Long Hair and Jobs?

Icarian

I'm a long haired guy as you can see here (http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd76/IcarianX/?action=view&current=photo.jpg)
and i'm looking for a job at the moment. I just want to know what you guys think about long hair and job prospects. I know its the 21st century, and these days it should be okay for guys to have long hair too, but we all know that there are still some backwards folks out there who will discriminate against us. Is it okay as long as we tie our hair back, and dress conservatively? Or do i just not stand a chance in hell of getting a job until i cut my golden mane?

Any advice would be great, especially from others who have faced similar issues.

AARRRGH

It depends on the job/industry.

For an IT job or another back office job it won't be a problem. For a sales or customer facing job, it will be a problem...

Creamy Goodness

i don't think long hair is a problem as long as it's neat + tidy and tied back. only problem would be if you were to work with food you'd have to wear a hair net which could be a pain.

feylya

I've been turned down for jobs before because I have long hair (even though it's tied back 99.99% of the time). Jobs with public interaction would be harder to get than IT/office jobs.

AlexBM

It shouldn't be that much of a problem - as mentioned, it depends on what industry you're looking at. My brother works in an IT/call centre environment and his hair is probably twice as long as yours. Once it's neat and tidy, and kept tied back, it should be okay. Some people might see it as a problem, though.

Icarian

Well my hair actually is almost twice as long now than in that photo, but I always keep it clean, and would keep it neat for work.

Problem is, i'm not in IT, i've just graduated from Science in UCD, and i'm looking for any job I can get (not too many science jobs available right now), I was thinking of asking in a few shops tomorrow, but i guess most wont give me much of a chance based on my appearance.

DublinWriter

In all honesty, if you're looking for a job in a corporate, forget it.

Otherwise you'd be a shoe-in If you're looking for a job in a University Research Lab or a Nirvana tribute band.

feylya

If you're looking at working in shops, then have a think about a call centre job. Still dealing with the public but your appearance won't have an affect on your job application.

judas101

DublinWriter wrote: »

In all honesty, if you're looking for a job in a corporate, forget it.

+1

id love to have long hair again but thats just how it goes

4Xcut

Dude, if you handed a cv to me to work in an area that dealt with the public, I'd bin it the econd you walked out the door.

I'm sure you do keep it clean but for a shop it doesn't look professional, for anywhere if I'm giving my honest opinion. Get a hair-cut and a shave before you even hand a cv to someone.

I don't mean this in an offensive way but i presumed you wanted honest answers.

Best of luck.

Icarian

Otherwise you'd be a shoe-in If you're looking for a job in a University Research Lab or a Nirvana tribute band.

well i actually am aiming for a research lab job!! for the moment im just looking for something to keep me going until then...

well thanks for the replies everyone. I probably wont cut my hair until i'm really desperate for work. For the moment i'll just see what comes my way

btw i've seen lots of guys with long hair in shops like HMV and gamestop, as well as the more obvious guitar shops etc, i guess it really depends on the shops clients demographic

AlexBM

I think you hit the nail on the head - it depends on the customer profile. Better get pounding those pavements for the likes of Tower Records tomorrow!

dazberry

I've had long hair since the early 90s until... well last Friday actually.

I have also worked in the corporate world, i.e. banks and finance companies. Twice it has been a problem, and both times it has been with female bosses who IMO just didn't like it and made it an issue for otherwise no good reason.

The last finance company I worked in had casual Fridays and they used to insist that I wear my hair down and called it "long hair Friday". Ultimately I'm in software dev so those places weren't career moves for me anyway - just jobs so I wasn't looking to climb their corporate ladders - which would have been a different story.

But I'm lovin' my new found short hair - should have cut it years ago

D.

loyatemu

I went for a temp (back-office) job in a finance place years ago when I had long hair. Showed up in a suit with hair tied back. After about an hour of them showing me the ropes someone came over and asked me to report back to the agency - only when I got back there did they tell me I'd been rejected because of the hair. Assholes - they didn't even pay me for the hour. It still hurts.

the_syco

Places where I've worked where long haired people also worked: tech support, cinema, newsagents.

nesf

Icarian wrote: »

I know its the 21st century, and these days it should be okay for guys to have long hair too, but we all know that there are still some backwards folks out there who will discriminate against us.

Dropping that attitude will help you a lot. Long hair, piercings etc are fine in some situations but it's no different to being expected to wear a suit in certain jobs. It's part of being an adult, conformity is a bitch but you can't exactly do a whole lot about it if you want to work in certain industries/positions.

Sangre

nesf wrote: »

Dropping that attitude will help you a lot. Long hair, piercings etc are fine in some situations but it's no different to being expected to wear a suit in certain jobs. It's part of being an adult, conformity is a bitch but you can't exactly do a whole lot about it if you want to work in certain industries/positions.

