'No beard' policy

Elessar

Has anyone ever come across this before?

I recently interviewed for an IT position in a fairly large company. I have a (small) beard. I did very well in the interview and they want to call me back for a second and final, but I was told they have a strict no-beard policy. I think it's frankly ridiculous. I was told the feedback was very positive and if I do well in the second interview I am practically set in getting the job and a hefty 50% increase in salary. However, they want me to shave.

I can't understand it as I really like my beard, its small (practically stubble) well kept, trim and tidy and has no bearing on how I do my job. However they are 100% strict on it. The role is not even customer facing. I heard that they had offered a role to a very good developer on condition that he shave, and he refused. I'm in the same mind to be honest. I would really like to go forward and take the position, it's a lot more money, but why should I have to shave for it??

Has anyone else heard of this??

Hollister11

Your getting a 50% Increase ? Shave it off so.

Saipanne

Facial hair makes you less productive.

jobbridge4life

I've heard of these types of restrictions. Seems a little regressive though, especially for an IT company. I'd like to know what they'd say if you claimed it was religious. Personally i'd shave it. A beard should be hair not a lifestyle choice.

DivingDuck

Sounds like a stupid policy, and I don't know if that have the right to enforce it.

That said, I'd shave the boss's face for a 50% salary increase in this economy.

Harry Palmr

I'd be interested to know if this policy could survive a tribunal taken by say a devout Muslim. Anyone know employment laws in this area?

mikom

Carlos Orange

Never heard of anything like this. It would put me right off.
You should probably work out what the 50% salary works out to after tax. It is sure to be less impressive sounding.

jester77

If they are going to be so anal about something as trivial as a beard, then could you imagine what they would be like for other things? 50%, 100%, 200%, no way. If they are willing to hire you, then there will lots of other candidates who respect their employees that will hire you. If you are spending the majority of your precious time working somewhere, then let it be somewhere you are happy. After all it is where you will be spending the best part of your day.

mikom

Elessar wrote: »

I did very well in the interview and they want to call me back for a second and final, but I was told they have a strict no-beard policy.

No jobs for the Sikh men or Hasidic jews.
I would like to see this tested.

davo10

sugarman wrote: »

Your call.

Id personally go for the job / take it if its offered then just grow back the beard after a few weeks.

They cant fire you for it and id imagine you'd have a good case if they did give you hassle.

Ah, yes they can, within the first year they can pretty much let the op go without any reason. Having said that, I'm pretty sure that the whistleblower Garda Wilson won a case against AGS to allow him to continue having a beard even though it is a strict policy not to allow gardai to have them.

Op, your choice, if you love your beard that much then stay in your current job on your current wage, if you want the job and a 50% increase in pay, then wash the s**t out of your hair and shave.

All the above is of course is predicated on the assumption that it is not a religious reason for keeping the hair.

RedemptionZ

Would love to see a Sikh take this to court and demolish the IT firm.

Manach

Offhand there was an employment case taken by a Dunnes worker when they tried to implement a similar policy. Afair he won.

DanielODonnell

It is discrimination against the Gaelic heritage, if you research it you will find that it was a custom for Irishmen pre-English rule to have beards and long hair. It was the same at school who used to pride itself on their gaelic sports teams ironically.

EL_Loco

No beards in IT? Take the make up off the marketing girls too? :-p Saps.

mikom

DanielODonnell wrote: »

It is discrimination against the Gaelic heritage, if you research it you will find that it was a custom for Irishmen pre-English rule to have beards and long hair. It was the same at school and the school used to pride itself on its gaelic sports teams ironically.

Listen to Daniel ODonnell, he knows what he is talking about.
Shur he's had a beard for years......

Magico Gonzalez

Are you sure it was "beards" and not "boards!"

One is nuts, the other is a commendable productivity measure!

Wang King

Also have the same rule, don't think anyone has challenged it as yet

eviltimeban

What's next? No gamer t shirts?

mikom

Wang King wrote: »

Also have the same rule, don't think anyone has challenged it as yet

Where do you work?

stevenmu

Saipanne wrote: »

Facial hair makes you less productive.

