Getting a job with a beard
Getting a job with a beard
This article was originally posted on beardcave / October 17, 2015
This caught my attention as I was searching around for images earlier. The author for beardcave gives some solid information. Unfortunately, the realities of having an awesome beard sometimes mean's you have to make small sacrifices based on what you want to accomplish. I have spent my time in "Conservative" job positions but at the time, I wasn't growing a beard, so it wasn't much of an issue, however now that I do carry myself with a beard I would not want to put myself in that position of having to make a choice. We all can't be "Beard Models," no matter how many pictures we take of our beards. Nevertheless, life is full of compromise's, and we all do our best to our given situation. I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did.
Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash
Frankly, I shouldn’t even have to be writing this post. It’s sad that even today when the popularity of facial hair is at it’s highest in a generation, that people still find it difficult to land the job they want because of the hair that is on their face. Surely it should be the skills that you bring to the role that should matter, right?
Unfortunately, there’s still a lot of negativity around beards in the workplace, and no matter how perfect you are for the role you’re going for, your facial hair COULD put you at a disadvantage.
Before you panic and shave off your masterpiece ahead of that big interview, keep reading.
It is not impossible to get the job you want because you have facial hair. You just need to ensure that you do the right things to make the fact you have facial hair less of an issue for the employer.
There are some companies that still enforce an absolute zero facial hair policy. Thankfully this is becoming less frequent though especially in corporate type roles it is still a possibility that the company will have this policy, especially if it is a customer facing role. Now, if you’re going for a job where that is the companies policy, then you have a decision to make. How important to you is the job that you’re going for? How important to you is your beard? For a lot of people, they don’t feel right without a beard. When they are completely shaven, they lose confidence and don’t feel themselves, like something is missing. If this is you, then you need to be considering if working for this company is right for you.
The main issue here is that beards are seen to be untidy and unprofessional. Now, I don’t know about you, but most of the beardsmen I see take great pride in their facial hair. In fact, most take more pride in their facial hair than in any other aspect of their appearance.. and for good reason. Beards are awesome.
Unfortunately, it may well be that the person interviewing you has this negative perception of facial hair. They may see you at the interview and instantly be put off by the fact you have a beard. This is where you need to ensure that everything else you’re doing with regards to your appearance gives them no reason to mark against you. You need to make that bit extra effort to appear clean, presentable and professional. Don’t give the beard bigots reason to doubt your professionalism or your ability because you choose to wear a beard.
Make sure that the suit you are wearing is freshly dry cleaned. Make sure you can see your face forest in your freshly polished shoes. Make sure any tattoos you have are covered, and most of all, make sure your beard is neatly trimmed and clean. Half a Big Mac falling out of your face mid-interview isn’t going to help your cause, and neither will an unkempt straggly face bush. Take the time to trim it back (not necessarily reducing length) and make it tidy.
Genuinely, this is becoming less of a problem. All you can do is be confident in yourself and go into that interview and nail it. If the job is the one for you, it will happen.. regardless of your epic beard. In fact, if you follow the advice above there is no reason your beard can’t be positive. A cracking beard will sure make you memorable compared to the majority of other people being interviewed!
There is one last thing that I need to mention on this topic. I know someone who has an epic beard.. and I mean EPIC. He recently went for a job interview and got the job. As you do, he handed in his resignation to his old job, served his notice and went to start his new job the following Monday morning. It was at this point that the new job decided to provide him with their colleague handbook and advise him about their zero facial hair policy. In this case, the beard won, and the job was history. The point I’m making is to do your research. Ask the question to the new employer.. perhaps not in the interview, but maybe to that nice person in the recruitment team that you’ve been scheduling the interview with, etc. Don’t give yourself this dilemma which can easily be avoided!
Anyway, that’s all for now.. if you’ve had a situation like the above, either not getting a job because of your beard, or thinking you wouldn’t get a job but you did, then please let us know your story!
Cheers guys!
#BeardCaveCrew