If a women is allowed long hair then legally so are the males.

I had hair past my eyebrows/ears etc., wasn't any problem with getting a job in a law firm. Obviously not quite as long as yours though.

gucci

I think it depends on your age/experience as well as the job type your going for. I came out of college, was trying to get job with no experience, done about 4 or 5 interviews, nothing, then got the hair cut, first interview got the job!
Then once i was in the job i slowly let the fur grow back!

My hair was about shoulder length and WILD. I know people here say keep it neat etc, but mine just wasn't capable of that kinda thing! So i spent 2 years working with them guys, and have moved jobs to the UK and am getting bit of flak now again (as said below by female upper management busy bodies who really have frick all else to be worrying about), but i plan on riding it out anyways. My hair is just wild and curly, i dress professionally, so they cant genuinely complain about it!

nesf

Sangre wrote: »

If a women is allowed long hair then legally so are the males.

Are employers not allowed to discriminate based on appearance?

AARRRGH

nesf wrote: »

Are employers not allowed to discriminate based on appearance?

They are not allowed discriminate based on:

gender
marital status
family status
sexual orientation
religion
age (does not apply to a person under 16)
disability
race
membership of the Traveller community.

I don't see appearance in that list...

Sangre

Its discrimination based on gender though. You're only telling them they can't have long hair because they're a male. Its fine if no one is allowed to have long hair. But you can't have a policy that allows women to have long hair in a ponytail and men can't.

AARRRGH

No, your job can have a dress code.

I know if I was a manager and my staff were customer facing, I'd make they all have short hair. It's more professional looking.

Another thing, and this might sound a bit controversial, but some people think there is something a bit immature about a guy in his 20's or 30's with long hair. Most people grow out of their teens...

/No offence

Sangre

Yes, you can have a dress code. But you can't let women have long hair when you force men to get hair cuts. Its gender discrimination, there have been numerous cases on this on this in the Labour Courts. I'd give you a few citation but I've thrown away all my Labour Law notes.

AARRRGH

Sangre wrote: »

Yes, you can have a dress code. But you can't let women have long hair when you force men to get hair cuts. Its gender discrimination, there have been numerous cases on this on this in the Labour Courts. I'd give you a few citation but I've thrown away all my Labour Law notes.

OK, fair enough.

How about this so: I'm just not going to hire anyone with long hair. I'll pretend they didn't have the right experience.

It's nearly impossible to prove I've discriminated.

...

In my opinion, once you enter the working world, it's time to get a hair cut.

Sangre

How do you prove any discrimination? You could just say that any black people you talked to weren't experienced enough. Yet there are still plenty of successful discrimination cases.

If you're entering any customer facing role, the reality is long hair will hold you back unless you really impress them in other ways.

Phaetonman

In reality you can discrminate against whoever you want and there is not much a potential employee can do about it.

board om

yeah, i think it would fall under dress code. an employer could just say they dont find long hair to be neat in appearance. and tbh they would be correct. long hair on a guy is considered by quite a lot of people to be untidy looking, whether it is tied back or not.

funny though, i was in the US a few years ago and it is amazing the difference in what is acceptable. you would have people with visible tattoos and mad haircuts in jobs that they wouldnt even get an interview for here. it just didnt seem to be an issue there.

peter1892

Back in the early to mid-1990's I had a part-time job in the biggest department store in Dublin when I had long hair. I wore a shirt & tie, the hair was tied back & I was never asked to cut it. When I did get it cut short it was my own choice to do so.

But...it was just a part-time job, summer & weekend work. Depending on the role things can be very different in the workplace once you've left college & entered into a long-term career.

AARRRGH

Sangre, I do think it is wrong that your professionalism can be judged based on your hair cut, but unfortunately the world isn't a fair place and you have to play along with the rules.

Alun

dublindude wrote: »

I know if I was a manager and my staff were customer facing, I'd make they all have short hair. It's more professional looking.

In your opinion. Have you ever taken the trouble to actually ask any of your customers what they might think about the matter? Speaking personally I wouldn't care two figs if a customer facing male staff member had long hair as long as it was neat and tidy, and I suspect if you actually asked your customers you'd be surprised at their reaction ... after all, as someone already pointed out, this is the 21st century we're all living in, and people these days are a lot more easy going and non-judgemental than you seem to believe. I'm more concerned about the actual level of service I get than someone's personal appearance, and in fact the stereotypical 'grey suit' corporate uniform and slicked short back and sides rather tends to create the opposite impression (form over substance) in me than someone in more casual dress.

Alun

dublindude wrote: »

Sangre, I do think it is wrong that your professionalism can be judged based on your hair cut, but unfortunately the world isn't a fair place and you have to play along with the rules.