It's true, studies have shown that men with beards spend 70% more time chopping down trees and wrestling bears.

Anesthetize

EL_Loco wrote: »

No beards in IT? Take the make up off the marketing girls too? :-p Saps.

Where I work beards and glasses are mandatory. Also the longer the beard the better your Unix skills.

JJJJNR

That is discrimination, I would be getting that statement in writing OP. They are discriminating on looks.

RomanKnows

This is fairly common in Finance and Audit companies. It doesn't just apply to customer facing roles either. There's a formal code for how you arrive at work. No beards, overly long hair on men, skirts above the half knee, tattoos on display etc. It's always observed without having to be enforced.

You'd be ridiculous in turning down a job with such a bump in salary because you can't have a beard. The majority of beards are ridiculous looking fashion disasters at the end of the day.

Buy a good shaving brush, soap, and DE razor. Best of luck with the second interview.

JJJJNR

Anesthetize wrote: »

Where I work beards and glasses are mandatory. Also the longer the beard the better your Unix skills.

Same here, had a VC session a while back and everyone on our team bar the head of IT had a beard, it was comical, all in good jest, we even offered to chip in for a fake.

JJJJNR

RomanKnows wrote: »

This is fairly common in Finance and Audit companies. It doesn't just apply to customer facing roles either. There's a formal code for how you arrive at work. No beards, overly long hair on men, skirts above the half knee, tattoos on display etc. It's always observed without having to be enforced.

You'd be ridiculous in turning down a job with such a bump in salary because you can't have a beard. The majority of beards are ridiculous looking fashion disasters at the end of the day.

Buy a good shaving brush, soap, and DE razor. Best of luck with the second interview.

No its not I've worked for 18 years in finance, and have never heard of it.

Boom_Bap

I'm pretty sure I know the company you are talking about. Well, at least I would hazard a guess that thier name begins with the letter 'A'

Very strict dress code, it's thier corporate image that they want to portray.
But apparently an incredible place to work.

Anesthetize

JJJJNR wrote: »

Same here, had a VC session a while back and everyone on our team bar the head of IT had a beard, it was comical, all in good jest, we even offered to chip in for a fake.

Beards are also useful when solving a problem. You stroke them and they give you infinite wisdom. The OP should be hired on the strength of having a beard.

J Mysterio

Wang King wrote: »

Also have the same rule, don't think anyone has challenged it as yet

Ye should be naming and shaming these fascist tryants.

Elessar

t's not legally discrimination, but I do know they sacked a guy a few years back over growing a beard and the EAT forced them to give him his job back.

To be honest I think I'd resent them for it. I am cursed with looking too young and without the beard I look about 18 (I'm nearly 30!) and it has certainly helped attract more women in the last year than I've ever had! That said, it is a good increase and maybe I am mad to turn it down. It just feels wrong, you know?

Balmed Out

stevenmu wrote: »

It's true, studies have shown that men with beards spend 70% more time chopping down trees and wrestling bears.

When was that study? The most recent trends show men with beards spend 60% of their time back waxing, chest trimming, eye-brow plucking, hair styling as well of course of the obvious manicures and facials.

J Mysterio

Boom_Bap wrote: »

I'm pretty sure I know the company you are talking about. Well, at least I would hazard a guess that thier name begins with the letter 'A'

Asshats?

karlh

No money is worth working for horrible people. It'll eat you in the end. Keep looking.

Lu Tze

Tell them to stuff it, the increased salary will only all be used up on shaving paraphenalia, gel, moisturiser, aftershave etc. you will be left a pauper if you decide to take that job

Rayne Wooney

Manach wrote: »

Offhand there was an employment case taken by a Dunnes worker when they tried to implement a similar policy. Afair he won.

A friends son works in Dunnes and it's still the case in the one he works in so I'm assuming it's nationwide

Wabbit Ears

A wise person chooses their battles.

To chose to battle having a beard for no other reason than its your current fashion choice is, imho, idiotic.

