bowing Down To The Man in a job that troubles the contents of his head, rather than the adornment of it.

I don't think it would necessarily count against him as junior editor of an academic journal - I work in a related field, and one of our managers has very long hair (usually worn loose) and the most terrible clothes sense. But he's clearly immensely competent and so is adored by all the academics.

i am also so very pleased that this thread has got so many posts - my best ever!! Yippee!!!

it is very difficult to get a job, as my very corporate looking DH can testify ..as there is very little out there to apply to.

orm - how very rude of someone to doom your LO to a lifetime of unemployment - and just wrong. Does she think people eat in interviews?
if that is normal, i'm obviously missing out, as the most I ever got was a biscuit by way of corporate fodder...

Other brother has never used cutlery properly....he got a job in Japan. they don't expect him to be good with chopsticks. (although they do expect total kow-towing to the corporate entity in pretty much everything)

Would be foolish to judge a man for having long hair when may very well be best candidate for job. Is your own fault if you don't judge on merit, may lose a great asset.

If customer facing in incredibly conservative field, I can't think of one, I suppose may be an issue and therefore worth considering. If not, is off the table, so to speak.

?? My LO.... ?

I love men with long hair. In fact, every man I have ever been out with had long hair.

DH cut his when it started to thin, but when we married, it was mid back length, and fell in ringlets.

So, I don't think that he needs to cut his hair

erm, >checks thread to makes sure has referenced correct post< maybe they aren't little now...but you mentioned someone upbraiding you on your childs incorrect knife-handling?

Ohhhh! That. Yes. Sorry I forgot

Long hair is bad for interviews why? Because they might think you are like a woman? "we don't want him! he looks like a girrrlll!! ewwww!"

I thought we got past all that nonsense decades ago.

Are Hindus and other religions that have to have their hair a certain way unemployable then?

Why? If a woman was told to cut her hair for a job you'd all think it was daft!

DP has very long hair (nearly right down to his bottom). He ties it up for work and looks very smart. He takes good care of it, it's clean and trimed often.

This is just sexest nonense. Women aren't told to grow their hair long before a job interview if they have chosen a short style are they? because thats how they are supposed to look.

I'm sure your brother is lovely, but maybe he hasn't been offered a job yet because he wan't the right person for them? I mean, has any employer actually mentioned his hair or appearance? And, if they wanted to hire him, and his hair was a problem, they would just ask him to cut it or tie it up.