Well, you don't have to if you don't want to. Maybe if more people ignored this kind of petty nonsense, mostly based on preconceived notions of what their customers 'want' (without actually having asked them) then hopefully in time it will disappear and we can base our opinions of people on what they deliver rather than what they look like.

Sangre

I was only really stating what the law is, to clear up a common misconception. The reality is if you're stuck looking for a job then you should do everything you can to help you in the market and that includes getting a hair cut. Of course you don't have to, it depends if you prefer getting a job or having long hair.

AARRRGH

I think you'll find a lot of people think short-haired, clean cut males are more professional looking than a long haired male.

How often do you see long haired sales people? Hardly ever. There is a reason for this!

I'm sorry if you feel the world is being unfair, but that's just the way the world works.

nhughes100

This particular form of discrimination seems to infect women bosses a lot more then men. Obsessed with what people think of your appearannce rather then your actual ability, it doesn't matter what you do so long as you look the part. Anyway tell them in the interview it's against your religous beliefs to cut your hair, they can't ask you what religion you follow and watch them give you the job then.

I'm sure we've all dealt with a guy in a suit who has the corperate image but is crap at his job. My opinion is that they're covering something up so they put on the suit as a smokescreen.

Alun

dublindude wrote: »

I think you'll find a lot of people think short-haired, clean cut males are more professional looking than a long haired male.

Again, purely your opinion. Try asking some of them and you might be surprised. For the record, I have short hair, am clean shaven and I'm probably old enough to be the father of 90% of the people on this board, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

How often do you see long haired sales people? Hardly ever. There is a reason for this!

Yes, petty minded employers who think everyone else thinks like they do

I'm sorry if you feel the world is being unfair, but that's just the way the world works.

That's a pretty defeatist attitude if you don't mind me saying so. Anyway, it doesn't affect me directly, since as I've already pointed out I'm a clean shaven and short haired myself (out of personal choice, not due to any societal pressure). So it's not being unfair to me, but it is to people who dare to be slightly different in their appearance. To me that takes strength of character, something I'd personally value highly in an employee rather than someone who just blindly follows the corporate herd in that regard.

Alun

nhughes100 wrote: »

I'm sure we've all dealt with a guy in a suit who has the corperate image but is crap at his job. My opinion is that they're covering something up so they put on the suit as a smokescreen.

Well said.

AARRRGH

Alun wrote: »

Etc.

I don't really understand what your point is.

Having long hair doesn't affect your job hunting chances, or people don't care if you have long hair?

You're being very naive is you think having long hair doesn't affect your job hunting chances, and it is common knowledge a lot of people have issues with long haired males.

Again, please don't take this personally, I am just telling it how it is. We can pretend having long hair makes no difference but I'm sorry in the professional world it does.

By the way, I agree with you some people love long haired males or people who look different, but those people are in the minority.

Alun

dublindude wrote: »

I don't really understand what your point is.

Really? My point is very simple .. people shouldn't be making value judgements on people's ability to do their job based on something as totally irrelevant as the length of their hair. That wasn't too difficult was it?

If other people do have an issue with something as petty as this then there's nothing I can personally do about that, but it doesn't prevent me from having an opinion that they're being rather narrow-minded in their outlook.

It's a bit of a cultural thing too. I've lived most of my working life on the continent where people are a lot more laid-back on such matters.

By the way, I agree with you some people love long haired males or people who look different, but those people are in the minority.

Prove it.

It's my experience (of actually talking to them rather than making baseless assumptions) that real people actually care much less about these kinds of things than the corporate suit-wearing world likes to think they do.

AARRRGH

Alun wrote: »

Really? My point is very simple .. people shouldn't be making value judgements on people's ability to do their job based on something as totally irrelevant as the length of their hair. That wasn't too difficult was it?

That's not how the world works

The OP is looking for practical advice. Telling him to change the world rather than getting a hair cut is poor advice.

Alun wrote: »

If other people do have an issue with something as petty as this then there's nothing I can personally do about that, but it doesn't prevent me from having an opinion that they're being rather narrow-minded in their outlook.

Maybe they are being narrow minded, I don't what. What I do know is there are a lot of people who would think twice about hiring him when they have a comparible candidate who is clean cut.*

Alun wrote: »

Prove it.

LOL. Don't be so childish. Every man and his dog knows people discriminate against long haired males.

There are threads on this subject frequently in after hours.

(*Note I am talking about customer facing roles, not back office roles.)

Kinetic^

I have to agree with dublindude on this. As great as freedom of expression is, conformity is the way to go for the OP.

zAbbo

Tie it up.

Personally I wouldn't employ a man who showed up to an interview with his long hair flowing, as you would look out of place wearing smart clothes, and impressions count.

I interviewed some guys for a call centre roll a few years ago, and all the interviewers said after one guy was the state of his hair - he didn't get hired.