Think about it. If I were to walk up to you and say,
"here is ten thousand euros if you shave that that beard off" you would whip out the Gillette in a heartbeat. This is the same thing.

Elessar

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

A wise person chooses their battles.

To chose to battle having a beard for no other reason than its your current fashion choice is, imho, idiotic.

Think about it. If I were to walk up to you and say,
"here is ten thousand euros if you shave that that beard off" you would whip out the Gillette in a heartbeat. This is the same thing.

No, the correct comparison would be
"here is ten thousand euros if you shave that that beard off and never grow a beard again for the next 4-5 years".

Not sure it's the same. Especially where there is a likelyhood that I'll meet somebody else, maybe not straight away, who will offer 10k and let me keep the beard.

mikom

Guaranteed some of these "no-beard" companies will be using Conor McGregor in an ad campaign in the near future.
He'll be told to shave as well I bet...........

eviltimeban

At the end of the day it's about whether you want the job or not; if you'll enjoy the job and extra money more than you enjoy the beard.

I agree though, it is a bit ridiculous considering it's not a client facing role. There are plenty of companies you could work for. I do client facing stuff and I have a beard, a reasonable one as well. But I often shave mine down and grow it back again, not that that has any bearing.

If you want the job, then you'll overlook it. The beard won't matter. Enjoy looking 18, that sounds awesome. If you start asking them why they have this policy they'll just look to the next guy who'll be clean shaven. I hate that guy, with his store bought haircut and excellent posture!

JJJJNR

Seriously I actually got a two-fold increase because of my beard, keep searching OP, just put in the interests section of your CV that you have an interest in follicle maintenance.

endacl

IT job? Once they don't have a 'no nerdy tshirts with obscure references' rule, you'll be grand.

Ilikesheep

Just listen to Taylor Swifts shake it off and replace shake with shave. Might give you the motivation to do it..

Carlos Orange

endacl wrote: »

IT job? Once they don't have a 'no nerdy tshirts with obscure references' rule, you'll be grand.

I would say there is significant overlap between having a no beards policy and having a suit to work policy.

eviltimeban

JJJJNR wrote: »

Seriously I actually got a two-fold increase because of my beard, keep searching OP, just put in the interests section of your CV that you have an interest in follicle maintenance.

Beard model? Yes, must have been hard to get that job before.

Aongus Von Bismarck

I work for a well-known wealth management and investment bank. While we have a strict dress code, it doesn't include anything about beards. Exposed tattoos and excessive jewellery aren't allowed.That said, only a few of my colleagues have beards. They tend to be older men with very neat and well-groomed beards that suit them. You won't find my colleagues sporting beards like the type you'd find on Metallica roadies or Ming Flanagan campaigners.

It's a judgement call for you. I doubt many people in your position would turn down such a huge increase in salary because of a trivial rule like that. That said, software development skills are in demand, and there are companies in that space who seem to allow a more casual dress and appearance code.

I will leave this here though. It does seem to ring true: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/want-a-great-job-then-shave/

Aineoil

I'm just wondering why an IT company would be anti beards?

Where do they stand with tattoos and piercings? That's a rhetorical question, I guess.

3DataModem

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I'd be interested to know if this policy could survive a tribunal taken by say a devout Muslim. Anyone know employment laws in this area?

It is definitely not in line with employment law.

MadYaker

Shave it off and then grow it back in a week or two. They definitely can't fire you for growing a beard unless it's in your contract and I'm not even sure if they can legally put something like that in a contract. If it's just a bit of long stubble then you won't look too different without it.

Wang King

mikom wrote: »

Where do you work?

Apologies... My phone autocorrected aldi to also

Victor

'No beard' or 'no facial hair' - does this also apply to female staff?

The no facial hair things is very American, the origins being a social distrust of people with beards, as they tended to be poorer. Aside from religious reasons, there are also medical and medico-racism issues (genetically, some black men are more likely to get shaving rashes).

PlainP

I'd say shave it. You can always grow it back.

Shur it's only them hipsters who have beards nowadays :P