Alun

dublindude wrote: »

That's not how the world works

The OP is looking for practical advice. Telling him to change the world rather than getting a hair cut is poor advice.

I wasn't giving anybody any advice .. I was having a discussion on the rights and wrongs of "the way the world works" as you put it ... try and keep up will you?

LOL. Don't be so childish. Every man and his dog knows people discriminate against long haired males.

I never said they didn't, merely that (in my experience) there are fewer of them than you might think, and that you shouldn't necessarily pander to them.

I agree, the way things are, he maybe should get a haircut, but I still say it's a sad indictment on society that people make such a big deal about something as unimportant as this.

AARRRGH

Alun wrote: »

I wasn't giving anybody any advice .. I was having a discussion on the rights and wrongs of "the way the world works" as you put it ... try and keep up will you?

Alun wrote: »

I never said they didn't, merely that (in my experience) there are fewer of them than you might think, and that you shouldn't necessarily pander to them.

I think you should, if you're hoping they will give you a job.

Alun wrote: »

I still say it's a sad indictment on society that people make such a big deal about something as unimportant as this.

Maybe so.

the_syco

Alun wrote: »

Really? My point is very simple .. people shouldn't be making value judgements on people's ability to do their job based on something as totally irrelevant as the length of their hair.

People base their opinion on the interviewees in the the first 25 seconds. What does a stereotypical lazy stoner look like? Long haired hippy? I've found if the company has very old suits doing the interview, you've not a hope in hell if anything about you doesn't fit their mental image of "normal". Earing, long beards, long hair, tattoo's in view, piercings, etc. Heck, even in some back office places they discriminate on these. Then you have to remember how many people in the guitar shop were not long haired guys? This would be viewed as "positive" discrimination.

Slippers

dublindude wrote: »

I think you should, if you're hoping they will give you a job.

I think Alun is saying employers shouldn't pander to them by only hiring short haired men.

Alun

Slippers wrote: »

I think Alun is saying employers shouldn't pander to them by only hiring short haired men.

Thanks .. at least someone is paying attention

AARRRGH

Alun wrote: »

Thanks .. at least someone is paying attention

There's no need to be rude.

It has nothing to do with paying attention.

You said:

Alun wrote: »

you shouldn't necessarily pander to them.

I can only interpret what you post here. It isn't my fault if you meant something else.

Anyway, you've made your point. The world needs to change.

echosound

OP - tie your hair back neat and tidy and see how you go, if you're still stuck in a few month's time, maybe then look to cut the hair, but I wouldn't go cutting off the hair just yet, unles you get totally stuck WRT finding a job. If you have in it a neat enough ponytail, it may be ok. You'd be surprised at how many people don't have these preconceived notions about appearance. It all depends on the person who is interviewing you.

For eg - Ok, I am female, so the long hair isn't an issue, but I have a lip piercing, lots of ear piercings, and a while back, I used to have wildly coloured hair on top of that (red and purple streaks). The only few interviews that I went for that the issue was raised were mainly stuffy front office type jobs, say, receptionist in a solicitor's office, or a property management co. where they wanted a certain "look" projected to the customer. Even at that, I was asked if removing the lip piercing while at work would be ok, but was not asked to change my hair, and this would have been coming from the very old-school types that would think loosening your tie was outrageous. I never did take any of those jobs though as other better offers came my way (was in a similar situation to you - looking for anything to tide my over til I got a job related to my degree).

Other interviews (for those type of "tide me over" jobs) I went for, it wasn't even an issue - I have worked in various positions where appearance was of utmost importance, but again so long as the coloured hair was kept tidy and the piercing was a simple stud, not a long spike, there were no issues.

You might be surprised. Some people may see it as a bonus in that people may remember you over another chap with the typical short hair look -I know that when I had the red/purple hair it was a bit of a bonus at times as people would remember me quicker than other staff, and would feel more comfortable approaching me as they knew they definitely recognised me from previous dealings.

Also, depends on the industry you want to go into for the time being - if it's front office in a traditionally "stuffy" environment - say a solicitors or a doctors office, then expect a bit of hassle about the hair. If it's front office of something more creative (media, arts, etc) it could be a bonus.
Same goes for customer service type roles - for say, a carsales position, they may insist on cleanshaven and short hair, but for eg customer service in a place like a gamestop or smyths or xtravision, long hair won't get a second glance.

nesf

Alun wrote: »

Really? My point is very simple .. people shouldn't be making value judgements on people's ability to do their job based on something as totally irrelevant as the length of their hair.

Indeed but they do unfortunately. This is a normative truth rather than a positive one, i.e. it's a description of how the world is rather than how it ought to be. Few here would disagree that it's not very defensible but few customs are really and a certain degree of pragmatism goes a very long way when trying to get a job.